Please accept a hearty congratulations and big thank you for being part of the Grand Canyon Trail Half Marathon and 5k. The race could not take place without you, and we are grateful to all of you for making the effort to spend the weekend with one another in Tusayan!
Speaking of Tusayan, the event also could not take place without the support of the great friends we've made in the Town of Tusayan, including all the folks at the City Manager's office, the Tusayan Fire Department, and the Visitor's Center.
Below is a post-race report, with results, photos, a note on donations, and more (including a discount code for 50% off next year's early-bird pricing for you and friends). But first, here are four quick items:
1) The first batch of Damion's race photos can be found here. Special thanks to Damion Alexander for all the time he has spent on race photos. The first batch of photos are up and he's working on the rest (including the 5k). On your end, if you're still sharing any of your own race photos, please tag @runtucson on your social media feeds!
2) Race results can be found at www.roadrunnerracetiming.com. Our good friend Greg Wenneborg manages all the timing and can make any fixes, so if you see any mistakes let us know and we'll get 'em fixed up.
3) Thank you! Thank you again for joining us at this special location and thank you for the emails we've received -- here's one that cracked us up:
Had a great time in Tusayan for the race weekend. Participated in everything. Great Friday night dinner, fun race - beautiful weather!, bought some beautiful earrings, scored some free beer and snacks. Even went to the Grand Canyon too! Well organized, loved the safety talk (I stayed on the sidewalk, I didn't fall, and I was not like Eric!) Thank you!
4) Post-race survey. We're curious about your experience at the race, so if you have a moment, please take a few moments to answer the questions in this event survey.
As a reminder, we'll put you on our Run Tucson email list; you'll get emails about our upcoming events, running advice, and more. If you ever want to get off the list, please hit unsubscribe or email us and we'll take you off.
Thanks again for being with us this past weekend! We hope you're recovering from your jaunt through the Kaibab National Forest!
Cheers,
--Randy and Tia
Randy Accetta | randy@runtucson.net
Tia Accetta | tia@runtucson.net
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The world-famous Erik, on-course and waving | |
Ramon not worried about the cold | |
Photos by Damion
As we said, Damion Alexander our friend from Tucson is still working on getting all the photos online, but here is a link to see what he has so far.
While Damion is a great event photographer, his real job is helping people buy and sell homes, something he's done for over 28 years. (Tia and I know his skill, as he helped us navigate the sale of an elder parent's home during a difficult time last year.)
If you're interested in buying or selling a home in any part of the country, Damion has connections throughout the land and can help. You can find his Long Realty work info here.
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Overall Fastest in the 5K:
F: Kimmikim Si, 32, Grand Canyon, 23:45
M: Keegan Wadsworth, 16, Phoenix, 27:25
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Overall Fastest in the Half:
M: Spencer Busby, 23, Flagstaff, AZ 1:25:22
F: Hana Homolkovă, 27, Czech Republic, 1:34:39
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Our timer, Greg at Roadrunner Race Timing, captured the "gun time" (when the timing system started) and the "chip time" (when you crossed the start line and crossed the finish line) for every runner. You can see 5k and half marathon results by following the links at the Roadrunner Race Timing home page.
Half Marathon Top Finishers:
The top finisher overall was 23-year-old local speedster Spencer Busby from Flagstaff. Spencer is a student at Northern Arizona University and works in the Kaibab National Forest during the summer -- he camped overnight before the race, then hiked a few miles into the Canyon after the race.
Second place overall and first 40+ runner in the men's race went to Tucson's Jose Delgado in 1:26:44. Jose has done this race four years in a row, with a 1:25:56, a 1:25:55, and a 1:31:04 to his credit.
Third place male was 26-year-old Steven Beshay, who came from La Habra, California and ran the course in an excellent time of 1:33:03.
On the women's side, Hana Homolkovă, 27, cruised to an easy victory in 1:34:39. Homolkovă and Vojtěch Sedláček are visiting the U.S. from the Czech Republic and decided to jump into the race.
Course record holder Shannon Porter crossed the line in second place, with a comfortable time of 1:42:34. (Shannon ran the race as a recovery run after her excellent marathon run of 2:36 at the Columbus Marathon last month.)
Elyssa Shalla from the North Rim took third place in a time of 1:56:47, which also made her the first female master's runner.
A note on the trickle start: We've heard from runners of all speeds that the trickle start is enjoyable in that the early starters get to enjoy the course to themselves while also watching the speedsters go past -- and that the speedsters seem to enjoy the company of all runners on the course. We recognize, however, that the trickle start does not provide the celebratory finish for the fastest runner -- but thanks to all of you for being willing to experiment with this new style of racing.
5K Top Finishers:
In the 5k, the top three finishers were Kimmikim Si, 32, from Grand Canyon in first place in a time of 23:45; Nina Johnson, 51, from Tucson in 27:24; and Keegan Wadsworth, 16, from Phoenix in 27:25.
NOTES:
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Follow these links for a complete list of 5k finishers and half-marathon age-group finishers.
- As announced earlier, age group awards were provided at the post-race awards ceremony. Unclaimed awards were raffled off to volunteers and others.
- We do not see any non-binary finishers.
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Reading the Results Page: As a reminder, neither course is certified. Indeed, the "Total Chip" time for the half are the finishing times for the entire distance from start to finish, which is most likely close to 13.4 miles. The results page also captures the half-marathon split of 13.1, as measured by Trailforks on a bicycle. The "gun" time began at the 8:00 am start.
