The Antelope Canyon Ultras is a stunningly beautiful early season race through the spectacular Arizona desert landscape. The Antelope Canyon region is one of the most photographed places in the country and a sacred place for the Navajo people. From the spectacular Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River to the mesmerizing Waterholes Canyon there is something uniquely breathtaking around every turn. The run finishes on smooth singletrack around the plateau that the city of Page, AZ is built upon, with jaw-dropping views of Lake Powell.
100 miler – the course replicates the 50 mile course with the addition of 5 loops on the spectacular Page Rim Trail overlooking parts of Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. 2019 Update: These 5 loops will be done “washing machine style” (i.e., clockwise, counterclockwise, repeat).
The first 50 miles are full of exploration to highlights such as Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Waterholes Canyon, and overlooks of Lake Powell. After wearing yourself out on these more sandy and technical sections, you’ll get on the runnable singletrack of the Page Rim trail.
The second 50 miles are locked in on the smooth, singletrack, ten-mile loop of the Page Rim trail where you’ll have aid stations every 5 miles that you’ll make repeat visits to. The accessibility of this loop trail makes it logistically perfect to plan and prepare for the long night ahead with your drop bags, and for your crew and pacers to support you. And since the Page Rim trail circumnavigates the city of Page, your crew will never be more than a few minutes away from their hotel room or campsite, so you won’t have to worry about their comfort.
50 miler– On this course you will experience two of the most photographed land features in the country- Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River. After traversing the desert sand and slickrock to reach these unbelievable features, the run finishes out on smooth single track around the plateau that the city of Page, AZ is built upon, with jaw-dropping views of Lake Powell.
Runners start with a 5 mile desert traverse on a sandy doubletrack with a little slickrock and a slot canyon mixed in.
Near mile 4, runners will drop into the first slot canyon of the day, at the bottom of which is Antelope Aid Station.
After the aid station you’ll enter a large open wash, which you will follow south for about 3 miles to the entrance to the incomparable Upper Antelope Canyon. (This is one of the most photographed slot canyons in the world.)
Navajo guides will be posted along the route, as travel on tribal lands requires their presence in order to visit the sacred sites. After passing through the slot canyon, runners will climb over a sand dune and pass through another small slot canyon on the return (since the canyon isn’t wide enough for two way traffic.) You’ll return to the Antelope Aid station for the second time, then retrace your footsteps back towards the starting line for about 3.5 miles, where you’ll split off from the way you came and head west toward the Horseshoe Bend/Waterholes Canyon leg. Slickrock Aid will be about a mile into the desert after crossing S. Coppermine Rd.
From there, runners will traverse another open desert for about 3 miles before reaching the famous Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River. An aid station will be set up near the parking lot of this spectacular overlook (Horseshoe Bend Aid).
The next section weaves through slickrock along the rim of the Colorado River, in an area that few humans have traveled which offers views that are beyond words.
After crossing back over Hwy 89, runners will fuel up at the Waterholes Aid station before dropping into another gorgeous slot canyon. The aid station is located near the bridge.)
After about a mile in the slot, runners will exit and head back towards the city of Page on a long, exposed, and sandy desert traverse which takes you through the Horseshoe Bend and Slickrock aid stations for a second time.
Upon entering Page and climbing up onto the plateau which the city is built upon, the route ties into the smooth singletrack of the Page Rim trail. This is a fast and very runnable ten mile loop with spectacular views of Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam.
The 55K will begin at 7:00am and will run directly to Slickrock Aid station and then out to Horseshoe Bend and Waterholes Canyon and finishes out with a lap on the Page Rim trail.
The HALF MARATHON will begin at 8:00am and runs around the slickrock formation that the starting line is next to, then links up onto the Page Rim trail and does a single loop. It then returns to the starting line via the more direct route that the other race distances will use to get up onto the mesa.
