F.A.Q.’s

We want to hear your suggestions on how we can make the Zion 100 a better experience for you.  Post questions below or send emails to thezion100@gmail.com 

Where does the race start and finish?  The race will begin and end in Virgin at the town park. To get there, turn right at 100 W as you come into Virgin on Hwy 9. It’s a block down on your right.

What time does my race start?  6am on Friday for the 100 miler, 6am Saturday for the 50 miler.

When is the pre race check in?  Thursday evening from 5-9pm for 100 mile.  Friday evening from 5-9pm for 50 mile.  Drop bags are due at this time.

Where is the pre race check in?  At the Virgin town park. Turn off of Hwy. 9 onto 100 W and proceed 1 block.

How often are the aid stations?  Between 5-10 miles.  Water-only stations will be available between aid stations 3/4, 4/5,  5/6, 6/7, 7/8, and 8/9.

When will drop bags will be accessible? Please refer to the course description to see which aid stations will have drop bags.

What will be available at the aid stations?  Most aid stations will be stocked with: water, ice, electrolyte drink, Coke, ginger ale, gel packs, fruit, boiled potatoes, broth(vegan), tortillas w/ Nutella, PB&H, dill pickles, bagels/cream cheese, Ensure (or similar drink), various sweets and snacks, electrolyte capsules, anti chafing agent, sunscreen, ibuprofen, first aid supplies.

For 100 milers, we’ll also have a different warm meal available at each aid station through the night and a pancake breakfast at Aid #11.

The post race meal will be catered by Wildcat Willies.

If you have a favorite item that you can’t live without at the aid stations, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.

Can I have a pacer?  Pacers are allowed after Sheep Bridge aid station on the 100 mile race (about mile 35). For 50 mile course, pacers can be used after Smithsonian Butte aid station (mile 27.75).  Please have your pacers get a ride to the aid station that they’re meeting you at from one of our volunteer shuttle drivers at the start/finish line since parking is limited at aid stations.  (This will also save them a trip back to pick up their car later.)  Fill out this form if you’d like to request a pacer.

Where can friends/family (crew) access the course to provide support?  At Sheep Bridge Rd., Smithsonian Butte Turnoff, Gould’s Rim, Hurricane Overlook, and Virgin Dam Turnoff.  While it would be easy for your crew to access other parts of the course, please encourage them not to as it would create more traffic on roads that the runners will be using. Note that the 100 mile course is not very crew friendly.  Your crew will just have to go explore Zion while you’re running:) Drop bags are available where crew is not.

Follow this link for detailed directions to the crew accessible areas.

While there are places that your crew could access between Sheep Bridge and Smithsonian Butte Turnoff (miles 35-69), it would bring a lot of traffic and dust to the runners that will be using the same roads.  Also, 2 of the 3 aid stations between those two points are 4wd access only.

There are 2 walk in additional access points where 100 mile crews can visit their runners.  Please see the above link on crew accessible areas for directions.

What percentage of the course is run on single track trail/dirt roads/paved roads?  The 100 mile course has approximately 34 miles of single track, 61 miles of dirt roads (about half double track), and 5 miles of pavement.

50 mile course has 23 miles of singletrack, 25 miles of dirt road, and 2 miles of pavement.

Where are the nearest/best accommodations?  Virgin is located right in the middle of Hurricane and Springdale, about a 15 min. drive to either of them. We highly recommend staying in Springdale if you can- hotel prices are  higher than Hurricane or St. George, but the proximity to the park and the ambiance of the town are worth it.  A discounted rate has been offered from the premier hotel in Zion Canyon-  Cable Mountain Lodge (10% discount- use “Z100″ for discount code on their website).  They will definitely sell out on race weekend, so it would be wise to book in advance.

Our sponsoring hotel on the Hurricane side of the event is the Holiday Inn Express- St. George, Utah, just off of the Hurricane exit that takes you to Zion National Park.  Mention that you’re with our group and get $32 off of the regular rate.  Access this trail in the Red Cliff Desert Reserve from the hotel.  They’ll have the breakfast bar ready for us at 5am on Friday and Saturday so that you can fuel up before toeing the line.  Follow this link to register online with the discounted rate. 

The Abbey Inn is our sponsoring hotel in the city of St. George.  Just let them know that you’re with the race and they’ll give you $20 off of their normal rate.

Follow this link for more lodging options around Springdale. (Links to lodging in the Hurricane and St. George areas are also available through this same website.)

Here is a blog post about camping options within 15 minutes of the starting line.  The unofficial “group” free camping area is about 5 miles up Kolob Terrace Rd, next to North Creek. We will have a port-a-potty set up at this site.

See this post for links to home rentals in Virgin, Springdale, Hurricane, and St. George.

Where is the nearest airport?   The St. George airport is about 45 min from Virgin.  Las Vegas International Airport is about 2 hours and 15 minutes from Virgin.

Who gets belt buckles? What do they look like?  Only finishers of the 100 mile race.  This year’s buckles are custom made with materials harvested from near the course and will make a perfect souvenir of the area.  Here is a link to a preview of the buckles.

50 miler finishers will receive a beautiful medallion that is carved out of sandstone with our logo on it.

What are the average temperature highs and lows?  Tough question. Highs could climb above 90 degrees in the lower elevation, exposed flats between Smith Mesa and Gooseberry Mesa that you’ll spend over 15 miles on in the afternoon sun. It could also snow up on either of the mesas in May. Be prepared for either extreme. Last year temperatures were in the 90′s for Ironman St. George on the first weekend in May and then about ten days later it was snowing pretty hard up on Gooseberry. Average temps are in the low 80′s for a high and upper 40′s for a low.

