The Course: Mile by Mile

We’ve talked about how pretty this course is, so let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. While this is probably our most beautiful course, it is also our most challenging. We’ve written out a mile-by-mile course description so you’ll know exactly what you’re signing up for.

Below the description you can see a course and elevation map.

Start: The race starts right in front of the Historic Stanley Hotel. Specifically, we’ll start the race on Steamer Parkway, right near Steamer Drive.

Mile 1: The course runs down Steamer Drive to the highway. We’ll close the highway for about 5 minutes while all the runners cross. On the East side of the highway is a walking path. We’ll get onto the walking path and head South towards the visitors center, run through the visitors center parking lot and jump on the running path that goes around the lake. We’ll be running counter clockwise around the lake.

Mile 2: The second mile of the run is right next to the lake is almost perfectly flat.

Mile 3: As soon as you hit mile 2 there is a fairly steep incline for about 75 yards. The path makes a hard left and starts to run slightly down hill for about 200 yards. At this point you make another hard left and run down into a beautiful meadow and across the river. The mile finishes with a gradual uphill for the last 300 yards.

Mile 4: This mile is also run right along the lake. It starts with a small down hill but is mostly flat and very pretty.

Mile 5: It starts flat as you exit the lake but the run up the highway is challenging. It’s not super long, but it’s definitely uphill.

Mile 6: You finish running up the highway, and its kind of a gradual incline. We’ll cross the the highway just before mile 6 to run up Dry Gulch Road. It’s a more gradual uphill than the  elevation profile would make you believe.

Miles 7-8: A run up Dry Gulch in interesting and has flashes of beauty, but this is where we make you earn your finisher medal. No amazing vistas and its a gradual uphill.

Mile 9: As you get to the end of Dry Gulch you start to get a peak of the rockies on your left.  you turn left and get onto Devil’s Gulch road and the view may just stop you in your tracks.

Miles 10-12: Things get fast as you start running downhill and have world class views of the Rocky Mountains to distract you from the pain. Words can’t describe how pretty this section is. The road is windy and its a pretty consistent downhill.

Mile 13: You start getting back into town as you get onto MacGregor Avenue. We’ll be turning left onto Wonderview. About 150 feet onto Wonderview there is a single track dirt path on the left just off the road. You can see the red arrows pointing to it in the picture below. We’ll run up the path onto the Stanley Hotel property and turn right just before the tennis courts.

**Strollers: Strollers are allowed on all of our courses as long as you don’t become a nuisance to our other runners.

Elevation Profile