In the middle of 2018, my husband and I decided to set a goal of running a race in every state in the U.S. You can read more about the why behind the goal and see what states we’ve crossed off the list so far in the full post HERE. After running a half marathon down the Las Vegas strip at night, we embarked on a weeklong campervan road trip, stopping at State and National Parks in three states before arriving at our final destination and the location of our next half marathon: Zion National Park in Utah. This was our 16th state run! Read my review of the Zion Half Marathon race, course, and if I’d recommend it below!
What race did we choose in Utah?
We chose the Vacation Races Zion Half Marathon. This was the second Vacation Races half marathon that we’ve completed after running the Mount Rushmore half marathon the previous September. Much like the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathons we’ve done several of, these races are pricey but they have a few specific pros: they are desirable destination races, they are typically very well organized, and they draw big crowds of people who are both travel and outdoor enthusiasts, which makes for a laid-back and awesome race experience.
How would I review the Zion Half Marathon race experience?
Sometimes writing a race review is particularly tricky – this review of the Zion Half is one of those times. It’s difficult not to be swayed in my recap by factors outside of the scope of the actual race that still have a strong bearing on the experience, namely: weather and my own preparation/conditioning. Those two factors wreaked full havoc in this race – plagued by injuries and with some challenging weather, it’s hard to think too fondly about the hours spent on this course. However, despite these issues, I still enjoyed this race experience – you can probably chalk this up to what I chose as the high point of the race below: the location.
HIGH:
As I mentioned above, the best part of this race is the location itself – while Vacation Races is clear that you don’t exactly get to run “through” the National Parks, they are fairly adjacent. Honestly, I love our parks and don’t want to think about the effects of having a race in the park itself – we’ve seen firsthand the dire consequences of too many uneducated visitors in the last few years, so being close enough is great for me in these cases.
If you are signed up for this race and are disappointed about not running through the parks themselves, I absolutely recommend making the effort to arrive before or after the race and taking the time to really make the most of the location. Pay the park fee, learn about the lands you are on, respect pack-in and pack-out rules, and fully immerse yourself in the scenery. A half marathon race (even if you are as slow as I am) is definitely not enough time to pay homage to the beauty of our National Parks. I appreciate this, and these races serve as an excellent excuse to plan a long weekend or more in the National Parks that I love.
By far the best part of the two Vacation Races we’ve run is the opportunity to visit seriously cool places. Zion is one of the most popular National Parks for a reason, and I was thrilled to be visiting it. I would run this race again (though it was possibly the worst half of my running life thus far – see details below) if it meant I got to keep experiencing different parts of the park while in town.
LOW:
I’m not sure I can accurately express how incredibly terrible the weather was for this race. We live in Wisconsin. We’ve run races throughout the Midwest in the dead of winter. This was absolutely the coldest I’ve ever been during a race. Miserable? Yes. Still worth racing? Uh…
In the two photos I have from during the race (taken by the actual photographers, as for the first time since we started this series, I did not take a single photo once we were on-course), you can see that we are wearing nearly every single item of clothing we brought with us. Under my rain coat, I have on a winter hat, double thick fleece shirt, technical long-sleeve, wool socks, thick leggings, and a thick tank top. I wore snow gloves. I was still freezing 90% of the time. Not only was it chilly on course, it poured rain nearly the entire race. It made for a very long half, exacerbated by the fact that we had to walk the full course due to injuries. (At this point you might wonder why we didn’t just postpone these states – a fair point, but we aren’t quitters and also we just really wanted to travel and this race was the impetus for our trip.)
Would I recommend the Zion Half Marathon?
Despite my misery from the weather, I would totally do this race again! As I mentioned above as the high point, this location is magical. Because Vacation Races puts more emphasis on the place (location of the race) rather than the place (order you finish in), this makes a killer reason to travel. A large amount of racers seemed to be just like us: here for the views and the proximity to the park rather than the race itself. If you are a more serious runner, it’s still a great course (smooth, flat and easy, with a slight downhill into the finish). If you are like me and are injured or even just want to tack on an activity while traveling, this race hosts a large amount of novice runners and walkers, making it perfect for beginners.
You can check out more information on the races available and register for the next Zion Half Marathon here.
Where to next?
Great question! As of June 2022, we do not have our next race scheduled, which is a definite anomaly for us. We plan the majority of our vacations around national parks, races to run, or other big events, so to have no races on the horizon means we have no trips planned or upcoming! Seems like it’s time to change that, so keep an eye out…you know our next race can’t be too far away. 🙂
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