Putting Together 2015 Race Plans? Consider Ultra Adventure Races!

It’s that time of year again. The one where many of us are either resting up or winding down and already have thoughts toward our 2015 race schedule.

For me, my race calendar changed dramatically when I was selected to participate in Ultra Adventures ambassador program! What drew me to the Ultra Adventure races (aside from already being registered for Zion), was the location of their events.

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The races take place in (or around) the Grand Circle – one of the most scenic areas of the United States. The Grand Circle also boasts the highest concentration of National Parks in the country, with many UA races traversing through them. For someone who loves some scenery when I run, this was the perfect fit.

UA currently has seven races on the books, with a few more to be announced at a later date. For now, there’s:

• Antelope Canyon
• Monument Valley
• Zion
• Grand Canyon
• Bryce Canyon
• Capitol Reef
• Tushars

Each race offers a variety of distances across incredibly varied scenery. The races are also zero-waste on the environment. That’s a hard combination to beat!

Check out the video below which showcases the races, and what UA is all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaKkCW4x_mI

In addition to amazing stand-alone events, Ultra Adventures has put together some pretty incredible challenges, aptly named the Grand Circle Trail Series Challenges. In addition to three levels of mileage-based/event completion challenges (300, 500 and 1,000 miles, respectively), UA offers another type of challenge: the Trifecta Challenge.

The Trifecta Challenge is unique in that the “challenge” (if you can even call it that!) is to spend additional time in the areas of the races to ensure you see everything the area has to offer. Most of these will be areas you won’t see during your race, be it an amazing local trail, geological formation, or otherwise.

If you think about it, most of these events would be destination races for a lot of us. Taking the extra day to ensure you’ve seen all the area has to offer–and being rewarded for it–is something that I find to be incredibly cool.

Race Director Matt Gunn and his team have done an amazing job pulling all of this together and creating a robust, scenic, and what’s sure to be enjoyable, race series that provides running options year round.

Be sure to visit the website, follow UA on social media, and subscribe for event updates.

Hope to see some of you at one (or more) events in 2015!

Take care,

-G