Lake Powell Half Marathon

♠ Posted by Paul Naylor at 3:12 PM

I am a go for the Lake Powell Half Marathon! This came as a last minute decision to run this race when I found a runner who wanted to sell their bib. I'm really excited to run this course, from the pictures, its going to be a very scenic route. The other great thing is that the race is in Arizona, so this will cover a race for my 50 states goal. I'm also a little nervous about the race, since it was last minute, I didn't do much preparing as far as race strategy, pacing or other running things. So I plan to enjoy the day: weather, route and just being with other runners. There will be no strategy for a PR, just a nice pace that will be relaxed.

This will be the first race that I run from the Vacation Races series. I have seen ads and posts for their races before, and I'm even planning to run in two of their races next year. The main idea for their races is run where you play, or while on vacation, why not run a race while you're there. They also have a self hydration policy, which is something that I have not done before. The idea is for runners to carry their own water bottle, and they can fill them at the water stations along to course. This is so that paper cups will no longer be scattered along each water station. This is great to get a better hold on garbage and volunteers time cleaning everything up. So it will be an adjustment getting use to carrying a water bottle during the race.

The race starts you out from a high school in Page, Arizona. From there, the course runs through the neighborhood for three miles. The next two miles are along the trail before heading to Glen Canyon Dam. After passing the dam, the course turns onto Lake Shore Dr where the route will parallel the water until the marina just across the Utah/Arizona border.

Overall, pretty excited to run this race. From what I hear, the scenery is going to be incredible, the weather forecast is looking good, and I think that the finisher medal is great. Here to a great racing day!