Alison Ford's Staging Area

The Utah race was pretty flat compared to the previous two days. We had a gradual incline for the first half which made the second half so much fun. The views of the lake were wonderful. Starting in the State Park was great and cooling off in the lake afterwards was refreshing. I can’t say enough positives about the RD team and volunteers – they were fantastic throughout!! If you haven’t done this event before I would highly recommend it.

I really loved this race series. The location is stunningly beautiful. The race production was fantastic and they worked really hard – huge kudos to them. For someone coming from a home altitude of 250ft – starting the series at 6000ft was fun. There was around 460ft elevation gain on this course. Mainly running on roads (newly repaved in many areas) with some gravel but there were a few bends that were better suited to a NASCAR race than a four race. I would definitely run it again and would highly recommend it.

This is a small production race with a lot of local fast runners – I’m not fast so was very much at the back of the pack. Money raised goes towards a local youth group which can change each year. The same group come out as volunteers to man the water/gatorade stations.

You can pay an extra $15 at registration for a long sleeve tech T-shirt. This was definitely worth it – one of the nicer race shirts I’ve had to date.
The medal is a 13.1 mile generic finisher medal with a tag on the back with the race info. Nothing fancy but it does the job. If you want big bling then this isn’t the race.

This is an out and back course. You go one way a little over 3 miles before you turn around and run back 7 miles (you pass the finish line at roughly half way) before turning round again for the run to the finish line.
There are mileage markers which are accurate and the course is clearly signed.

There is coffee and snacks before the race and chicken tenders and mac’n’cheese afterwards.

Overall a great race, well managed by the RD and team.

This was a well ran race. Packet pickup was easy. The sweatshirts are excellent quality and so warm. Plenty of free parking close to the start line. They had 4 race distances go out today and all started with a few minutes between each heat. They had pacers for the half marathon group which was nice and kept me more accountable to my target time. There were plenty of aid stations that had water and Gatorade. Most of the course was on hard paved trails but on the few times where we had to cross the road the police controlled the traffic and did a great job. Whilst the first few miles were relatively flat there were rolling hills – some of them gentle, some not so gentle.
Post race they had water, energy drinks and Athletic Brewing non alcoholic beer. They also had a food truck and of course we got a great medal.
This was a great race and I would totally recommend it.

Packet pickup was straight forward and well ran. Great venders at the expo with some nice discounts.
Loved the course – it was great running through downtown and out around the US Space and Rocket center. Running through the Christmas lights was also fun although at night with them lit would have been awesome.

Great communication from the RD. Plenty of aid stations with water, gatorade and Hume gu’s. Lots of cheer squads throughout the course and plenty of people to make sure you’re staying on course.
The race is kind of two halfs – the first half takes you over 3 bridges with views of the Battleship. The second half was around the lake at Greenfield park. Plenty of time on Front Street throughout the race so your own personal cheer squad gets plenty of opportunity to see you.
Whilst not all the roads are totally shut down, the Police did an awesome job of keeping the runners safe.
Overall it was a great race and I would do it again.

Everything about this race was well planned. From my hotel I was 5 minutes to packet pickup and 10 minutes from both the start and the finish line. Swag was great. Volunteers were totally awesome. Aid stations were every coulee of miles and well stocked with water and gatorade and so many volunteers. Lots of people supporting throughout the course and it was easy for people to support in more than one place.
There is one relatively long big hill around mile 4.7 but the rest of the course is relatively easy.

The RD and team did a great job. The course was well marked, enough aid stations and toilets. The swag was great and the hand made wooden finishers medals were fantastic. Loved the party vibe and everyone lit up with glow sticks/high visibility gear as we were running in the dead of night.
We had a delayed start due to a very impressive storm that blew through the area. Everyone did a great job getting the communication out.
I have decided after my 3rd night race that I am not a night runner BUT I liked this race and would do it again. Lots of gentle rolling hills throughout the course and it was all on very well maintained asphalt.

I’m doing a half in every State and this one fitted in with my plans. It was very well managed. Very efficient from packet pickup to race day. The course was really well marked and there was a high police presence ensuring our safety on the roads. The course took us through Downtown, residential neighborhoods and beautiful parks. With it being spring the weather was great and the spring blossoms beautiful.
This isn’t a flat course but the hills were definitely manageable. I would happily run this race again.

From packet pickup to the finish line l, Vacation Races put in a great race. Whilst this is rated as one of their harder races as it is all up hill – it is gentle in most places and I noticed the downs more than the ups. You all get shuttled to the start line and run back to your cars. Whilst the roads aren’t shut down, they are light on traffic and it caused no issues. A lot of the run was on roads next to the river and was quite pretty. This was a well attended race and as such I was never alone out on course.
This was my 4th VR but the first at this location. I would definitely run it again.

Beautiful course, stunning scenery. Yet another great production by vacation races. Really well managed and great swag as always.
There is a gradual uphill for the first 5 ish miles but then it’s a steady down hill. Plenty of aid stations but make sure you hydrate well.
I mucked up my hydration which meant I had a very crampy race and therefore a below par performance. All my fault.
Would definitely do this race again.