LESS
Very Challenging Course
It was great scenery and a good production. Course issues caused a couple of women to get lost due to markings, but we were told that would be fixed. First … MORE
It was great scenery and a good production. Course issues caused a couple of women to get lost due to markings, but we were told that would be fixed. First and last 2 miles are sand and poor footing. Making it tough. Course was actually 13.6 miles.
Finish is great. Medals were well designed. Would’ve loved to received something for getting 2nd in my AG.
Beautiful but very challenging!
This course was much harder than I anticipated. There were hills to climb up and down, rocks to climb over and around, ramps to run down and ladders to climb … MORE
This course was much harder than I anticipated. There were hills to climb up and down, rocks to climb over and around, ramps to run down and ladders to climb up, ledges to run along, and so much sand to run through. There were also some of the most incredible views I have ever seen!! It was an amazing journey and I was lucky enough to be able to participate in this race when so many others were canceled.
Spectacular race!
Vacation races is already amazing. So this was not surprising. Great aids. Good variety of hot and cold food. Great course markings. Amazing views. Tough challenging course and well put … MORE
Vacation races is already amazing. So this was not surprising. Great aids. Good variety of hot and cold food. Great course markings. Amazing views. Tough challenging course and well put together race. Can’t wait to go back.
Runcation#6 AZ - Sandman VS Desert/Cliff
Antelope Canyon 100 is one fun race to remember. I had a lot of fun running it. It's very scenic. There wasn't a whole lot of elevation gain, which is … MORE
Antelope Canyon 100 is one fun race to remember. I had a lot of fun running it. It’s very scenic. There wasn’t a whole lot of elevation gain, which is undoubtedly why I got my new 100 mile PR here.
The race first brings you through Antelope Canyon, which is usually limited to tour access only. Then you travel through Navajo reservation to overlook the Horseshoe Bend, a route claimed by the Native Americans, i.e. no crazy tourism interruption. Finally, for the 100 milers, we get to run around the Page Rim Trail 6 times, viewing the gorgeous landscape surrounding the town of Page, and overlooking Lake Powell.
The course is relative easy due to the only 6400 ft elevation gain. While the sandy terrain can be quite exhausting to maneuver, the sandstone can give you quite a painful pounding.
As the usual me, I am always running a little late even though I am sleeping at the start line. I swear the race started 2min earlier than the official 6am.
The race came into a bottleneck fairly quickly after a 1000ft of jogging. Warning: This course requires cliffhanger and rock climbing to complete successfully! Ok, maybe not that extreme… but you will need to have the gut to run up a slick sandstone with a 45% grade and add a little class 2 technical trail with a slight scrambling using your hands. Personally, I think this just boosted my morale about this race from a boring flat race to a little bit of adventure.
Comparing to my previous 100 mile races, I believe I ran the most during this race. My feet and knees didn’t give up on me, though my ankles were getting sore from stabilizing each step in the sand. No altitude sickness because I am used to 4000s from my work in SoCal. However, I have yet to learn how to combat stomach problem and sleeplessness.
Faithful Challenges of Ultrarunning and Lesson Learned:
1) Bib belt sucks in a 100-mile race. Couldn’t find my safety pins last minute in the dark before 6am start time, I put on my bib belt. 20 miles in the race, i can feel the constriction of the belt bruising yup my abdomen. At that point, I knew it could be a problem later on. My concern was chaffing around my waist. However, that seems not the case. As it continued to be a bothersome in the race, i was able to receive some safety pins from a fellow runners to pin the bib to my shorts at around mile 48. However, the damage has been done. By mile 64, I began to have the ultra runner stomach issue. Ingesting food without getting nausea was almost impossible. Thankfully, Coke and pineapple were still on my menu. Too bad pineapple soon became a scarcity. Though I have tried ginger chew, which was supposed to work wonders to stomach problem, it didn’t work this time. By mile 74, I could no longer jog. Power hike or walking was my only option, since any fast pace movement would induce puking sensation. I tried to throw up, however, nothing would come out. I thought I was overnutrition, yet I couldn’t make a dump to yield more room inside my body. At mile 99, my hypothesis was confirmed when I finally able to relief in the compost toilet. What came out of the body is pure blackness of unwanted byproducts. Surely, the race has done a good deal of damage inside out. Never again would I use a bib belt in an ultra race.
