Description of Race Events

Marathon:
Start time is 6:30 AM for the Marathon. This unique, scenic alpine loop course starts out from the Newpark Plaza and onto Highland Drive. A quick right/left at 1.5 miles puts the runners through the gentle upgrade of the Trailside residential area and past Trailside school/park. At this point the runners will be merged onto the paved bike path, and will make a left at Highland Drive. Rolling downhill for approximately 1 mile, runners then turn right (tiny bit rough here, watch your footing) and through the first tunnel of the course, which goes under the highway and onto the quiet paved road which terminates at the Historic Rail Trail. Runners then turn right and proceed along the smooth gravel Rail Trail for approximately 7 miles of gentle upgrade (2%), past open grazing land (yes, sometimes there are cows on the path) and beaver ponds. There is one road crossing in this section, manned by Utah Highway Patrol. The Rail Trail welcomes the runners into Park City with paved/gravel pathways. Upon crossing Bonanza Drive (traffic controlled by Park City’s finest), runners will continue the upward trend on the paved Poison Creek Trail (a remnant of our mining history) through City Park. Look to your right for great views of some 2002 Olympic ski runs. Traversing several short tunnels (one painted with a mural depiction of Park City’s mining heritage), the runners begin the top loop section, running to the base of the Deer Valley Resort, and the high point of the course. Upon reaching the Snow Park Lodge, the course flattens before turning downhill. Upon returning to the Poison Creek Trail, the course then turns west and guides runners through a fun section which has them running down the middle of an open shopping mall, a pedestrian bridge over Main Street, and across a skier bridge. A short, steep uphill ‘blip’ puts runners at the top of Empire Avenue and the start of the mostly downhill cruise to the finish. Runners will be on quiet city streets as they head past the Park City Mountain Resort, and along the rolling hills near the municipal golf course and headquarters for the Sundance Film Festival and back onto a paved bike path which takes runners to the historic McPolin barn depicted on our logo and finisher t-shirts. Another tunnel, some wood plank bridges over the pristine wetlands of the Swaner Nature Preserve and a paved bike path return to Newpark Plaza--it’s pretty enough to (almost) want to do it again!

Half Marathon:
The half marathon will start at 6:45 AM following the same start as the marathon but quickly turning toward town (south) along a paved bike path. This out-and-back design takes runners on the last six miles of the Marathon course, from the Fieldhouse south towards Park City on paved and smooth gravel bike paths adjacent to the Swaner Nature Preserve, with numerous wood plank bridges over creeks and wetlands. The course goes through a tunnel and past the McPolin barn shown on our logo and finisher t-shirts, and continues on a gentle uphill trend through quiet residential areas. The turn around point is near Rotary Park, with an aid station manned by the Sundance Institute (not sure if Robert Redford will actually be in attendance though).

Additional Race Information