Donna Lawson's Staging Area

The Bhutan Thunder Dragon Marathon & Half Marathon is unique and unlike anything you will ever do again in your lifetime. Bhutan is a remote country with a deep sense of culture. The predominate religion is Buddhism, and I learned quite a bit about it. Solo travel is not allowed, and you must go with a travel agent. I chose 209 Events, and every single aspect of the trip was just top notch. The small group made is possible to get to know my fellow international travelers, and we all bonded. Prior to the race, we hiked, rafted, visited forts, museums, monuments and a Takin reserve. (The takin is the national animal and is found nowhere else but Bhutan.) All of this helps with the acclimatization as the race altitude ranges from 7,200 to 8,400 feet.

The race itself is in Paro and the rural areas surrounding it. The scenery is lovely, lush and green. Monks blessed the race before we ran, which was awesome. The altitude was an issue for me, and I was fairly slow. Don’t do this race expecting a PR! We ran across a suspension bridge, through the streets of Paro, on little cattle trails, past rice paddies and prayer flags and religious monuments. There were cattle, horses, dogs in the streets.

I wound up running and walking the last half of the race with a young Bhutanese woman who was running her first half marathon. She called me “madam” and we discovered that I was a year younger than her grandmother, lol! Anyway, we were tired, and we knew that we were somewhat close to the finish line but there were no distance markers. Suddenly, my new friend recognized where we were, and she realized that she was actually going to be able to finish. She was excited and yelled, “Run Madam, we’re going to make it!” We ran across the finish line holding hands. A great finish line memory for me.

My feeble words do not do this race justice. All I can do is tell you that I highly recommend this race and the entire Bhutanese experience. You should go.

This race consists of multiple loops around a lake in a gorgeous state park. I saw geese, swans, blue herons, and chipmunks on the course. The weather was warm, but there was a gentle rain that kept my body temp perfect. Afterwards, the race director and family prepared a fantastic feast that starred a whole roasted pig! I highly recommend this race!

Very well run race with a personal touch. The race director and his family put on a series of marathons & 1/2 marathons with the goal of giving back to the sport. The race runs multiple loops through Stanley Park in Westfield, MA, and I think this is the prettiest park I have ever seen. So many blooming trees and shrubs! The weather cooperated, starting at around 50 degrees and ending around 60 degrees. The course is mostly paved and some sidewalk, well marked and beautiful wherever you look. I felt great all through the race and finished strong. The fastest FULL marathon runner finished in 2:45, which was only 12 minutes slower than my HALF marathon time, lol! I highly recommend this race!

Run past ALL of the most memorable places in Vegas. This is a night run, and the course is very flat. It was very cold on the night that I ran. There was no transportation provided back to my the MGM, and I was half frozen by the time I hobbled back to my hotel.