Drop13 Big Cottonwood Canyon Half Marathon & 5K
Holladay, UT
- Half Marathon, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Considered by many the fastest Half Marathon in Utah. The Drop13 Big Cottonwood Canyon starts at Solitude Ski Resort and runs over 3000 feet down 13.1 miles to Cottonwood Heights City. This race is not only fast but it is beautiful with views of the Spring run off in a … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Jun 13):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 82 | 95 | 98 | 77 | 72 |
| L (°F) | 59 | 66 | 69 | 60 | 50 |
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
beautiful downhill run
Flew into salt lake city day before race; stayed at the Hyatt place, which was a five-minute walk to bus pickup (highly recommend). Bus pickup was very early and a … MORE
Flew into salt lake city day before race; stayed at the Hyatt place, which was a five-minute walk to bus pickup (highly recommend). Bus pickup was very early and a little disorganized. Paid for the VIP bus, which I also highly recommend; although, the bathroom on the bus was out of order. If I did this race again, I would definitely upgrade to VIP for the sole reason of the bus driving you to the start line and having first dibs at the port-potties and staying on bus to stay warm because it is cold in the canyon. If you opt for regular bus, you have to walk from Solitude resort to start line. Swag was nothing spectacular. no expo. bib pickup was at a running store. The scenery was spectacular; course is completely downhill with a few flat sections. If you’re not used to running downhill, be forewarned: your quads and glutes will be screaming by the end. Running downhill is no joke. I spent a few days in Utah, did a tour of salt lake city, performance of Tabernacle choir, and drove to Olympic park in Park City. Thoroughly enjoyed my time in Utah and I would definitely do this race again. Met some people from Utah who prefer this race over Ogden.
Gorgeous race!
Pros: Excellent communication leading up to the race Free shuttle to top of mountain Gorgeous, fast race Indoor ish bathrooms Good course support Cons: Super early shuttle Some of the … MORE
Pros:
Excellent communication leading up to the race
Free shuttle to top of mountain
Gorgeous, fast race
Indoor ish bathrooms
Good course support
Cons:
Super early shuttle
Some of the staff were rude to me and other runners I spoke to (they asked one person “have you even run a half marathon before” when she asked if she could be dropped off!)
Not enough food/water at finish, highly congested and disorganized
I’d still do it again, just with appropriate expectations
Run it for the scenery
As a local, I love our canyon races. I've run this canyon (Revel Big Cottonwood) but not this race. Highly recommend this one. Smaller production from On Hill Events so … MORE
As a local, I love our canyon races. I’ve run this canyon (Revel Big Cottonwood) but not this race. Highly recommend this one. Smaller production from On Hill Events so not a huge field which can be nice if you want to place. This one is brutal on the timing though. Your bib assigns you to a bus time…the later you register, the more likely you are to be on an early bus. My bib got me on the 4A bus (instead of the 4:30 bus or the 5A VIP bus). The nice thing about the 4A bus is they take you all the way to Solitude Mountain Resort and open it up. That way you get real bathrooms and you can wait inside a building. Normally this time of year, it could be upper thirties or low forties that time of the morning (~4:40 when you get up there). Instead, this year it was 48 which while not balmy, wasn’t freezing. They had fire pits but most people huddled inside the buildings. Because you have access to so many bathrooms, you can go plenty of times without braving lines at porta potties. The start line is about 0.4mi downhill from Solitude (where the later bus people get dropped off so they need to stand outside and use the porta potties). This is a GUN start, be aware if you’re running for time or place. It’s also a narrow start without official corrals which will make you nuts if you’re a runner for time. They do have a slower runner/walker start at 5:30 (official start is 6:00). This is a STEEP course. There are 11.5 miles of the race IN the canyon and this is a steep canyon. It’s closed to traffic except traffic with escorts so be aware…run the tangents or you’ll run a lot longer than you meant to. This is a gorgeous time of year to be running in the canyons, the snow melt off is happening so the creek is running high and fast. The sun will be up but it won’t be on you till the very end, you’re deep in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Don’t fight gravity, run it smart and you’ll make killer times. When you get to the mouth of the canyon, there’s a bus park and ride that you run though to drop down onto the Big Cottonwood trail which continues DOWN, some very steep grades, along the now crashing creek next to you. This is a paved run/bike trail that is a great 1.5mile finish because it keeps you running down. There are LITERALLY no uphills on this course. At most you’ll have a couple of “flats” and that’s it. After your 1.5 miles on the trail, you pop out and there’s the finish in a little shopping center. The medals are huge and if you lost 13 pounds preparing for the race, on the honor system you get a medal and if it’s a PR you get an honor system medal and if you place you get a big medal. All good stuff.