Mesa Falls Marathon

Part of our vacation was participate in the Mesa Falls Marathon in Ashton, Idaho. The race had been recommended to me by another runner that I talked to last year. Ashton is a small agricultural town in eastern Idaho, straight west of the Tetons and Yellowstone. One of the best things about the marathon was how well it was run. The race is small and rural, but they took care of the runners very well. We took nice (the kind with bathrooms and leg room) chartered buses to the start in the middle of nowhere in the national forest. The race started early (6:30), which was nice. They even let us stay on the bus until the start, so there was no cooling off. It wasn't cold at all for running, maybe in the upper 40's. The first 9+ miles were on empty dirt roads through the national forest. Perfect for relaxing and easing into a pace.

I carried a disposable camera with me while running. The pictures aren't high-quality, but I enjoyed looking at them. The next four miles were along a scenic highway, capped off by the overlook for the Lower Mesa Falls.

After the halfway point, the course turned on to a dirt path that followed along a river. It was scenic. The temps were rising, but it was still pretty comfortable in the woods.

At about mile 17, the course left the path and started to climb out of the valley. This hill lasted three miles and gained about three hundred feet. The hill slowed me down, but it didn't kill me. I came out feeling decent.

We left all shade behind by about mile 19, entering rolling wheat and potato fields.

The sun feels more intense out west to me. It started to get pretty hot and dry. I worked hard to try to keep hydrated and fueled. I spent the last three miles run/walking, but I was still happy to finish with a 4:38. The post race food was nice as well.