Utah County Crossroads Half

I love exploring the beautiful things that Utah has to offer. There are so many of them, from the mountains to the trails to
the many events going on in the valley. When they are running related I try to post them here for all of you so you can enjoy
them too.
One such event is the Utah County Crossroads half. https://crossroadshalf.com/ One thing that is pretty cool about this race is that as you are running the
race you will come to a crossroad and you can choose which path you want to take. One of the paths has more of a dirt trail
mixed with asphalt and the other is completely asphalt. Each has unique attributes that make them worth choosing and they both
end back at the same place.
This race is intriguing to me because both routes are on a trail albeit different t
ypes of trails. So I like that it is surrounded
by the types of things you would find on a trail, and that it allows me to go exploring all while running a race.
Some other cool features of this race is that there are two different finishers medals. one is for those who run the hollow trail,
and the other is for those who run the Murdock canal trail. Another cool feature is that the shirt highlights the trail you chose
to take.

Overall I think this race will be awesome and I hope to see you all there!
Check out their website and be sure to register. https://crossroadshalf.com
I will be visiting the course hopefully this weekend and taking pictures, but in the meantime all of the photos I used here are from their website.

Beat the Sun

Recently I was doing some research for a class and I stumbled upon the Beat the sun event by Asics so I read a little further and discovered that it is really two events that take place on the longest day of the year June 21st.

One event is a global challenge to step outside your comfort zone and strive to beat the sun. Basically you set a goal you want to accomplish and you try to accomplish it on that day. And you share that goal to help you achieve it. I love setting goals. There is nothing more motivating than to work hard for something and see it come to pass. To me this event is about
bettering yourself.

The other event is the relay race around Mount Blanc where 24 amateur athletes are paired up with professional athletes and they are divided by which continent they are on and they race each other, and the sun around Mount Blanc. This event is really hard to get into but it would be the coolest thing to participate in.  If you want to get selected as one of the 24 athletes there are a few things that you will need to do.

1. Run a 10k race in under 50 minutes, or a half marathon in under 1 hour and 40 minutes. This will need to be done by April 20, 2016.
2. Make a 15 second video of why you want to go, and what is the biggest challenge of your life so far.
3. Provide information on which country issued your current passport.
4. Agree to comply with the official rules.

All amateur athletes that submit these things will go through a selection process by a panel of judges. The group will be narrowed down to 50 then those 50 will go through the panel of judges and the public can also cast their vote for who they want to be selected; then the 24 athletes that are selected will go on to compete at Mount Blanc.

If you decide that you want to participate in the beat the sun challenge be sure to let us know here at On the Run so we can vote for you. This year I will be participating in the global challenge I have been striving to get my 10k time down to 45 minutes and I think with consistency I will be able to reach that goal on June 21st, but next year I would like to submit an entry for the relay.

Good luck with your current endeavors and have fun on the run!

For more information on the rules and regulations visit
https://races.asics.com/en/en-us/beatthesun/terms_and_conditions

For more information on both events visit
https://races.asics.com/us/en-us/beatthesun/signup_1

Boys chase girls half marathon

I have to tell you about my first ever half marathon. It was the boys chase girls half marathon in Hunstville, Utah. This was a great experience for a first half marathon. I really just stumbled on this race when I was searching for something else and when I read the name of the race I thought it was funny so I decided to sign up.
I had a couple goals for this race. They were to make friends, to come in under three hours and to enjoy the scenery. I am happy to report that I accomplished all three of these goals, and I even found another trail that I would like to try out in the future.
The first mile of this race was all up hill, but then the next eight miles were down hill. It leveled out for the last 4 miles with the occasional rolling hill.
I honestly loved the scenery that was on the trail there were some springs of water scattered on the trail which is always invigorating to me, and there were some incredible mountain ranges. Aside from the scenery I think my highlight of the race was at the 1.5 miles left where the aid station was Hawaiian themed and they rang the cattle bell signifying the final stretch of the race.
Everyone who ran got a medal, but I thought I would mention the youngest runners and also the fastest runners. So the youngest runner on the course was a 12 year old boy. My sister watched the race and apparently he came in so fast that they thought he probably ran the 10k. However I can attest that he ran the half since I saw him pass me and I was quite surprised. He came in with a time of 1:39.09! He kicked my butt that's for sure; then the youngest girl to race was 18, there were actually two 18 year olds to race. I ran with one of them and the other was significantly faster than me with a time of 2:07.40.  The fastest man to race got a time of 1:17.59, and the fastest lady was 1:34.39.
So there were definitely some awesome stuff going on in the half marathon.
The 10 and 5k were significantly less represented since there were less than 20 runners in each of those races. If you are looking for a race to medal in these ones would be the perfect choice.
One thing I really liked about this race was the comfortable environment. I would recommend this race to anyone that is looking for an enjoyable first half marathon and to anyone that wants to enjoy the scenery and the views.

The run before the Turkey!

