Event Description

We have partnered with the National Park Foundation to support our mission of park promotion and preservation! By registering for this race, you have the opportunity to join the #FindYourPark movement by donating to the National Park Foundation. Vacation Races will pay for all the processing fees and administrative costs, so that means 100% of your donation will benefit the National Park Foundation.

Course Descriptions:

This is your chance to run a challenging, scenic course through the southern Utah desert adjacent to Zion National Park. 4 distances will be offered in 2015- a Half Marathon, 50k, 100k, and a 100 miler. The 100 miler and 100k will be run on Friday, with the half marathon and 50k on Saturday. The 100 mile course includes 4 steep climbs onto mesas that offer incredible views of the varied geological features of the area.

100 Mile- This course starts out with a steep climb up the Flying Monkey trail up onto the mesa, where you'll find an aid station. You'll do a six mile loop at the top and then come back down the way you came up before heading east towards the Dalton Wash aid station.  There is a small stream crossing around mile 13.5, but if you cross it in the right place, your feet should stay dry. After hitting the Dalton Wash aid station for the first time, you'll climb over the hill on a single track trail for a mile, then head up the dirt road 4 miles to the top of the mesa where the Guacamole trail begins. There is an aid station near the beginning of the 7.5 mile loop that you'll pass through on your way out and back, then you'll head back down to the Dalton Wash aid station for the second time (mile 30ish).  You'll then cross the highway and start across the desert towards the looming Gooseberry Mesa.  You'll scramble up a 1,500ft ascent to the Goosebump Aid Station and then head out towards Gooseberry Point. A half mile from the overlook point will be an aid station that you'll pass through on your way out and back from the overlook (mile 40). You'll then hug the south rim of the mesa for a mile or so before heading inland, angling back towards the Goosebump aid station, which you'll hit a second time around mile 47. From here, you'll take a dirt road just over six miles to the Grafton Mesa aid station. You'll then run north to the end of Grafton Mesa, where you'll drop down off the mesa to an aid station at the bottom of a wash near the ghost town's cemetery (mile 57.5).  You'll then head back up the mesa and will work your way back to the Grafton Mesa aid station for the second time, then back to the Goosebump aid station for a third time (mile 68.5). You'll now go back down the steep trail to the bottom of the mesa, then you'll follow a faint doubletrack west along the foot of the mesa over to the Virgin Desert aid station.  You'll do three different loops on the smooth singletrack of this trail system before bringing it home. 

100K- This route follows the 100 mile route until the second pass through the Goosebump aid station at mile 47.  From here, the 100K drops off of Gooseberry Mesa and heads west, passing through the Virgin Dam Aid station before traversing the desert to the finish line.

50K- This route begins by heading straight towards and then up onto Gooseberry Mesa, then does the 12 mile loop on top. After dropping back off the mesa, the trail heads west to the Virgin Dam aid station and then to the finish.

Half Marathon- This rugged and scenic route climbs over 1,500ft up onto Smith Mesa via the Flying Monkey trail, then does a six mile loop on top of the mesa, hitting the aid station twice before coming back down to the finish line.