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.
Read my review of our Wyoming Run the Red Half Marathon race, course, and if I’d recommend it below!
What half marathon race did we choose in Wyoming?
Run the Red is a race series in the midst of the Red Desert near South Pass City, Wyoming. It focuses on celebration and conservation of the Red Desert, and race day has options for a 100K, 50K, or half marathon.
In keeping with our distance rule created when we decided on our Race Every State challenge (and in keeping with being out of shape and never training enough), we signed up for the Wyoming – Run the Red half marathon distance only.
The Location – South Pass City
South Pass City is a tiny historic site. They say on their website that “getting here is half the adventure” and that is not an exaggeration. There are virtually no hotels or Airbnb’s nearby and the surrounding towns are difficult to find on maps. Perhaps most challenging: the vast majority of roads are unpaved and not entirely well marked.
Run the Red always takes place on Wyoming Public Lands day (the fourth Saturday in September), and I would absolutely describe this race as the true definition of wild: uncultivated, sparsely inhabited, and free.
If you want a race experience that involves miles and miles of gorgeous red dirt, buttes, and canyons, and does not involve spectators, support, or hundreds of other race participants, this is your race.
How would I review our Wyoming – Run the Red Half Marathon race experience?
HIGH:
This race was like nothing I’d experienced in previous half marathons. Even with the variety of trail and road marathons we’ve run, this is a truly unique experience. One of the first miles has two different “water” crossings (yay, farm run-off!), and it’s clear to see that this race has two ultra marathons as big brothers. From the need to self-support on the course due to very few aid stations to the frequent stops to open and close gates so that the local livestock wasn’t let loose, this race is anything but traditional.
Unique can sound like a bad identifier, but in this case I loved it. It was so fun to experience a course with so few people around us. Especially after running bigger half marathons like the Rock n’ Roll Half in Las Vegas and the Zion Vacation Race previously, I welcomed the smaller race and more isolated time on the course.
Also, the food truck at the end of the Run the Red half was clutch. We got tickets with our race registration and the burrito bowls we were rewarded with were exactly what we needed to power us through a long drive into Grand Tetons National Park after the race. This may not be most runners biggest consideration, but compared to the usual warm half banana and stale plain bagel that grace end-of-race tables, this is an extreme upgrade.
LOW:
If you’ve never run in the desert before, it’s a bit difficult to wrap your mind around the mental toll of it all. There isn’t a lot of scenery to distract you with things to look at or ways to break up the course. In fact, from some of the steeper hills, you can see miles in all directions – so you always know where you are going and exactly how far you have to go. That can be tough if you are out of shape, a bit overheated, or being absolutely enraged by the wind whipping in your ears for 13+ miles. Truthfully, the wind didn’t bother me as much as it did Bryan, but being in direct sunlight is never my favorite way to spend an afternoon, so the near-complete lack of trees and shade also took its toll.
As fun as the water crossings were and while they had a nice cooling effect on my feet, it really was farm run-off, and it was dirty, dirty brown. My bright yellow shoes were a grotesque shade by the end of the day, and if I hadn’t needed them for our race in Idaho less than a week later, I wouldn’t have bothered putting them back in the van at the end of the day.
Would I recommend the Run the Red Half Marathon?
This isn’t your standard destination road half marathon. It’s probably not for everyone. However, if you are okay getting a little gross, believe that you have solid mental fortitude to get through the miles of not-much-to-see-besides-desert-features, and are willing to make a serious backroad trek, you will be rewarded with a very unique race experience that won’t be easily forgotten. If we happened to be back in South Pass City again on race weekend (super unlikely but you never know), I’d probably sign up for this race again.
Where to next?
After surviving our run in the Red Desert, it was time to get our van on the road to kick off the next leg of our journey. Our first destination was Grand Tetons National Park for a few days of hiking and scenery-ogling, and then to Idaho to prep for our next race, the Legends Never Die half marathon.
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