2) I have yet to figure out how to deal with this dilemma. The only logical conclusion to the little crazy old me is run faster next time. You wonder what I am talking about? It’s sleep depravity. The lack of sleep in a race going over 24 hours is always a challenge. The hardest hours fall between 3am and 4:30am. This is against your circadian rhythm to be awake at this ungodly late hours. So what my body decided to do? Sleep walking! This is a particularly hard race to do that. With cliff and desert constantly accompanying you along the night trail, I can only wander so far before I must safe myself from some sort of death or stray away from the course. The last 20 miles of my race were surely slow and dreamy. XD
3) If we need to talk about one thing all ultrarunners hate the most, it has to be chaffing. Blisters, we will just deal with it. Sore muscles and painful feet, we will suck it up. Stomach issue? Well, let’s just stop and try to rest up and eat something a little bit at a time. But oh man, I think I have heard more people DNF because of chaffing than anything else. It’s the one thing you can prevent yet cannot control once it occurs. It can happen in many locations, and if you have been running long enough, you know where to apply the anti-chaffing creams on. And surely like a “seasoned” runner, I would have done the same thing. But I left out one spot, which I thought of at mile 8, but it becomes an additional nightmare at mile 80. The unwanted ungodly location decided to have chaffing. And surely enough, my night through the Page Rim Trail had been eventful, and hopefully I would learn my lesson to wake up earlier to be more prepared for my race start.
Finally, to conclude, I actually did pretty good at the race overall. Though i am still beating up myself (figuratively) for not being in the top 10, I ended up with a #18 out of 115 participants and first in my age group. 47 people finished within the 32-hour cutoff. It’s not an easy race for many. But I wish I could have done better. In fact, I knew I could have ran better if I for once can have a perfect race. It was closed. I was aiming for sub-24hr, but when the stomach and chaffing called me off guard… Maybe next one?! Honestly, considering my “exceptional” training regime, I should be happy that I even finish the race. For most people, they wouldn’t have lasted the race as long as I did if they train like me. That’s something I should at least be thankful for.
*****
Personal Course Difficulty Rating 7/15
Altitude 2/5 – 4000+ft above sea level
Elevation Gain 2/5 – 6400+ft
Terrain 3/5 – Sandy desert mix with hard sandstone outcrop with occasional class 2 technical trail scrambling (may require assistance of hands)
Race Swag 4/5 – Though the buckle is nice and made individually and each unique on its own. Man, I would love to get those pretty 50-miler finisher medal, which looks way cooler. I guess I am pickier on the design than many others.
Epic
This was my fourth ultra and by far the most difficult! The front half is deep sand and lots of scrambling up and down rocks. Running through the slot canyon … MORE
This was my fourth ultra and by far the most difficult! The front half is deep sand and lots of scrambling up and down rocks. Running through the slot canyon and views of Horseshoe Bend were spectacular, though. And support on the course simply amazing.
Sand. Perhaps don't wear white shoes!
Three miles of sand followed by 10 miles of rocky off-road trail. That's sand, like dunes that you sink into. This is not typically somewhere to go running, but what … MORE
Three miles of sand followed by 10 miles of rocky off-road trail. That’s sand, like dunes that you sink into. This is not typically somewhere to go running, but what the heck.
Located around the town of Page, Arizona with really lovely views of Glen Canyon and the Colorado River. I’d give it higher marks for scenery but the area is non-stop amazing scenery so you need to put time aside to sightsee afterwards. For example you’re going to want to make time to see Antelope Canyon itself (not included in the Half, and the Ultra runners go through it too fast to do it justice) and Horseshoe Bend.
Did I mention the first three miles of sand dunes? Wear gaiters over your shoes or be prepared to throw them away at the finish line.