A Marathon Runs Through It

Lower Mesa Falls

When I first started researching the Warm River area in preparation for our summer here, I stumbled across a reference to the Mesa Falls Marathon.  I was delighted – a certified race right here in my new home-away-from-home.

Warm River Spring

The Mesa Falls Marathon and Half-Marathon is this running camp host’s dream come true.  The marathon begins at the Warm River Spring – the source of the river that runs through our campground.  It runs down the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway, past upper and lower Mesa Falls, and then takes off on the Railroad Grade Trail into the Warm River Campground.  That’s right – the Mesa Falls Marathon runs right through our campground!

Railroad Grade Trail

This year’s marathon is scheduled for Saturday, August 24.  You can learn more about the Mesa Falls Marathon at mesafallsmarathon.com.  Here’s the brief description of the courses.

Marathon

The Marathon course features a unique blend of running surfaces including 9.8 miles of gravel roads, 2.8 miles of packed trails along Warm River, and 13.6 miles of pavement and provides spectacular views of the Targhee National Forest, the Teton Mountains, Lower Mesa Falls on the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, and Warm River. The course starts at an elevation of 6135 ft. and is generally downhill. There is one significant uphill climb from mile 17.1 to mile 19.9 with an elevation gain of 300 ft. in 2.8 miles. The race finishes at 5253 ft. for an overall course elevation loss of 882 ft. Aid stations are located at approximately 2 mile intervals beginning at mile 2.

Half Marathon

The Half Marathon begins at Bear Gulch and features 2.8 miles of packed trails along the old railroad bed paralleling the spectacular Warm River.  The remaining 10.3 miles are on pavement and feature views of

Tetons from the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway

Wyoming’s Teton Mountains and the rolling farm fields in Idaho’s famous potato country. The course starts at an elevation of 5746 ft. and is generally downhill with the finish line at 5253 ft. for an overall elevation loss of 493 ft. There is one significant uphill section from mile 4 to mile 6.8 with an elevation gain of 300 ft. in 2.8 miles. Aid stations are located every 2 miles.

The spectacular Warm River – yep, that’s the river that runs through our campground.  The significant uphill section is the climb out of the campground toward the city of Ashton.  I’ve been running this hill since I arrived at Warm River.

Both my husband and our area manager have given me the go-ahead to take Saturday morning, August 24, off work.  I’m planning to run the half-marathon.