Well, that was fun! Mostly cloudy skies and a ton o' wind, but we escaped the afternoon rain and the nighttime snow, so we'll call it a win! Speaking of winning, please see the race report below and a host of other-post race details, including information for the Virtual runners, a thank you from the Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Bureau, and more.

Between race day and public health safety measures, there were a lot of moving parts. If you want to give feedback on your race experience, please click here to take the post-race survey.

Finally, a reminder that we'll put your email on our Run Tucson email list. Our goal is to send out helpful running information, but if you ever want to get off the list, please hit unsubscribe or email us and we'll take you off the list.

We hope you all have safe and happy holidays!

--Randy and Tia

Randy Accetta | [email protected]
Tia Accetta | [email protected]
The crew at Run Tucson, including Georgia and Sandy | [email protected]
Table of Contents
  1. Post event survey
  2. Photos and Social Media
  3. Race Report
  4. Nice Words + Volunteer Appreciation
  5. Virtual Race Details
  6. Thank You From Chamber
  7. Public Health Request
  8. Discount for Next Year
Post-event survey
With new knees even!!
Masked up!
Photos and Social Media
Local photographer, Terri Attridge, was on the course taking photos. Due to the nature of the race, she could not get every runner, but all of her photos are available for free download.


The download code is: 3117

You can tag her @photography_by_terri.

If you are sharing any of your own race photos, please be sure and tag @runtucson @grandcanyoncvb on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.
Race Report
Overall Fastest in the 5K:

Ian Salt (20:06)

April Krombeen (28:13)
Overall Fastest in the Half:

Stephen Eles (1:26:07)

Janet Bawcom (1:29:32)
Top Finishers
Thanks to Greg at Roadrunner Race Timing, we were able to capture race time for each person, regardless of their start and finish time. You can see all the results by following links to the age group and overall results here and at the Roadrunner home page.

5K Top Finishers:
In the 5k, Ian Salt from Monument Valley completed the out-and-back course in the fastest time of the day, 20:06, while the Grand Canyon local April Krombeen was fastest woman in a time of 28:13.

Half Marathon Top Finishers:
Stephen Eles from Houghton, Michigan cruised the demanding course in 1:26:07, finishing roughly 400m ahead of last year's first-place male, Zach Smalls of Tucson, Arizona, who completed the circuit in 1:28:39. The third place male finisher was Jose Delgado from Tucson, who finished in 1:31:04.

The first place female runner was last year's overall champion, US Olympian Janet Bawcom, in 1:29:32. Janet is a nurse at the Grand Canyon, and her local training partner, Candace Harrison, took second place in 1:39:32. Third place went to Tucson's Tara Bruce, in 1:49 flat.

Dan Kuch from Lake Havasu City was first overall master's male, while Shawna Jones from Raleigh, North Carolina received the first overall female master's victory.

We know that some of you spent additional time in the forest, so please feel free to share your experience in the post-race survey.

Follow these links for a complete list of 5k finishers and half-marathon finishers.

Because of the COVID-19 protocols, we did not emphasize awards in this year's race. Nonetheless, in the 5k, first place finishers in 10-year age groups received awards; in the half-marathon, the top three in each 10-year age group received awards. If you won an age-group award, please contact the Chamber of Commerce at (928) 638-2901. They have a few remaining grab-bag awards.
Teamwork . . .
The Philly Group havin' fun.
Nice Words & Thanks to Volunteers
Thanks for the kind emails . . . . here's a few of 'em:

This is K, a Tucson runner, and I just wanted to send a huge note of thanks for making the Grand Canyon half marathon possible and an in-person event! I am so grateful and I know there are many moving parts to make this all happen.
It was my first half marathon and although the wind was pretty awful, it was a very memorable experience. My daughter ran the 5k and she also enjoyed her run. It was a nice getaway with the family and again, I just wanted you to know you all did an awesome job with safety protocols and communication. BRAVO!!! 


Thank you all for a wonderful event. We very much appreciated the immense precautions and preparedness you took to allow for a live running event on such a great day in an iconic place. Us runners got to enjoy a seamless event and it was so evident how much work had gone in to make it so! The race swag was great, the course outlines so well marked, and the people all so friendly. The finish area was exciting and a great end to a nice run. Kudos to you all for what you bring to running in Arizona.

