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I have been working hard on the Grand Canyon Trail Half Marathon set for November 2, 2019. This event is now completely locally driven. I have partnered with Run Tucson for the Race logistics, but the rest of the experience is about us – who we are as a community and the hospitality we offer to our visitors.
We are now working on our final touches and need your assistance. We currently have 281 people registered for the event and want to be able to show them what makes us so “Grand”. We chose this date to increase your late fall visitation and hopefully have better weather for the runners.
We have begun to send emails to the participants highlighting local stories, fun facts, where to stay, what to do and would love to include you in some of our upcoming highlights. Over the next few we will be highlighting those restaurants that want to offer a Friday night pasta/carb special, any restaurant that wants to participate in Taste of the Grand Canyon and anyone donating prizes for our runners.
The course begins and ends at the IMAX. IMAX is graciously opening their building to us for this event.
The schedule:
Friday November 1st
• 3 pm – 8 pm pre-race registration packet pick-up
• 7 pm Volunteer meeting
• 7:30 pm Race information session for participants
• Pasta Specials around town
Saturday November 2nd
• 8 am - 12 pm - Pancake Breakfast to support Tusayan Fire Department
• 10 am – Half Marathon start
• 10:15 am – 5K start
The opportunities
• Register your business for a vendor table - All Vendor's must be members of the Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce. There is no base fee to participate, however if your businesses normally extend a commission to the Chamber, we ask that any sales you make at this event that you extend the same commission. The goal is to provide event participants with information on the Grand Canyon. You can set-up Friday night during our preregistration/race information event and on Saturday November 2nd for the event.
• Friday Night Pasta / High Carb special - The Grand Canyon Trail Half Marathon is looking for our local restaurants to offer a pasta special for our Marathon participants. If you are interested in offering a pasta special on Friday Night November 1, 2019 please complete the form by October 22nd to be included in a special email to participants.
• Taste of the Grand Canyon - We hope you want to participate in the Taste of the Grand Canyon. We are looking for restaurants interested in donating small samples of what makes your food so "Grand" - it could really be anything - your signature sandwich cut into smaller portions, your famous wings, a sample of your best dessert. Please consider donating 100 - 200 units for sampling to share with the racers and their families. Event will take place at the Grand Canyon IMAX. Event set-up 9 am finished by 3 pm.
• Prize Donations - We are looking for 50 Grand Canyon prizes for the different age categories. We are looking for 8 amazing prizes like donated tours or hotel stays and then things likes Grand Canyon books, art/posters, t-shirts, or water bottles. The amazing prizes will go to the top 3 men and top 3 women overall and the top man and woman in the masters category.
• Volunteers – We will need about 55 volunteers the day before and the day of to make this happen. If you or anyone you know want to get involved and help show these Half - Marathon Racer what a Grand Community offers please sign-up to volunteer.
• Helps us spread the word – If you have a Facebook account please share our event with your friends, family and followers.
I realize this is a lot to ask - we plan to make this an annual fall event and hope to significantly increase numbers next year and the years to come. This inaugural year for us will set the stage for all the years to come – if our 281 racers have an awesome time and each tell 2 friends… well we could have over 843 for next year.
Please let me know if you have any questions - I can always be reached at 520-329-1889.
Thank you all for your support!
Laura Chastain
General Manager
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