Destination Race: Zion Half Marathon

My first half marathon was in June 2010, specifically the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon. I ran it with a lovely group of women from this site and we did it in conjunction with Team in Training, raising thousands of dollars of money ($43K) for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It was such a special race for all of us for SO many reasons. Why do I share this?
See the beautiful women in this picture? Let me tell you who they are and what they mean to me.
From the left…..

• Heather. I met Heather through this site. She is hilarious and has the most outstanding hair of anyone I know. She and I were writers together for Shrinking Jeans before she went on to head Shrinking Kitchen.  She lives in Seattle, Washington.
• Christy. I’ve known Christy before Shrinking Jeans ever came into being.  We became friends through a strange, roundabout way, agreeing to co-lead a huge team for our local Light the Night Walk (also benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society).  We became fast friends back in 2004 and have’t looked back!  She lives in BFE, Texas.
• Melissa.  I met Melissa when I started reading her blog forever ago and then more intimately once I started writing for SJ.  She is tall, blond and has a sarcastic sense of humor- just my style!  She is super-woman.  She lives in Bismarck, North Dakota.
• Me : ).  I live in Austin, TX.
• Kirsten.  I credit Kirsten for getting me to EVER agree to Couch to 5K in the first place and then for being my biggest supporter my first year of running and training for this half.  She is awesome and I love her and she is my running hero.  She lives in Carson City, Nevada.

We have not all been in the same place since this race in 2010.  That will be changing in the next year because we all registered for another half marathon……this one.

The Zion Half Marathon.  Race registrations are paid for.  Hotel rooms are booked.

Kirsten and I both plan to bring our families.  My husband is registered for the race, too.  We haven’t figured out who will watch our three kids while racing but the hubby did say if we didn’t figure it out, then I could run and he would stay with the kids.  While I am forever grateful he made that offer, I really want him to have the same running experience as I (so we are going to find someone to stay with the kids OR just leave them at home, ha ha!).  We also need to start working on HOW we will pay for this destination race which has now turned into a family vacation.

We will find a way.

I am so EXCITED to be doing another race with this group of women. The race isn’t until March 2016 so we have some time before the serious training starts.

About the Zion Half Marathon

The Zion Half Marathon takes place on March 12, 2016, which happens to be a Saturday. Saturday races are nice when you’re traveling because most races happen on Sundays, which means you run 13.1 miles and then SIT on a plane to head home. Ouch. Race entry is currently $90, but goes up to $105, and then $125 closer to race day.

It’s recommended that you fly in/out of Las Vegas, and you’ll have a 2.5 hour drive to get to the race location, so you’ll need to rent a car as well. This is where doing a race with a group of friends can help keep costs down since you’ll be sharing the expenses. The Zion Half Marathon site has a list of accommodations, and several in our group opted to stay in rooms at the Zion National Park Lodge. You might not want to wait long to book your accommodations, because most of the rooms in the area are already sold out!

The race is a point-to-point race, and they do provide shuttles. Start time is 7:30am, and runners will have 4 hours to finish. Walkers are welcome as long as they can complete the course within the 4 hour limit, but runners have to be off the road by 10:30am. The last 3 miles are on a sidewalk, so slower runners or walkers will be allowed to finish as long as they get to mile 10 by 10:30am.

The race is all uphill, but don’t let that scare you! The net gain is only 466 feet, which means about a 2 foot gain per 100 yards. You won’t even notice, because you’ll be too busy taking in all the outstanding scenery.

With generous race registration refund (you can receive a 100% refund until December 13th!) and transfer policies, you really can’t go wrong registering for this race now and deciding later whether you’re all in. They also have a team registration option that saves your team $10 off each registration. Teams must have at least 6 members, and while there are no team relays, to they have prizes for competing teams. If you are active duty, retired, or a veteran (includes spouses) you qualify for a $75 race entry fee – it doesn’t go up.

Have you ever done a destination race? Are you doing the Zion Half Marathon, or do want to?

Come join us!