I never get tired of running in southern Utah. There’s so much to see and experience, and you can never even really run the same course twice.
This morning, I did my 18-mile long run down Scenic Byway Route 14, starting at the Cedar Canyon Overlook by Gooseberry Point and running down to Bicentennial Park in Cedar City. I try to do this every year to beat up my legs in preparation for the Cedar City Half Marathon, which is always the Saturday after Labor Day. This year I’ve got another challenge: running my Virtual Boston Marathon two days after my hometown half. Training runs like today’s
The main goal of this run is to trash my legs with some punishing downhill miles. A secondary goal is to reacquaint myself with the course I’ll be racing again in a month. But the main result is that I get to spend a couple of hours running in crisp air with some of the prettiest scenery anywhere. Not a bad thing to do on a Saturday morning in August.
For the record, this particular run down Scenic Byway Route 14 begins at 9,758 and descends almost 4,000 feet to end at 5,840. It’s nearly perfect for punishing the quads in advance of a downhill race.
You can't start a run like this without a selfie. I wear high-visibility colors when I run on an open highway like this. That's a color you can't ignore.
Just look at those hoodoos. In any other state, this area would probably be set aside as a state park (or even a national monument). But in Utah ... ho, hum.
A lot of the trees along this route were killed several years ago when a bark beetle ravaged the forest. That doesn't stop the area from being beautiful though.
I saw lots of critters along this run, including these foraging deer. They'll move lower down the mountain when the weather gets cold again.
The road winds down and in spite of the drought conditions, everything is really green.
It's nice to have a wide shoulder to run on. Lower down, the shoulder is almost nonexistent, and you have to hop off the roadway sometimes to avoid getting swiped by oncoming traffic.
An uphill shot during my favorite section of the run, which winds down through a tight canyon just below the SUU Mountain Lodge.
The steep canyon cliffs provide lots of morning shade during this run. They look precarious, but they've stood there for eons.
The views are pretty when you drive this road, but somehow, they're even prettier when you run it. I don't know how that happens.
Much lower, the valley widens out and you can see the Coal Creek winding its way down into town. The corner of Red Hill is just visible in the center of the shot.
This bridge over Coal Creek takes you to the paved city trail that goes through Canyon Park and eventually to Bicentennial Park, where I left my car.
