Glacier National Park Half Marathon (USA)
Report by Paul Ackerley
This race had a number of challenges I had not previously faced – it started at 6am, is at altitude (4,800 – 5,800 ft), miles 2-5 involve a 1,000 ft gain and a personal decision needs to be made at the start as to whether to carry bear spray to deal the grizzlies and black bears you might meet. Very well organised by Vacation Races (https://vacationraces.com/) which puts on HMs, Ultras, Trails, etc across US National Parks (there might be one near you if you are travelling there for a holiday!) and the Blackfeet Native Americans. Great expo the day before where Blackfeet and Vacation Races put on activities and events, and the HM has its own 20 page ‘newspaper’ (with all the info you could ever need). No single use plastic permitted on the course – hydrapouches (http://www.hydrapouch.com/) are issued to all runners who want them, which I hadn’t seen before and were really effective. Lovely race shirt, cracking medal (and age category medals), very good quality free photos and lots of food at the end. 2.11.32… was very happy with the whole thing…