Lake Powell Half-Marathon

   Realizing I would be hitting a milestone birthday this year, I wanted to test my endurance and attempt my first half-marathon.

A gorgeous sunrise over Arizona.

   So last March I heard about Vacation Races, a company that organizes half-marathons near national parks, and found the Lake Powell Half-Marathon. An October race in Arizona sounded sunny and cool, and so I went to register but then waited, then waited some more until finally in September I summoned the courage and signed up to run 13.1 miles.
     
   Flying on Oct. 13 to Phoenix, Kevin, Michael and I drove almost five hours to the tiny town of Page, Ariz., where we joined about 2,300 other runners. Our Knights Inn Hotel was perfect and conveniently across the street from the bib pick-up and race start at John C. Page Park, which eliminated so much stress. The only disappointment there was someone else's name on my bib. When I asked one of the staffers, she suggested that I just cross out the wrong name and write my name instead. Definitely not want you want to hear from an organizer, when race registration costs over $100.

   After a day of touring nearby, including the beautiful Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, we tried to go somewhere to eat but the town's restaurants weren't able to meet the demands of over 2,000 temporary new inhabitants. After calling three eateries, one hostess said they were too busy to seat us or to do take-out, a Subway sandwich when you're starving was a perfect pre-race meal!

   After a restless night of sleep as I thought of running in the Arizona desert, it was 5:30 a.m. and time to get ready to race! Arriving about 20 minutes before the 6:30 a.m. start, we watched the sky slowly transformed from black to a mix of oranges, pinks and yellows. I was surprised how little nervous I felt as we got closer to race time, 5Ks make me more anxious! I told myself that I was aiming to finish around two hours, 30 minutes, enjoy the experience and just take my time to finish.

   As my corral inched towards the start line, it was finally time to race! The first three miles took us along the mostly flat residential neighborhood streets of Page. It was great to see kids (one dressed as Jasmine from "Aladdin") and their parents standing on their front lawns to cheer on the runners. We even saw two boxer dogs who had climbed out of a window and were sitting on the roof of their house, casually watching the runners (a fellow runner informed us the dogs usually sit on the roof). Heading to the airport, we watched as the sun slowly rose and transformed the mountains' hues.

   After 3.5 miles we off to the exciting part of the race and the Page Rimview Trail and caught our first views of Lake Powell. So many runners stopped to take photos before starting on the single-lane red sand trail. It was a bit challenging at first to try and not trip over the rocks and roots and also not bump into any fellow runners, but it was amazing to run and take in all the awesome views. Going up the mesa a few times led to some congestion, and I didn't mind when we starting walking due to some runner traffic congestion. The two miles on the trail were my favorite of the race.

   With water and Gnarly energy drink stops every few miles, I stopped around Mile 5 to fill up my new Hydrapouch for the first time. Vacation Races promotes environmentally friendly events (there are recycling bins everywhere) and the silicone Hydrapouches clip to your waistbands and eliminate paper cups. I'm all about the helping the environment and I thought it was a great idea and wish it was implemented in more races.

   After the quick drink, we headed back onto the road and down a very steep decline. Slowing down my pace, I could see the Glen Canyon Dam up ahead. As I reached the dam there were so many runners stopping for photos, but I'm not a huge fan of heights, so I focused straight ahead on the hill after the bridge and soon started up the steepest incline of the half-marathon. Trudging up Highway 89 was the most challenging part of the race for me, because of the arduous ridge and also the boring view of only cars and tractor trailers

   Soon we turned right onto a gravel road which quickly merged with Lake Shore Drive. The sun was brilliantly shining and the weather felt perfect (no humidity!) as we raced along Lake Powell in the in the Glen Canyon National Recreational Area. I felt re-charged and excited when I reached Mile 7 and heard the familiar Philly music of "Gonna Fly Now" from "Rocky." I played that song over and over in my head as I finished up the last half of the race.

   As I reach the 10 Mile marker (previously the longest distance I've ever run for Broad Street), the pain in my knees and hips continued to increase. I drew inspiration from the runners around me, including a young kid in his first half-marathon and a woman pushing a stroller with a very vocally upset child.

   Finally the finish line was in sight! At around 9:30 a.m. I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:38:34! I had thought I would be around 2:30, so I was definitely happy with my time. Greeting me at the finish was Mike and Kevin, who remembered to bring me my flip-flops for my aching feet. When I went to sit on a curb to put them on, someone from Lucid Photography (the official race photographers) told me to move out of their picture taking. Definitely won't purchase any photos when the company treats runners so rudely.

   Overall, it was a great race and an awesome family vacation to the southwest! We spent another few days touring this beautiful region and made stops at Monument Valley, Navajo National Monument, Kanab, Utah, and the Grand Canyon. An awe-inspiring trip and a great way to celebrate the centennial of the U.S. Nation Park Service!