I’m a big fan of their downhill races like Timp and NEBO. They have all the amenities of larger national running event companies and all the expertise of being focused … MORE
I’m a big fan of their downhill races like Timp and NEBO. They have all the amenities of larger national running event companies and all the expertise of being focused on events in Utah. I’m not sure how they did it but they found a variety of downhill runs in Utah that are each uniquely scenic and just happen to be the type of beautiful canyon views I love. I loved all the aspens we ran through. It helped that we had a cool morning that lasted all the way. The start line announcements were detailed. It was well organized. There was a delay on the medals but they said they’d mail them and gave us neat little pins at the finish.
Another wonderful Runtastic downhill
I’m a big fan of their downhill races like Timp and NEBO. They have all the amenities of larger national running event companies and all the expertise of being focused … MORE
I’m a big fan of their downhill races like Timp and NEBO. They have all the amenities of larger national running event companies and all the expertise of being focused on events in Utah. I’m not sure how they did it but they found a variety of downhill runs in Utah that are each uniquely scenic and just happen to be the type of beautiful canyon views I love. I loved all the aspens we ran through. It helped that we had a cool morning that lasted all the way. The start line announcements were detailed. It was well organized. There was a delay on the medals but they said they’d mail them and gave us neat little pins at the finish.
Runtastic always does it right
So the challenge with this one is location--Heber is a SMALL town on the Wasatch back without a lot of hotel options and given that you need to be on … MORE
So the challenge with this one is location–Heber is a SMALL town on the Wasatch back without a lot of hotel options and given that you need to be on a bus between 4-5AM, being close is sort of a requirement. I live in SLC but driving from my house is slightly more than an hour, even without traffic and there is no way I wanted to get up that early. So, if you are a baby like me, you could stay in Park City which means only about a 30 minute drive that time of the morning which is certainly a bonus. There are lots and lots of places to choose from if you go this route. The field is smaller than most Runtastic races, I’m assuming due to the location but that just means you can be more competitive in your age group. As in most of the Runtastic races, it’s a canyon run. The bus takes you to the top, in the pitch dark and as the sun slowly comes up (likely while you’re in the porta-potty line LOL), you can see where you are. This canyon is heavily wooded with aspens which makes for a beautiful course with lots of bird sounds as the sun comes up. Given it’s a July race, even if it’s hot in the valley, it’s perfect up top (you start at nearly 9000 feet). The downhills can be very steep but remember, don’t fight the hill, use gravity to fly! There are water stops/porta potties at the odd miles. It’s a fairly straight line race which helps with tangents (people, stop following the curves! Run the middle!). The finish is a long straight away on FLAT road into a neighborhood and then boom, there’s the finish. The medals that Runtastic does are always awesome. This year was a 3D mobile butterfly that was super cute. They also have other distances and proceeds go to an autism center. Expo is not anything to write home about but honestly, the shirt, sticker and medal they have makes it worth the race. Will run this one again for sure.