Can You Run a Race in a National Park? Yeah, ya can! Check Out 5 Gorgeous Ones
Are you planning your running year, AND also your travel year? How about putting them together and doing a half or full marathon in or near a national park? Makes your running experience just that much cooler and memorable. And when your run is done, spend a couple of days getting to know a beautiful natural treasure.
Some of these event courses are actually within park boundaries, others are just outside, but either way, you get splendid scenery. Here are five events to consider at parks around the country. Check out the dates, the type (trail or paved), the distance options, and the highlights. Then plan your race and trip!
If you love trading running stories and ideas, like what next run to do, the Unstill Life Running Community is for you. Meet up with us for a Wed or Sat run (or walk, or a little of both) and bond over running, travel, injury rehab, and get input from your running coach Rachel. Here’s where we’ll be this week.
Crater Lake National Park – Run the Rim
Type: Trail
Date: Early August
Distances: 10K, half and full marathon
Beautiful views of Crater Lake all along the route.
Jackson Hole Half & Full Marathon near Grand Teton and Yellowstone
Type: Paved road and paved path
Date: late September
Distances: 10K, half and full marathon
Follow up the race at the Teton Village Oktoberfest.
Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine
Type: Road
Date: Mid October (leaves!)
Distances: half and full marathon, and relay
The course travels by lakes, mountain and seaside vistas and cute Maine villages.
Rocky Mountain Half Marathon, Estes Colorado
Type: paved road loop (stroller and wheelchair accessible)
Date: July 31/Aug 1
Distance: half marathon and 5K
Stunning mountain scenery.
New River National Park, North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains
Type: paved with very short gravel segments
Date: mid May
Distances: Marathon, Half Marathon, 5K
Long segments of all the courses go along the riverside. Check out the country’s newest national park.
And of course, I’d love to help you train and prepare for such a journey. Helping you dial in the full experience–the meaningful people and places, not just the fitness–is one of my specialty skills.
