Course Descriptions
Full Marathon: Course Map
Start time is 6:30am for the Marathon. This unique, scenic alpine loop course starts out from the Newpark Plaza and onto Highland Drive. A quick right/left at 1.5 miles puts the runners through the gentle upgrade of the Trailside residential area and past Trailside school/park. At this point the runners move onto paved and then gravel bike paths before getting back onto Highland Drive. Rolling downhill for approximately 1 mile, runners then turn right (tiny bit rough here, watch your footing) and through the first tunnel of the course, which goes under the highway and onto the quiet paved road, which terminates at the Historic Rail Trail. Runners then turn right and proceed along the smooth gravel Rail Trail for approximately 7 miles of gentle upgrade (2%), past open grazing land (yes, sometimes there are cows on the path) and beaver ponds. There is one road crossing in this section, manned by Utah Highway Patrol. The Rail Trail welcomes the runners into Park City with paved/gravel pathways. Upon crossing Bonanza Drive, runners will continue the upward trend on the paved Poison Creek Trail (a remnant of our mining history) through City Park. Look to your right for great views of some 2002 Olympic ski runs. Traversing several short tunnels (one painted with a mural depiction of Park City’s mining heritage), the runner’s head to the Snow Park Lodge at Deer Valley (the course high point) before looping back to the Poison Creek Trail. Here the course turns west and guides runners through a fun section which has them running down the middle of an open shopping mall, a pedestrian bridge over Main Street, and across a skier bridge. A short, steep uphill ‘blip’ puts runners at the top of Empire Avenue and the start of the mostly downhill cruise to the finish. Runners will be on quiet city streets as they head past Park City Mountain Resort, along rolling hills near the municipal golf course, and back onto a paved bike path, which takes runners to the historic McPolin barn, depicted on our logo and finisher t-shirts. Another tunnel, some wood plank bridges over the pristine wetlands of the Swaner Nature Preserve and a paved bike path return to Newpark Plaza–it’s pretty enough to (almost) want to do it again! Marathon Course Map / Marathon Course Description, Turn by Turn.
Half Marathon: Course Map
Start time is 6:45am for the Half Marathon with an informal two-wave start, with the second wave going out five minutes after the first. Most of the route follows paved and gravel bike paths. The out-and-back design takes runners on the last six miles of the Marathon course. After looping once through Newpark, the course turns south toward Park City and climbs gradually as it passes Swaner Nature Preserve, winds through quiet neighborhoods and open space, and follows McLeod Creek path with its plank bridges, beaver ponds and aspen stands. The course then goes under Highway 224 via a tunnel, past the McPolin Barn shown on our logo and continues on a gentle uphill trend through quiet residential areas. The turn around point is just past the McPolin Barn, and after that, it’s back the same way—and a gentle downhill through the spectacular scenery and beautiful trails.
Courses are subject to change without notice.