This was my "new" race for this year and I am sure glad I picked this little gem. Gary, Ernie and Harold and I left SLC at 3:00 and drove down to Price to pick up our packets, we heard that Groggs was a good place for dinner and ate on the patio of this little pub/diner, it was great, we could see the dark clouds coming in.... we picked up our packets at the Natural History Museum and found out it is okay to drive out to the race course and camp, if we could find it. We found the Huntington City park and asked a fellow who was there to pick up his race packet (sorry buddy, you have to go back to Price)anyway, he pointed us in the general direction and we headed out to find the race portapotties and mile markers, after several tries on different dirt roads, in the dark and in the rain we found the course and eventually the 13 mile start, it was made clear by the 5 portapotties rather than the single potties that lined the course. The rain had stopped, but the ground was wet and muddy, the guys decided to rough it and set up the tent, we opted to all stay in Gary and Ernie's mansion tent, plenty of room for 2 air beds and all our gear, plus standing room. Such luxury. As soon as we got the tent up and visited the super clean pops we got into bed and the rain began, a pretty wild storm for about an hour, we stayed toasty and dry in our tent. We woke up around 6:30 after hearing some of the race volunteers drive by and got dressed and out to the start by around 7 just in time for the race. I love not taking the early bus ride and waiting round for the race to start. There were over 400 in the race, they did a full, half and 10k. The course was a dirt road, nice scenery, and it got better and better the further a long you went, Buckhorn Wash is beautiful with petroglyphs on the walls and tall canyon walls. I felt good thru the race, and enjoyed my nice easy pace, at about mile 10 Ernie and Harold drove past me and gave me a drink of diet coke that got me thru to the end. The finish was a real party, loud music and lots of great food, the best food I have ever had at a finish, sandwiches, veggie trays, fruit trays, someone making snow cones, and all kinds of desserts and cookies. I checked my time, not sure why, I usually don't bother because I am in the back of the pack, but I took first place in my age group and got a beautiful glass award. I was really excited. When I checked I was the only person in my age group, but there were still people running in when we left, so it will be interesting to see if there were others in my age group behind me. The results are not on their website yet. After the race we explored Nine Mile Canyon and saw some beautiful petroglyphs, I love traveling with my husband Harold,and our dear friends Ernie and Gary. They are such good travel companions, we really have a good time together. I am lucky to have such a sweet hubby to go on these adventures with. I really enjoy these small races in interesting locations, rather than the big city races. I rate this a 5 star race!! We will be back next year, Ernie wants to run it! Harold need to bring his mountain bike!
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