Escalante Canyons Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5K Fun Run

Unlike the person who wrote a scathing review never having run this race, I HAVE run this race and love it so much that I'm back for a second go! The course is on one of the most scenic stretches of road - probably in the entire world, and certainly in the US. It's a small community-run Race and I was amazed at how incredible each aid station was - supportive volunteers and all the fuel and hydration I needed. The Finish Line experience was so wonderful. And the small town nature of this race is incredible - e.g. the physical therapist at the finish doing some stretch out stuff for runners the son of the man who founded the race and drives the bus to the start line! In 2023 a local fruit grower was handing out fresh apples to racers in the final half mile of the course. And the apples were some of the best I've ever had. The course is challenging in ways that Boggle the mind with Incredible elevation gain and loss. It's a challenge that I love and a wonderful race for me as I move into my 50s. It's not a course to try to PR on - and that's great! Instead I get to challenge myself to try to run positive splits that are a little less positive than the first time I ran the race and focus on building my strength and confidence as a hill runner. There's only one other race I would consider running multiple times and that's California International Marathon - the fastest course in the west and a completely different experience than this one. If you're considering this race please note my words and not those of the person who didn't even run the race. The race director is a volunteer and probably gets a lot of emails. There's the possibility their message got lost or there's the possibility that the author of that review was using the wrong email address. The race is amazing!