Bryce Half Marathon

After running many, many marathons, the "Half" is gaining some appeal with Julie and me.  You can prepare pretty casually and still be prepared for the run whereas the "Marathon" takes a LOT of preparation and focus.  As retirees, focus is somewhat low on our priorities, right behind having fun and chilling.

The Bryce half appealed to us because of the location and scenery.  It is only a 2.5 hour drive from STG and it is just outside Bryce National Park.  Just because it is outside the park does not mean we did not get to see Hoodoos.  I know, you are asking yourself, "What the heck are Hoodoos"?

Julie and the Hoodoos

Check out them Hoodoos!  Hey, they are the rock formations on the right side of the photo!  You people disgust me!  Anyway, A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, and earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos, which may range from 1.5 to 45 metres (4.9 to 147.6 ft), typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. They generally form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations...Zzzzzzzz.....  Well, at least they are cool to see, and Bryce is full of them.

During the ride up we saw places where you could take a helicopter tour of the park, rent ATV's and go on horse rides.  Lots of stuff for tourists to do.  Each time we passed a new attraction I would say, "Pete would love that!  We need to bring him with us next time we come up and take him...ATV'ing, horseback riding, whitewater rafting, biking, you name it".  Finally I realized I missed having our little guy with us.  If only we can get him running.  We ended up going to dinner at a great place in Tropic, Utah.  Yes, that is the name of the town.  The restaurant is called, Stone Hearth Grille.  It was slightly away from the booming metropolis of Tropic and down a dirt road, but when you get there it is worth it.  Julie had steak and I had a huge pork chop, plus a bottle of wine, the perfect pre-race meal.  What do we care, it is only a half!  We ate on the back deck overlooking the koi pond and scenery of Bryce.  I highly recommend this restaurant if you find yourself driving through Tropic at dinner time.  

Stone Hearth Grille

The run was great.  It started at 6 AM.  We hung out in the Ruby Inn, taking advantage of the lobby restrooms and warmth until just minutes before the start.  The run is mostly downhill with some very deep descents around mile 2-4.  Don't be fooled, running downhill may increase speed, but it hammers your quads as we later learned.  Anyway, the run was lovely, scenic and fun.  Would we do it again?  Perhaps if someone wanted to run it and asked us to go along.  Our next big run is in October, the STG MARATHON!!!!  We've done that before, but it is local, so what the heck!  

Oh, in case you are also missing Pete....

Pete with his new phone!

Pete pretending the cow backbone he picked up on the trail is from his back!

Pete sticks the cow backbone in his shirt and pretends to be injured.  You got to love this guy!  We do!