The Bear Lake Wyoming Marathon & Half is a race that can be ran on it’s own or if you want to challenge yourself, you can sign up for the Trifecta and take home some additional swag and bragging rights. The trifecta is a great way to gain membership or level up if you are a member of Half Fanatics or Marathon Maniacs.
Below are some pros and cons from what me and some of the other runners thought about the race.
scenery- Just like the Idaho race, you are surrounded by countryside and mountains. The only negative i can really say about the race was that it was an hour drive from where we were staying at with some construction. Luckily, we still got to the start line on time. Previous runners & some of the locals recommended having bug stray with you because of the mosquitoes i didn’t have an issues with them on my run.
Aid stations – For the half, they had 3 ad stations (5 total since the course was a down and back) and they were fully stocked with water, electrolytes, gu, jelly beans, pretzels and a ports potty. Just like the previous race, A negative about the aid stations were they would sometimes run out of cups and toilet paper. It was an issue for the back of the pack runners and most marathoners.
Course – This time we had paved roads on a down and back with some small rolling hills & no pot holes. Negative- It seemed kind of random that
we started & finished the race on grass in the park but i believe this was because the parking lot area was muddy from the rain the night before. Once you got on the paved part of the road, we had to cross some rail road tracks. Prior to the race, the announcer said that if there was a train coming while you were close, they would stop the race clock until the train passed so it didn’t mess up anyone’s time. Just like yesterdays race, there was no shaded parts along the course to help protect us from the sun.
Pre & Post Race – Packet pickup was either the day before the first race, the day prior or the morning of the race. You get a tech shirt, drawstring bag, sponsor swag, and the choice of either a mug or buff. Post race, whenever you finished, you got a nice size medal with a ribbon showing the state and under the pavilion, they had fruit, water and pizza from a local sponsor. If you placed in your age group or overall, you got a gold medal (which they didn’t have available on the first day so they brought them on the second day). They had an announcer and music playing throughout post race so even if you’re a back of the pack runner, everyone is cheering and are happy to see you finish. At this race, they had a local group selling additional post race food & drinks as part of a fundraiser.
Con – Like the previous race, a lot of the swag and medals were from the previous year so some people got a medal with a bears head on it (this years design) and some got a medal with a bear paw on it (last years design). Some runners didn’t like the new design because it didn’t say ‘half marathon’ on it. I also was expecting that we would get a shirt for each state we were in but for the size of the race, I’m okay with what we got.
Overall, this course was a lot better than the Idaho course. Loved that the roads were paved & had some small rolling hills. I believed they fixed most of the issues they had the day before & i think everyone had a better time throughout the race.