12 Arizona Half Marathons You'll Love Running
12 Arizona Half Marathons You'll Love Running
From Flagstaff to Tucson, and from Prescott to Grand Canyon National Park -- road and trail races for every runner
San Tan Scramble
Queen Creek, Ariz. | Saturday, January 6, 2024
Towering saguaro cactus plants, rolling single-track trails, and views of the Goldmine mountains of the Southeast Valley all around are your companions at this run through the desert in Arizona’s San Tan Mountain Regional Park, which lies about an hour’s drive from downtown Phoenix. You’ll be able to choose from a wide range of distances – including a 50K, 26K, 17K, 9K, 5K and a run for kids – and organizers say the longer distances feature “very steep, rocky terrain and portions of the San Tan Trail are in a sandy wash. It’s glorious.”
AZT Oracle Rumble
Oracle, Ariz. | Saturday, January 27, 2024
A starkly beautiful run along the trails of Arizona’s Oracle State Park, which lies about an hour outside Tucson and follows remote stretches of the Arizona National Scenic Trail here among the Santa Catalina Mountains, near the ancestral lands of Western Apache native American tribes. You’ll run dirt trails along hills dotted with cactus as far as the eye can see, and can choose among the race’s half marathon, 50K, 50-miler or 12K – and check out Saguaro National Park or the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum after your run.
Saguaro Half Marathon
Tucson, Ariz. | Saturday, February 24, 2024
A late winter road-and-trail race from Vacation Races, the folks who organize a series of running events in and around national parks across the U.S., this half unfolds through the 20,000-acre Tucson Mountain Park, a desert park filled with dozens of miles of hiking and mountain biking trails as well as the signature saguaro cactus for which this area is so well-known. You’ll run a combination of roads and trails, and cross the finish line at the Old Tucson Movie Studio, where everything from TV shows like “Bonanza” and “Little House on the Prairie” to movies like “Rio Bravo” and “Three Amigos” were filmed.
Mesquite Canyon Trail Runs
Waddell, Ariz. | Saturday, March 9, 2024
A tough, challenging run along the trails of White Tank Mountain Regional Park, whose mountainous 29,000 acres look out onto a panoramic view of the city of Phoenix below. This race too offers several distances — 50 miles, 50K and 30K in addition the half, plus an 8K and a fun run for kids — all of which unfold on single-track trails, on which organizers say you should expect “typical desert trail conditions including rocks, sand, cactus and gravel.” You’ll make some steep ascents as you run through Mesquite Canyon, Willow Canyon and Slick Rock Canyon, and finish with a descent in the final couple of miles — overall, the 13.1-mile course offers up more than 1,700 feet of elevation gain.
Antelope Canyon Ultras & Trail Half Marathon
Page, Ariz. | Saturday, March 9, 2024
Part of a weekend of races that also feature a 50K, 50-miler and even a 100-miler — the latter two of which take runners into the slot canyons for which this area has become famous, as well as a run along the famed bend in the Colorado River known as Horseshoe Bend — this trail half marathon runs along the Page Rim Trail, a 10-mile-long running and hiking trail that circles the city of Page, Ariz. You’ll run first around a slickrock formation after the start and then head onto the trail, where you’ll get to see Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam off in the distance from the route.
Whiskey Basin Trail Runs
Prescott, Ariz. | Saturday, April 13, 2024
A gorgeous and challenging run along the high desert trails that surround this city in central Arizona, which was once the capital of the Arizona territory and where you’ll never be far from its famed Whiskey Row downtown. The race unfolds along the Prescott Circle Trail, which makes a 54-mile-long loop around the city — you’ll start the half marathon at Prescott’s Watson Lake Park, and from there head out onto a mix of “fast single track, technical granite rock, and steep scrambles,” organizers say. Past runners say the half — the race also includes a 10K, 33K, 60K and 91K — is the “most difficult, most beautiful, and most unexpected" course they've ever run.
Grand to Grand Ultra
Grand Canyon, Ariz. | Sunday, September 22 - Saturday, September 28, 2024
A stunningly scenic — and stupendously challenging — seven-day race that traverses 170 miles between the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and the summit of Utah’s Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. Obviously a race for those who are ready for it, this course takes you through some of the most remote and difficult terrain anywhere in the United States, places where you’ll experience a “high desert landscape of sand dunes, red rock slot canyons, buttes, mesas and hoodoos,” organizers say. Cacti and other desert plants as well as wildlife from bighorn sheep to all kinds of desert reptiles and rodents will be all along the route, truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
AZT North Rim Ramble
Jacob Lake, Ariz. | Saturday, September 28, 2024
Ready to run at about 8,850 feet above sea level? You’ll need to be for this gorgeous race among the trails and forest service roads of the Kaibab Plateau, just a few miles from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. As the race organizers say, the half marathon passes through “an idyllic forest of spruce, pine, and aspen; past shallow ponds and springs; and in and out of limestone canyons.” You’ll get to run along the East Rim of the Grand Canyon for about a mile, they add, and get to see all of these views a second time if you’re running the full marathon. There’s also a 10K/7-mile race that runs along the trails in the second half of the half marathon route.
Grand Circle Trailfest
Kanab, Utah to Page, Ariz. | Thursday, Oct. 3 - Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024
While this race has filled up for this year, I wanted to make sure to get it on your radar as it’s one for your bucket list. Three days of races take you through three national parks — a 13-miler in Bryce Canyon National Park the first day, followed by a 12-miler in Zion National Park the second day and a 10.6-miler around Horseshoe Bend, the famous winding spot along the Colorado River near Lake Powell where it begins to flow into the Grand Canyon (and the subject of untold thousands of photos over the years). The biggest challenge on the final day (other than the elevation) is that you’ll run through miles of soft sand, so you’ll have to stop several times to dump it out of your shoes as you run. If you’re a fan of running out in the wild spaces of our national parks, put this one on your list.
Flagstaff Marathon + Half
Flagstaff, Ariz. | Saturday, October 5, 2024
A completely off-road course that runs through Arizona’s Coconino National Forest — at an elevation of just over 8,000 feet above sea level and 1,200 feet of elevation climb in the half alone — is why organizers say this is one of the most challenging in the U.S. You’ll start and finish the race at Arizona Nordic Village, a cross-country ski area about 15 miles outside Flagstaff, and from there run along “a mix of forest roads, single track trails, and forest floor.”
Grand Canyon Trail Half Marathon
Tusayan, Ariz. | Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024
Both runners and walkers are welcome at this race, which is run in this small resort town about six miles south of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, just outside the park’s entrance. You’ll run along the trails of the Kaibab National Forest, which spans some 1.6 million acres across northern Arizona and is filled with Ponderosa pine trees and hundreds of miles of trails, which you’ll run through at about 6,600 feet above sea level. This fall’s race will be open to just 500 entrants — so don’t dilly-dally if you’re interested.
Holualoa Tucson Half Marathon
Tucson, Ariz. | December
An almost all-downhill run that starts just a short drive from Biosphere 2, the fully-enclosed earth science research facility in the Arizona desert, where researchers study farming and technology and humans’ interaction with nature. From there, the 13.1-mile race — officially titled the Damascus Bakeries Half Marathon — follows Highway 77 for about nine miles, in the shadow of the nearby Santa Catalina Mountains. The only hills of any size come around mile 11, and you’ll cross the finish line just north of Catalina State Park, at the Golder Ranch Fire Station.