Arizona

Colors, colors, colors! My ode to the sacred landscape! For this race, I flew into Albuquerque, NM, and drove northwest to Page, AZ. Since I have access to a car in Albuquerque, I took this as an opportunity to see more of the southwest, and it was only 1.5 hours longer than flying into Phoenix.  I ended up driving a loop from Gallup, NM, through the Navajo Nation to Page, and then back through Tuba City where I passed by the famous Dinosaur tracks (worth stopping), and the Hopi Walapi Village.  It was a short trip, but I was immersed in Navajo and Hopi land. The landscape is some of the most beautiful in the United States.   

I’ve always been curious about slot canyons.  The colors, textures, shapes and stunning formations are a photographer’s dream.  Antelope Canyon is one of the most famous. Considering a tour costs around $100 and sells out a month ahead, I felt the race would be a much more worthy adventure. Vacation Races created a route that also includes several other slot canyons.  It runs through Sand Dune Canyon, Deer Canyon, Tree stump Canyon, Rams Head Canyon, and Ligai Si' Anii, which ensures the experience of the magical late morning/afternoon daylight time.  The trade-off for this year’s course was not seeing Horseshoe Bend, but considering that can be viewed easily without a tour, I think the trade-off is better. 

The Antelope Canyon Race Guide states: “do not plan on this race being a PR.”  At least they are upfront about it! Almost the entire course is sand. SAND. And I’m not talking about a little sand, like the kind that covers a hard trail, I’m talking about deep sand, like the kind you find on a dry beach sand.  And it really doesn’t let up.  So…if you decide to run this race just know that you will be running in sand.  Still, the front runners managed some crazy fast times. I believe the winner finished in 5:38. They probably started in the front of the pack where they didn’t have to wait in lines to advance through the via ferrata sections. I started towards the end of the pack, so there was plenty of line waiting, but this just gave me more time to get to know other runners as well as take photos. I still finished in the top quarter of the 620 runners. Yes this is a packed race, but the bottlenecks only occurred in the canyon sections and then everyone spread out again.

The race started at 5 AM. The initial terrain was mostly jeep road sand so we didn’t miss anything being in the dark. By the time the sun came up we were at the first semi-slot canyon which made the transition to sunrise extra beautiful. From there it didn’t let up and we were under clear blue skies all day. This was the first race with the new course, and it was full of slot canyons.  At each canyon there were volunteers to help runners navigate some of the cables or ladders and I was grateful they chose to spend their day helping all the runners navigate and be safe. Some of them were Navajo and I could tell they enjoyed sharing their land and cheering on the runners.  It seems that just when I was tired of running in deep sand, we were rewarded by another slot canyon, or some slick rock, or a beautiful view. The via ferrata was a special treat. But fair warning, if you are afraid of heights and tall ladders this may not be the race for you!  But the beauty of the course is spectacular.  And the challenge of the terrain kept it interesting.

Initially I was a little skeptical of Vacation Races since they were just bought out by Motive Sports in October. I was not sure how that would change things. However, they managed to keep on some of the same race directors and truly I felt this race was very well run. Starting with the Navajo presentation at the expo (definitely worth checking out!), through every aid station, it felt like a local race.  The aid stations were well stocked with a variety of food including quesadillas and plenty of pickles, and no shortage of porta-potties and cheer.  This was a well-run race and I give Vacation Races an “A”.  I guess my only gripe would be that starting the 30K, 55K, and 50 mile runners all at the same time definitely created bottlenecks, but the tradeoff was insurance everyone cleared the canyons before the tours begin.  If that’s the only option, then so be it. There’s something very magical and mystical about that area, and I’m thankful Vacation Races makes it accessible.  I’m already missing the colors and can’t wait to run it again.