What are the cutoff times?  100 mile= 36 hrs, 50 mile= 14 hrs.

Am I required to prove that I’ve completed a race of another distance in order to qualify to register?  Nope.  Just need to be crazy enough to try.  Fortunately we can easily access all aid stations by vehicle and can give runners a ride back that have had enough. (But that would never cross your mind!)

What is the total elevation gain/loss for the course?  100 mile course is 7,850. 50 miler is 3,550.

Is the race held on bike trails? If so are there a lot of bikes on the trail? All of the single track sections are shared with mountain bikers. There is a two mile section of the Gooseberry trail system that we’ll be using that can see a lot of bike traffic, but this will only affect the 50 milers due to the time of day that most 100 milers will be using the trail. The 50 milers will be coming through early enough in the morning that they probably won’t run into many bikers. We’ve intentionally avoided the most popular sections of the mountain bike trails when possible for our routes. (This also happens to be the most scenic route too, following the edge of the mesa all the way around.)  We’ll have signs up to let bikers know to use caution.

What will be used to mark the trails? Flagging, flour, high intensity reflective tape, glow sticks, and in some cases where it washes away quickly we’ll use spray paint. We’ll use flagging of a designated color to indicate that you’re on the correct trail, and of another color to indicate the wrong trail when two paths intersect.

How technical are the trail portions of the 100 miler? The ascents onto Gooseberry and Smith mesas are very technical, you’ll probably be walking.  The descents off of Smith Mesa and Little Creek Mesa are steep and technical.  Gooseberry has lots of ups and downs and slickrock sections mixed in which make it nearly impossible to find a good running rhythm. Other sections such as Smith Mesa, the road below Little Creek Mesa, and the Jem trail are very straightforward and fast. This course has a little bit of everything!

What about traffic on the road part? We’ll have a police officer there when we cross Hwy 9 in mass Friday morning. We’ll have signs up from Utah Barricade to warn drivers where we’ll be crossing, running on the shoulder, etc. throughout the course.  Volunteers will be at all highway crossings to help with traffic.  Runners must not cross at these intersections until race staff gives them the go ahead.

Are the “technical shirts” long or short- sleeved, and will you have female sizes? Short sleeved, considering the time of year and location of the event.  Both male and female sizes are available. Here’s a look at this year’s shirts:

Is there cell phone reception on the course? It’s pretty spotty, depending on the company. You can pick up a signal every so often. Most aid stations will have volunteers from the local Ham radio club that will help us keep track of runners and communicate emergencies.

Is there a “Plan B” course if the weather is bad? Yes.  Smith Mesa and the JEM/Hurricane Rim trails are a nightmare when wet. The clay sticks to the bottom of shoes and it becomes almost impossible to run. Gooseberry and surrounding area is much better under rainy conditions, but the access getting there can get a little ugly. We’ve come up with some beautiful alternative routes that we’ll be testing out during heavy rain periods over the next several months, but basically we’ll be running 25 mile loops on Gooseberry if things get ugly.

Will the registration price increase after a certain date? Yes. On March 1st, the price will increase to $200 for the 100 miler, $100 for the 50 miler. We ask that you please register early if possible, as it very helpful for us in the planning process.

Can I get a refund if I’m not able to run? We’ll do our best to work with individual circumstances, and the amount refunded will be determined by how much advanced notice you give us as many costs involved with the race are incurred early. In some cases, we may roll over the registration to the following year if we’re able to fill your spot.  If there are people on the waiting list, we’ll put you in touch with them and you can make arrangements for them to pay you directly.  Once this transaction has taken place, you’ll let us know and we’ll delete you from the racer’s list and add the new person’s info.  This saves us a lot of time and hassle in mailing out checks and ensures that we have a paying participant to take your place.  Many runners sign up for the waiting list, but when it comes down to it, only about half of them seem to be serious about running the race when you contact them with a vacancy.

Are there age group prizes?  No, overall winners only (1st-3rd, M/F- for both the 100 and the 50.)  This will allow us to make more prizes available for the raffle.

Any suggestions on how to train for my first ultra? This link has some great articles: http://www.ultramarathonrunning.com/training/index.html

Can I run the course while I’m in town? Yes. We’d love to have you come and join us on any of our group runs, please see this post for more info.

I’m a little concerned about the animals that could be out roaming at night. What do I need to look out for? The biggest concern would be possibly stepping on a rattlesnake. There’s a good chance that you’ll hear coyotes howling, but they aren’t a real threat. While mountain lions are around, we’ve never had any attacks in the area. It’s wild enough here that they have plenty of room to roam and they keep their distance. I’ve never seen one personally in the area in over 30 years and I do a lot of late night running.

I’m traveling from far away and planning a vacation around the event.  What are some of the “must see/do” activities for someone who has never been to Zion National Park before?  Here’s a link to a nice variety of hikes within the park.  There’s so many backcountry options that even local enthusiast have a list of canyons that they have yet to explore.  Click on this link to see some great mountain biking trails in the area.  (Sorry, I can’t link directly to where I want to- from the main menu, select “Trails” then “Select by Region” then “Southwest” and finally “Gooseberry Area”.)  These mtn biking trails give a good overview of what’s available in the region.  There’s also plenty of great climbing to be had in southwestern Utah.  Whatever adventure you end up pursuing, it’s always nice to top it off with a visit to the healing waters of Pah Tempe Hot Springs.