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:
Josh and Lance for all the course work!
Connie Lopez
Doreen Davis and Mariah
Eileen and Roger Spear
Marti Ackerman
Tara Bruce
Vanessa and Harrelson
Marty from the IMAX
Stoney from Buck Wild
Romy from Pink Jeeps
Clarinda and John from Red Feather
Julie from Red Feather
Kate, Greg, Ray and the whole Tusayan Fire Department crew
Dutch and the gang at the Kaibab National Forest
Sarah and friends from the Grand Canyon Chamber
The Tusayan Town Council

I'm sure we missed some - thanks to all! And of course, thanks to Laura Chastain, who got us started on this!
Running with the eagles . . .
Flying down the trail . . .
Virtual
VIRTUAL folks, after you head out for your 5K or half marathon run, hop on our online form so we can see your results! Click here for the online form. 

On Monday, November 16th we'll do a random drawing from the respondents and send a souvenir as a thank you for doing the race!

Also, keep an eye on your mailbox next week as we'll be sending your race goodies through our local shipping partner, WestPress.

Here is our VIRTUAL roster:
Ilana Addis
Courtney Anderson
Micayla Barker
Andrea Barron
John Bernard
Trudy Calloway
Erik Campos
Carolyn Clark
Elizabeth De Arcos
John Dudek
Arty Espinosa
Tiayrra Etcitty
Kathi Forness
Mercedes Havens
Jim Herndon
Deb Lister
Cassandra Lopez
Jaime Martinez
Ernest Miles
Peggy Mohoric
Barb Monroe
Victoria Moore
Houda Muzzy
Sam O'Dowd
Mary Reynolds
Margaret Reynolds
Paul Robertson
Diane Robertson
Samuel Robertson
Kelsey Robertson
Lilia Salinas
Daniel Schoech
Ashley Schoech
Meagan Scott
Michelle Spohn
John Szakacs
Doug Thurston
Emily Truong
Ryan Wood
Teresita Zendejas
Celi Grace Zendejas
Alejandra Zendejas
Thanks from the Grand Canyon Folks
From the Grand Canyon Chamber and Visitor's Bureau
This race is produced in partnership with the Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Bureau. The race could not take place without the support of the local community and we at Run Tucson are grateful to the Tusayan community's efforts. Here's a note from Sarah at the Chamber:

Dear Race Participants and Run Tucson, 

We had such a great time hosting you all for the race (even with the terrible weather)! Thank you so much for coming to visit us up here at Grand Canyon and thank you so much for your support of the Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce! We hope you'll want to come back year after year! 

Stay safe and warm this winter,

Sarah Russell
Grand Canyon Chamber & Visitors Bureau
928-638-2901

Over $490 was raised to be used by the Chamber for community support during this difficult year. Thanks to all of you!

Micayla Barker
Marie Barnes
Debbie Black
Matthew Brown
Jim Crittenden
Jose Delgado
Heidi Dinkel
Arty Espinosa
Juris Gaidelis (all the way from Latvia!)
Lynn Grieger
Amanda Hart
Caleb Herrera
Russell Hines
Steven Hykes
Michelle Iglewski
Shawna Jones
Justin Kemp
Quinn Kunz
Elena Lara
Vanessa Lazatin
Deb Lister
Connie Lopez
Regina Madrigal
Cathy Magana
Jeni Martin
Mark Mathews
William Mathews
Alicia McNeill
Arwen McReynolds
Parker McVay
Marilynne Nistas
Penny Rettenmaier
Margaret Reynolds
Nancy Rosso
Laurie Sammons
Diane Sandberg
Donna Sickler
Joseph Splude
John Szakacs
Benjamin Van Hook
Morgan Viau
Wendy Vincent
Justin Warnat
Peyton Young
Jessica Ziegler
Public Health: Request for Info
Thanks to all of you for following our public health protocols. We missed the joy of high-fives and hugs, but we're grateful that all of you were respectful of others.

Now, having said that, please let us know if in the coming week you get any common COVID symptoms such as cough, fever, fatigue, aches, loss of taste, and the like.

While we know that it is highly unlikely that the outdoor setting of a running race would lead to transmission of the coronavirus, we would like to be able to communicate with this community of runners in the event that something untoward happens.

Thanks again to Gretchen Reynolds for providing advice and best practices in the recent New York Times article "How to Run a Race in a Time of Surging Coronavirus".
2021 Discount
It's a bit early to start planning, but you can use this discount code of IDID2020 for a 20% discount to the 2021 edition. This discount code is good through July 1, 2021.

One more note for those still reading. Some of you have asked about the finances for the race, so in case you're wondering, we actually lost money producing this event - between a capped field, capped pricing, and additional costs for public health measures, this has been an act of love more than an act of financial gain. Thanks to all of you for being part of this!
For information about our events, the RRCA, and The Workout Group, contact Randy Accetta
(520) 991-0733
For information about in-person, online, or group coaching, contact contact Tia Accetta.
(520)891-4369