Paradise Valley Trail Run 5k | 10k | Half Marathon

The Half Marathon Trail Series features several half marathon trail runs over the course of the year, designed to both whet and sate trail runners’ appetites for this wonderful distance!

The different events offer courses at a variety of venues, each with a unique beauty and challenge. Run three or more to earn a full series score. See how you compare to others in your age group, or challenge yourself to go the distance three times this year.

Paradise Valley Conservation Area is indeed a trail runner’s paradise, with mostly gently rolling trails of a variety of widths and speeds, from wide and straight promenades where you can stride out to serpentine pathways that wind between wetland cedar groves and meander up and down gentle ridges. The forest is just as varied and offers an enchanting journey to its visitors.

This event is part of the Half Marathon Trail Series, and runners in the Half Marathon distance will earn points toward their series standing.

Course Description
The trails at Paradise Valley are a mix of wide and narrow, smooth and bumpy, straight and curvy, so the courses offer a good variety and will keep you on your toes. All courses start out the same way, going out the medium-width mainline trail then out the Wetland Plateau Trail, which starts out narrow and eventually widens and joins the Southern Traverse Trail. The course passes the mid-loop aid station for the first time at 1.6 miles then narrows again when it turns onto the swoopy and gradually descending Lloyd bike trail.

At the bottom of Lloyd Trail, the 5k runners continue down and across the Mainline Trail and finish with a tour around the plateau above the start/finish on the Cascara Trail, which starts out relatively straight and then becomes increasingly curvy before rejoining the Mainline Trail for a short return to the finish.

The 10k loop and the second loop of the half marathon continue on back up the gentle slope and back to the aid station at 3.1 miles. The loops then cross the valley that bisects the area on Southern Traverse Trail before diverging and taking different meandering trails that gently descend again on the return toward the finish.

The Half Marathon course is two loops: The 10k course loop, plus a 7-mile second loop that is similar to the 10k course but takes a longer route after the mid-loop split.

The terrain is mostly gently sloping, making for course profiles that are predominantly runnable, with only short steeper slopes.

Distances and Climb
5k (actual 5.46km): 265 feet*
10k (actual 10.15km): 540 feet*
Half Marathon (13.3mi): ~1200 feet*

* Distances were measured using a measuring wheel, and climb was measured using a detailed contour map. The distance is most likely within 1% of actual, and the climb within 10%.

Aid stations
There will be two well-provisioned aid/refreshment stations, one located adjacent to the start/finish, and one located where the course loops fold onto themselves and return to the same junction at the 1.6-mile (all courses) and 3.1-mile (all courses except 5k) points in the course loops.

Aid stations offer water, electrolyte drink, and some carbohydrate-rich or salty foods, such as cookies, pieces of energy bar, gels, chews, chips, bagel, fruity candy, fig bars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and/or bananas.

Schedule
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
8:00am – Check-in and day-of-event registration opens
8:50am – Pre-Half Marathon briefing
9:00am – Half Marathon start
9:20am – 5k/10k briefing
9:30am – 5k/10k start
12:30pm – Course closes

Parking & Shuttle
Parking for the shuttle bus is located at the Church at Maltby. Here is a map you can use for parking.

The shuttle will provide frequent transport between the parking area and the start and finish.

The first shuttle will be at 7:45am and the last shuttle will be around 12:45pm.

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