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. In 2022, we ran a half marathon down the Las Vegas strip at night, nearly washed away outside of Zion National Park, and limped through the Red Desert of Wyoming. To end the year, we were on to Idaho for our last race of 2022. This was our 18th state run! Read my review of our Idaho Half Marathon race, course, and if I’d recommend it below!
What half marathon race did we choose in Idaho?
The Legends Never Die Half Marathon in Ketchum. This race was chosen based on exactly two qualifications.
1. it was exactly one week after our race in Wyoming, so it worked out timing-wise and location-wise for our van trip.
2. It was a trail race. After a series of unfortunate road race experiences, we were ready (at least mentally) to get back to our true running love: trails.
While the mental preparation and excitement was there, we probably could have spent a bit more time on the physical prep, but more on that below. Also, after running two pretty massive races earlier in the year in Las Vegas and then Zion, we were ready for some good old, small town, low key race experiences.
How would I review our Legends Never Die Idaho Half Marathon race experience?
HIGH:
After running outside Zion National Park, I thought that I had seen the pinnacle of how pretty a race could be. Nope. Ketchum absolutely blew me away. I’m already biased towards trail running – some of my favorite people are trees after all – but Oregon Gulch holds unbelievable beauty. If you like single track trails, mountain views, and saying “holy crap, this is pretty” a hundred times during your run, then this is the race for you.
I could wax on for another two paragraphs about how incredible the beauty of the scenery is, but that sounds repetitive, so check out the photos for yourself:
LOW:
As is fairly common, the low is entirely my fault. As a flatlander, I was excited for the mountain running but I was woefully ill-prepared, or at least my hamstrings were. 2,000+ feet of vertical climb is about as hard as it sounds. I love hills, I really do, but my usual running route has roughly 11 feet of vertical climbing. To say that this was not my usual terrain is an extreme understatement, and I still have a hard time believing I made it up the mountain.
When we got to the top, I basically felt like I had summited Everest. I can only imagine how the full marathoners with a gain of 6,000+ feet felt. It’s worth noting that we had traveled the farthest of all participants for this race, and I got the impression that the other runners were quite familiar with these trails. Not so for us.
Would I recommend the Legends Never Die Half Marathon?
If my photos above haven’t convinced you that this place is worth checking out, the race organizers also donate 10% of all proceeds to Higher Ground, an organization servicing children and adults with a variety of physical, developmental, and cognitive disabilities. Enjoy the views and support a great cause – a real win-win.
We also thoroughly enjoyed our time in Ketchum and would absolutely return. The town has great food, a walkable downtown, and a huge variety of outdoor activities to keep everyone happy. Check out local hot springs, more trails, and if you’re into literature, Ernest Hemingway sites. He called Ketchum home for quite a few years (and ultimately took his life and is buried there).
Check out more information on the race and and get the link to register for the next Legends Never Die Half Marathon.
Where to next?
While 2022 was supposed to have two other races on the docket, travel plan changes and extreme weather took those right off our schedule. 2023 is yet to be scheduled, so which state is next is anyone’s guess!
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