Located on the high desert plain of southeast Arizona, Sierra Vista offers the ideal venue to stage a beautiful and challenging Half Marathon and 5K event with a 1M fun Run/Walk. Starting at 4,500 feet and with the Huachuca mountains as their background, the Rising Sun Run courses wind through …
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Located on the high desert plain of southeast Arizona, Sierra Vista offers the ideal venue to stage a beautiful and challenging Half Marathon and 5K event with a 1M fun Run/Walk. Starting at 4,500 feet and with the Huachuca mountains as their background, the Rising Sun Run courses wind through country neighborhoods with the half marathon continuing up to the half marathon turnaround at the entrance to the beautiful Ramsey Canyon Preserve at 5500’ of elevation. The return to the half marathon finish line affords beautiful vistas of the San Pedro River valley to the end of the run. Both courses are USA Track & Field certified.
As mentioned above, the half marathon course presents a challenge to even the experienced half marathoner due to the altitude and the significant elevation change. As a half marathon runner, you need to plan on completing your race in 3 hours or less.
The Rising Sun Run is a great race for great causes as all event proceeds go to provide vocational scholarships for Buena high school graduates and Cochise College incoming freshmen, scholarships for Rotary youth leadership and professional skills development programs, and funding for Rotary service projects for our non-profit organizations.
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3.75 rating......
TOUGH course! 6.5 miles with I believe 1,000+ ft elevation gain. The 2nd half back down was obviously much better! All paved roads/trails and very well marked. Beautiful scenery going … MORE
TOUGH course! 6.5 miles with I believe 1,000+ ft elevation gain. The 2nd half back down was obviously much better! All paved roads/trails and very well marked. Beautiful scenery going up if you could breath :). Saw grey deer and wild turkeys. Course well marked and well manned. Beautiful Huachuca Mountains!
Small race, but we are growing to like these better than big races. Can arrive 30 min before start, park across the street, no wait for bathrooms, etc…… You of course don’t have the spectator support. Know that it’s just a different vibe as a small race vs large race. Both are good.
The race shirt was terrible. I can usually tell races where a non runner handled the tshirt order…..unfortunately. Unisex sizes which I dislike & only S/M/L. They had a 5k & Fun Run which meant kids participating so they should at least offer an XS or kids sizes too. The sz small fit my husband who is 6’1″ and normally wears a Lg! I normally wear a Kids Lg. If no kids sz I then wear a female cut XS. Long distance runners are going to be petite/smaller. Races need to keep that in mind. The shirts were colored though and not white….thank you for that!
They gave us yet another sling pack bag. Please no more of these….runners have too many of these! We also got a water bottle, bottle opener, post it notes and a Rice Krispie treat in the bag that was hard as a rock. Skip all the extra stuff that most of us toss and go with better shirts or socks or hats…..please!
The food table post race had a basket for donations. I’ve never seen this before? I thought the post race food was included in entry fees? They ran out of donuts/bagels/muffins by the time my husband finished (2:45) and were already almost out when I finished (2:10). Need to stock a bit more.
Good medals!
Nice outdoor area for post race. Even had tables & seating which was nice for a change. Especially after the legs did all that uphill running.
Packet pickup was a breeze.
Super nice people and volunteers around every corner.
We stayed in the quirky, eclectic and incredibly cool town of Bisbee (35 min away) and made this a vacation destination race. Well worth it, but be sure to train for this one.