The North Face Endurance Challenge, will take place in Park City, Utah this coming weekend, September 24 and 25. I have been able to participate that last couple years and it has been a lot of fun. The atmosphere and energy at each race has been high and was definitely some of the more enjoyable trail events that I have been to. They know how to put on a good race.
The first year I ran in the Marathon Relay and it was a great time. Anyone looking to have a good time with friends should definitely look into this race. It is a great beginning distance as each person runs basically a 10k. Last year, My brother and I ran the Marathon distance. I made the rookie mistake and went out hard at first. I was wasted the second half of the run but did finish. When I was done, I guess I told my wife that I would never run this again. (I never remember saying this, but when you are tired you can say crazy things.)
But, I am all signed up and excited to go at the marathon distance again this weekend. So, it really couldn’t have been that bad last year.
The North Face really does know how to put on a great event. The aid stations are awesome and the volunteers are great. The starting/finishing line festivities are a blast and great fun. I am looking forward to another great event. Below is a little more info about the event and a discount code for anyone interested in joining this weekend.
Back in 2006, during ultrarunner Dean Karnazes’ quest to run 50 marathons, in 50 states, in 50 consecutive days, otherwise known as The North Face Endurance 50, the idea of the Endurance Challenge Series was born. Launched in 2007, The North Face Endurance Challenge Series committed to pushing runners to their personal limits of endurance, while promoting the sport of ultra-trail running.
In its first three years, the Series hosted single-day trail running events offering four race distances: 10K, Half-Marathon, 50K and 50 Mile. The menu of distances was designed to expose newcomers to the world of ultra-trail racing, while simultaneously providing a platform for elite ultra-marathon distance runners to push their limits on the trail.
As the Series grew and became more popular, the Series introduced a second day of racing to the 2010 schedule in an effort to accommodate the extensive waiting lists. Race capacity doubled allowing more runners to take on the challenge. In addition, the Endurance Challenge introduced four new distances to the Series offering: Marathon, Marathon Relay, 5K and the 1K kids race.
Located 30 miles outside of Salt Lake City, Park City Mountain Resort is a great venue to hold this challenge. Also this location has the highest elevation starting line in all the series. Each event will be held over two days, with the GORE-TEX 50 Mile, 50K, Marathon, Marathon Relay and Kid’s 1K race held on Saturday, and the Half Marathon, 10K, 5K races and Kid’s 1K race held on Sunday.
Runners can begin preparing for their race distance with free Mountain Athletics training programs at www.thenorthface.com/mountainathletics. Also, The North Face has been gracious enough to offer Open Air Life readers a discount off their entrance of 15% to the Park City Race. All you need to do is follow this link: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-the-north-face-endurance-challenge-utah-registration-19214177121?aff=D30Ambassador and enter the code D30BREEZEUT15 (all caps) at checkout to get your discount.
You can follow me on Strava or join the Strava The North Face Endurance Challenge – Utah club.
For more information on The North Face Endurance Challenge visit http://www.thenorthface.com/en_US/endurance-challenge
You can also check out the video below and see if you can spot me. This was the promo video that was shoot last year to promote the event. It was a great day running with Dean and spending the day with other North Face athletes.