We are still hopeful that the government will sort things out and our race will move forward as planned. That being said, we have developed a Plan B. There are a couple of things that you need to be aware of and we will try to be as clear as possible.
Plan B – The Course
Our Plan B course is a little different. It starts and ends in Page and does a loop along the rim trail. The original course had about 2 miles that went along this same trail. This course has more like 7-8 miles along the trail. That means it is more technical, has more ups and downs, but there are no really big long up hill sections. Despite what the elevation profile suggests.
The course is amazing with several miles having a gorgeous panoramic view of the lake and the surrounding desert. It is super super pretty. We looked at several other options, and we wanted to make sure we could offer an exceptional course. However, we know this is very different from what most of you have been training for. Trail running is different from road running in that you have to pay more attention to where you are stepping, thus you tend to run a little slower. That being said, trail running offers you access to views that cars do not enjoy. As Edward Abbey said “A man on foot…will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles.”
We are not fully committing to this course until we know for sure that the park will still be closed during our race. We are holding out as long as we possibly can. We’ve targeted October 16th as our tentative deadline. If the parks are not open or don’t appear to be opening by the 16th, then we will officially switch over to our Plan B course.Because we are having to change things up so much, we will be offering all runners the following options:
1) Full Refund – due to circumstances that are completely out of our control, this may not be the race you had planned for. So we will offer a full refund.
4) RUNÂ – Park closed what? No lake entry? Course isn’t what I originally thought it would be? I’m still running! I’ve trained and am ready to run! We respect that, and we don’t think you will regret it.
So, those are your options. We have updated the refund request form to reflect those options. You can find it here: REFUND REQUEST FORM
We are only offering these options until Sunday night (October 13th), so if you plan to request a refund or deferment, that is your deadline. Otherwise you will be subject to our normal refund and transfer policies.
If you are one of the few who have already requested a refund, but you would prefer one of the other options above, please email me by Sunday.
If you have any remaining questions please comment below, call us, send us an email, or hit us up on facebook.
I filled out the refund request form, should I be expecting any kind of confirmation email regarding it? I have not received one nor was their a confirmation number issued…just want to make sure I did it correctly. Thanks.
We’ll need more info. Can you email me your name at salem@www.vacationraces.com. I can make sure you have filled it out correctly.
email sent – thanks!
Just how technical is the trail portion? – I am dealing with plantar fasciitis and am not supposed to trail run – the added distance on a trail could really derail my marathon training and make this a miserable run.
It is fairly technical in several sections. You aren’t jumping from rock to rock or anything, but its rough. While we want you to run, you should probably listen to your doctor.
Does the 3 1/2 hr time limit still stand?
We will be able to extend it 4 hours. Although, as long as we think you are safe, we’ll let you take your time if you need more than 4 hours.
thanks – not sure hubby would finish in 3 1/2 with all the extra trail. That would allow me to walk parts of the trail also.
Yes for sure. You’ll want to stop a couple times anyway to take in the scenery :)