At Vacation Races, we believe a race is more than a 13.1 mile run. A race is an opportunity to experience the location. It would be a shame if you traveled all the way to Yellowstone to run a race, and didn’t even take the short drive to see Old Faithful! Can you imagine? What a waste. To encourage our runners to get out and explore the area where we hold races, we do something a little unique.
Each race has an official “race hike”. What you do is this: upon completing the race, each runner is challenged to embark on a little adventure. Within 72 hours of finishing the race, you need to complete the designated race hike, take a picture of you with your race bib at the summit of the hike and submit it to us. Everyone that does this becomes a member of that hike’s club AND gets 50% OFF their registration for that race the following year!
For example, at the Zion Half Marathon, we initiated the Angels Club. We had 103 runners hike to the top of Angels Landing. If you have never seen the view from the top of Angels Landing, it is breathtaking.
At the Rocky Mountain Half in Colorado, runners summited Hallett Peak to join the Continental Divid Club. We had six runners complete the challenge, which is extremely hard core. The hike to Hallett Peak is a little longer and a little more intense than Angel’s Landing. We also had fewer race participants than at Zion, so we are proud of our 6.
At Lake Powell it will be Rainbow Bridge.
At the Grand Canyon it will be a hike down into the canyon to Skeleton Point and then back out (this hike doesn’t take you to the canyon floor).
You get the idea. So, the question is: what do we do for Yellowstone? Old faithful is a short drive and a shorter walk. You should definitely go see it, but that doesn’t count. Â We want activities that are going to be a challenge, but that are actually doable. We are opening it up to suggestions and nominations. Are there iconic hikes around Yellowstone that our runners should be a part of? Maybe a hike doesn’t make sense for this location. Is there some other activity we could do instead of a hike? All you Yellowstone fanatics, experts, veterans, etc. sound off and let us know!