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Chicago's Ron and Percy leading the way off the line! | |
VOLUNTEER THANK YOU!
We are grateful to all of the volunteer help that was provided. From our friends in Tucson to the Tusayan community, it took a lot of folks to put this together:
- Marty, Brent and the whole crew at the IMAX for allowing us to stage the race at the IMAX facility, including restrooms, beer garden, craft fair, and the pre-race pasta dinner
- Clarinda Vail (in the red shirt above) for managing the 8.5 mile mark, helping with all the course cleanup, and driving to the Grand Canyon Brewery in Williams to get the beer. Clarinda is the Mayor of Tusayan and has been a friend of this event ever since we started 5 years ago
- John Vail for managing the 4.5 mile mark aid station
- Charlie Hendrix the Tusayan Town Manager for all the prep work and the race awards and the Hendrix family for managing the 5k turnaround aid station
- The Tusayan Fire Department and their friends for making all the pancakes and serving all the beer!
- Kate Johnson, Captain McCarthy, Chief Brush, and the whole Tusayan Fire Department crew for helping keep us safe
- The folks at the Kaibab National Forest for allowing us to do this on such a beautiful landscape
- The Tusayan Town Council for supporting the race
- All the friends from Tucson's "The Workout Group" running group who handled the registration and finish line: Dave, Erik, Doreen, Connie, and Frank
And of course, thanks to former President of the Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce, Laura Chastain, who got us started on this six years ago!
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Thanks to your donations, almost $1,000 was raised for the Grand Canyon Food Pantry |
Michael A'Hearn
Lourdes Agosto
Natasha Allen
Alejandro Amezquita
Sharon Arft
Andrea Barron
Paul Bays
Adriane Begaye
Alexandra Beresford
Kendal Binion
James Biskup
Rebecca Burch
Janice Burton
Virginia Casner
Melissa Cohen
Karleen Conover
Kezia Cunalata
Anabel De Santiago
Jose Delgado
Perla Diaz
Paul DSouza
Aaron Faith
Tammy Felton
Kaylee Finchum
Margaret France
Renee Goldinger
Maria Fernanda Gomez Palencia
Helen Grant
Paul Gruwell
Fiona Gygi
Hailey Hamilton
Cherokee Hanks
Jonathan Harrison
Amee Hayes
Amee Hayes
Dorian Hernandez
Akasha Holloran
Jenna Honan
Jan Ince
Einar Johnson
Tom Johnson
Kirsten Kennon
Annie Kilby
Anne King
Cherynne Lara
Heather Larrabee
David Larrabee
Renee Makimaa
Kelly Marinick
Duane Marshall
Joe Mero
Annette Monterrosa
Jody Montoya
Caelum Mroczek
Kimberly Murray
Imelda Murrieta
Jackie Nevells
Patrick Powers-Lake
Elizabeth Rambikur
Rose Rhodes
Kim Scott
Elyssa Shalla
Jason Sheperdigian
Starla Stanley
Joshua Taylor
Shlomo Vidal
Tony Villarreal
Kirsten Wadsworth
Helena Wayt
Amy Weber
Tylah Wildey
Kristy Wojnicki
Carol Wolfe
Natalie Wolfe
Janet Wooddancer-Fisher
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Thanks to your donations, almost $1,000 was raised for the Tusayan Fire Department, with additional funds raised by the Beer Garden and Pancake Breakfast! |
Lydia Abernethy
Ellie Anderson
Pamela Baca
Sherri Begay
Patricia Beltran
Julia Bucy
Laura Buzbee
Gilbert Castaneda
Rachael Clark
Kyle Copeland
Maureen Costello
Mika Dahiya
Laura Davila
Robert Dobos
Karen Dobos
Randi Englert
Miguela Ford
Beatriz Franco
Debra Haber
Aaron Hague
Rebecca Hardenburgh
Erin Hoover
Colton Hutchinson
Tomás Johnson
Foziha KERZAZI-JEDRZEJOWSKI
Nathan Landavaso
Leah Lara
Hong Lee
Susan Lucas
Jesus Lucas
Rory Maciulla
Joseph Martinez
Mark Matusko
Jessica McKenna
Michael Miles
Steven Nevells
Bryce Nicoll
Derek Olson
Gianna Pray
Sally Ring
Erik Sanders
Chelsie Schanz
James Seballos
Christina Snyder
Natalie St. Clair
Kacie Staples
Julie Taylor
Kurt Wagennan
Ian Wolfe
Mary Woolf
ERIKA ZEPEDA-SMITH
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2024 Discount Code: IDidIt | |
It's a bit early to start planning, but you can use this discount code of IDidIt for a 50% discount to the 2024 edition. This discount code is good through December 31, 2023. Current pricing is $60 for the half-marathon and $30 for the 5k.
NOTE: all 2023 deferrals are already in the 2024 database. To those who couldn't make race day, we're sorry to have missed you, but you can use the coupon code to save 50% on the 2024 fees.
Registration is here: https://runsignup.com/Race/AZ/TusayanGrandCanyon/GrandCanyonTrailHalfMarathon
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For information about our events, the RRCA, and The Workout Group, contact Randy Accetta
(520) 991-0733
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For information about in-person, online, or group coaching, contact contact Tia Accetta.
(520)891-4369
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