CrossRoads Blog

For folks that like to run races there are a lot of options out there (well except for maybe Phoenix in the Summer). Seems like just about every mid size or bigger city has a Full or at least Half Marathon at one time of the year. Smaller 5K’s and 10K’s are almost a weekly thing in the larger cities. Many of those are tied to some charity as it’s a great way to do a little fundraising, promote the cause and have some fun. Because we fall into the ‘love to race’ category you get to (have to) be choosy on what races you attend (of course the qualifying races like Boston etc. are an exception). So when it comes to what are called ‘Destination Runs’, those races that require at least an overnight stay somewhere, we are really particular. Net is, if we are going to go somewhere the run just has to be part of the whole package, we want to be able to explore the area, or take advantage of doing something while we are there. Heck sometimes it even works the other way in that if we have to be somewhere for business or family, we look for a weekend race in that area while we will be there.

So… long explanation to how we ended up running in the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon. First seeing we had road-tripped it to Tahoe, it was on the way home (or close to it anyway). Second, it would for sure qualify as a true ‘destination run’ as Bryce Canyon National Park and the whole area is an amazing place and considered one of the top US National Parks. And the one that cinched it – guaranteed PR (Personal Record, as in we would almost for sure have the fastest race we ever have ran because the race is essentially running down the canyon the whole 13.1 miles!).

The weekend pretty much was exactly what we expected. With an amazing race that is run on the main road leading into Bryce Canyon National Park being the highlight. You get views of the famous Hoodoos almost the whole run. The race descends some 1700 feet over the whole course with a couple of spots being so steep you actually have to slow yourself (let’s just say our thighs are still sore…). Kimberly and I both set PR’s as expected. Kimberly’s time was good enough for the top 25% of all females, and my time was in the top 8% overall. This is nice of course, except that I don’t think we can ever match those times unless we run a similar downhill type course!

We did hit the Park for a nice hike the day before the race. Even though we knew a hike down into the Canyon and out would not necessarily be best before a run, we just couldn’t come here and not get down into the Hoodoos. So we packed a lunched and had a great day hike. One rub was the trail said 2,000 feet elevation change. We figured okay, that’s not too bad, less than half of the Grand Canyon inner trails back up from the river. EXCEPT what they fail to mention is this is more like ‘from top of trail to bottom is 2,000 feet change’ and not the hike itself. Turns out the hike we took went down into the canyon, then back almost all the way up, then down, then up, then….you get the picture. I think this is as big of contributor to having sore as heck quads as the runs effect.

Overall the Canyon is a very worthy trip. We might not do the race again (and btw if we do, we would book it early so as not to have a “cabin” as our accommodations – just ask us about the slanted room), but would for sure recommend a trip to the National Park as it is an amazing place.

Check out the PICTURES HERE

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 18th, 2009 at 9:30 am and is filed under Our World, Miller Family, Runs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.