Ok so it has been way too long since I last put an article up, its not for lack of content I have so many articles I need to write right now, but I have had some other priorities that I have been working on. So its thanksgiving morning, where is your race at? For me it will be in a small town, and it will be the best 5k ever!
This is the 8th annual Erda Turkey trot. In case you couldn't tell from the picture the that t-shirt is from the 2nd annual turkey trot. I love this race I think its so fun and I think the picture is pretty fun too. Here are some reasons why this is my favorite 5k ever.

1. This race is free. If you just want to go have a fun race and not spend your money this is the perfect choice. However if you want a t-shirt that will cost.
2. After the race there will be lots of breads and possibly cinnamon rolls and cookies. I realize these things aren't that healthy but that's why you just got done running.
3. I don't know for sure if it is still this way, but the two times I've done it if you get tired you can get picked up in a tractor! Have you ever done a race where you could get picked up by a tractor? I didn't think so. For the record I never have been, I just thought that it was the coolest thing.
4. The t-shirts have the most local businesses on them as they come, such as the pez museum. If I had prepared sooner in advance I would have put my blog on there too, but you snooze you loose. Next year! 

So these are some of my reasons why I will be doing the Erda turkey trot this year.
For those of you who have heard of Erda the location is on cochrane lane. The line-up of announcements is at 7:45 and the race will begin at 8:00 am sharp. The prizes and raffles will begin at 9:00 am sharp.
If you have a local race that you think is better than this one post it on the facebook page on the run america, and whoevers article is liked the most will have their article posted in the blog in two weeks. That should give you enough time to think of yours and get those votes.

Team DomiNate

Picture from facebook page domiNate.

So this week I wanted to share with you about a race of one of my former teammates. Nate was recently diagnosed with a form of cancer in his sinus. His family put this race together to raise the funds necessary for him to beat it.
The race is  November 15 at 11 am. It begins at Lone Peak High School, goes around a pond and ends back at the high school. They will be awarding prizes for the top three competitors for the ladies and top three for the gentlemen. There will also be awesome race bags that come with t-shirts, arm warmers and bracelets for the participants. 
Along with the race the event also has activities for the kids, and booths from their sponsors.
This will be an awesome race to go and do. And it will benefit a great promoter of running in Utah.
Register at https://www.runnercard.com/roadrace/public/raceGroup/975282  or visit their Facebook page Team domiNate for more information.
I'll see you all at the race!

The Aftermath: Invasion part II

After completing the invasion run, I wanted to do a follow-up piece.
The invasion started in area 51 and went into the corn field. While I didn't see any aliens I could definitely hear them and I was just glad I kept my trusty lightsaber on hand. I also had a run in with the bubble pit which was probably the scariest part because there was no way I'd see the aliens in there.
After completing the race awards were given to the top three overall times for both the men and the women. As well as the top time of each of the age divisions. Perhaps the most notable feats of all was  that of a nine year old girl named Krysta who came in third overall for the ladies. That was incredible!
I included the top three times for the men and women overall. If you want to see the rest of the results you can check out their website.
Men                         Time                  Age
Chris Claflin             18:43.00           25
Spencer Young         20:30.00          22
Christian Hunt          20:30.00          26
Women                     Time                 Age
Kelly Williams          22:21.00          22
Brynda Ku                24:26.00          31
Krysta Ream             25:26.00           9
After completing the race I had a chance to talk to the creators of the race Steve and Austin and found out that they have been timing races for several years then decided that they should make their own race. They asked McCoards corn maze if they could organize the race there and they were willing to lend the space. As part of their race they also give ten percent of the proceeds to the nonprofit organization rising star. This organization seeks to bring hope to those affected by leprosy. For more information on what they do you can check out the website. It is a worthy cause. This is the second year that The Invasion 5k has been organized, and it was a great success.
Thanks for the fun race. And congratulations to all who participated and see you next year.

One quick reminder the invasion run website is:

www.invasionrun.com

And the website for The rising star is:

www.risingstaroutreach.org

The Invasion!!!!

I was looking for some awesome races to share with you that were less well known. Seriously I had to do some searching to find these but I think that you will want to run this race as much as I do.
Coming up on September 5th is "The invasion".
"The Invasion" is a creative themed run through Mccoards mystery corn maze, while being chased by... You guessed it, Aliens! Your only line of defense is is your own personal Lightsaber or ray gun! And for you Doctor who fans we won't tell if you bring your Sonic Screwdrivers.
This is a 5K race and you can register for the family fun run, which is a big alien survival 5k free for all (Not being timed, and no medals).
Or for you elite Alien 5K survivors you can register for "The Invasion," which is the a competition.
Another thing to note is the mystery slime pit located somewhere on the course. But we won't say where!
I have included the address or for more information check out their website.

McCoard's

Mystery Corn Maze, 

384 S 3110 W 

Provo, UT 84601

http://www.invasionrun.com/



They also have a Facebook page. See you at the finish line!