TMC Get Moving Tucson Event: A-Mountain Half-Marathon, Tucson Lifestyle 5k & Cox Charities 1-Mile
Sunday, October 19, 2014 / Half-Marathon and 5k walk and run
Description
We’ll have a more-detailed 2013 race report at a later date, but here’s the quick version:
Over 1400 runners participated in the 2013 TMC Get Moving Tucson event, the third event in the 2013 Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown produced by the Southern Arizona Roadrunners. Over $13,000 was raised for local non-profits, including Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Tucson and Child and Family Resources. To see some of the many beautiful race photos, please go to facebook.com/Southern.Arizona.Roadrunners/photos_albums. We will also have a link for race photos for each person to purchase pretty soon. . . .Thanks to Kerry Whelan and Scott Cnockaert for the great photos . . .
Over 200 children ran the Cox Charities Mile, a Southern Arizona Roadrunner"FitKidz” free one mile promoting health and wellness. All race results can be found here (with final results to be posted over the coming days)—all age group awards can be picked up at The Running Shop through November 1st.
In terms of the fast running, a handful of Olympic hopefuls took to the city streets on Sunday morning, trying to win some prize money in the TMC Get Moving Tucson A-Mountain Half-Marathon. Prize money was based on times not overall placing, with over $4,000 possible. In the men’s race, former Pima Community College standout Craig Curley out-dueled University of Arizona law school graduate Ian Burrell to take first place overall in a time of 1:08:03. Burrell finished in 1:09:14, with UofA graduate student Kirk Michels in third in 1:09:58. Two weeks after finishing in 5th place at the US National Marathon Championships, Curley won $200 for being the first runner to the “A” on top of Sentinel Peak.
The women’s race saw a duel between two Olympic hopefuls, marathoner Ariana Hilborn and former University of Arizona steeplechaser Maggie Callahan.
Hilborn (33) from Heber, Arizona, was the first woman across the line in 1:21:17, to set a new course record on the Downtown-area course. Hilborn won $900 for being the first to the top of the A-Mountain and setting the new course record. Hilborn was challenged to the top of A-Mountain by Callahan (25), running her first half-marathon. Now living in Boulder, but still a member of the Southern Arizona Roadrunners, Callahan took second place, breaking the old course record and also winning $200. In third place was Alita Jokesch, a UofA graduate student running for the Workout Group.
Date and Time
TMC A-Mountain Half-Marathon starts at 7:00 am, with an early start for walkers. The Tucson Lifestyle 5k will also start at 7:00 am, while the Cox Charities and FitKidz Free Mile will begin at 7:45 am.
Race Distances and Courses
The updated course map for 2013 is shown below! We’re all doing the first 3.1 miles together. We will start the 5k and the half-marathon at the same time. After the 5k through the UA neighborhoods and Downtown, the half-marathoners will head over to A-Mountain and do that portion of the route. The Half-Marathon route will include A-Mountain, the Santa Cruz Riverpath, and streets of Downtown Tucson. The Tucson Lifestyle 5k is the same route as the first 3.1 of the half-marathon, while the Free Cox Charities Mile does an easy loop through the nearby neighborhoods. Special thanks to the Arizona Department of Transportation for allowing us access to the the St. Mary’s Underpass at I-10 and to the City of Tucson for all their help with the route planning.
Location
110 North Church Street in historic Downtown Tucson, at the Jacome Plaza by the library and the Old Court House.
Race Fees
TMC A-Mountain Half-Marathon
$45 By April 30
$50 By July 31
$65 By September 30
$75 Through race day
Tucson Lifestyle 5k Walk/Run
$15 By April 30
$20 By July 31
$25 By September 30
$30 Through race day
Cox Charities One Mile Family Walk/Run
FREE (no shirt)
Registration
- Print Registration Form and mail it in. Registration by mail must be postmarked by Wednesday, October 10, 2012.
- Register online with a credit card at active.com.
- You can register or pick up your shirt and timing bib on Saturday, October 19th from 10:00 - 3:00 at The Running Shop, 3055 North Campbell Avenue.
- You can register or pick up your shirt and timing bib on Sunday, October 20th from 5:30 - 6:30 am at the race start/finish line at Jacome Library Plaza in Downtown Tucson, 110 North Church Street
Training Advice
UPDATED: How to Run the Half. a mile-by-mile description of the race course. Here is an online map.
Miles 1-3 The 5k and Half-Marathon runners will all start together. The starting line is in front of the historic Pioneer Building on Stone Avenue. To ensure an accurate and certified course for each race, the course will include a lap of the Downtown library at the very beginning, followed by a straight shot east along Pennington Avenue to Sixth Avenue.
Runners will head to the east side of Sixth Avenue and drop under the rail tracks via the Sixth Avenue Underpass, before heading north on Sixth Avenue all the way up to Second Street. Turn right on Second Street and head towards the University of Arizona for a half-mile or so, then turn left on First Avenue and left again on First Street.
This section should be fun – plenty of folks to run with, an easy uphill through the first mile, then mostly flat for a mile, then a very nice downhill all the way through the Sixth Avenue Underpass.
Miles 3-4 Half-Marathoners will go right past the finish line on Church at the Old Court House. From Court House/Jacome Plaza , north to Sixth and along Sixth to I-10 is all a gentle downhill down towards the Santa Cruz. Take advantage of this slight drop. From Sixth/St. Mary’s you’ll turn south on Bonita and have the whole street to yourselves until you hit Congress. Heading west on Congress to the A-Mountain road at Cuesta is a gradual rise - not very noticeable, but still, a bit uphill. You’ll be on the north side of Congress all the way to Cuesta. Again, be patient on this stretch.
Once you turn south on Cuesta, you will begin to notice a bit of an uphill. OK, a bit more than a bit. Almost the same distance as the famed Saguaro hill, the climb up to the “A” on A-Mountain can be broken into a few sections. Stay to the right side of the road on this whole stretch. The first piece through the neighborhoods is gradual, so try to get in a steady rhythm without working too hard.
As you hit the parking lot on the right about a half-mile up the hill, you’ll notice a flattening for a couple of hundreds of yards. This is a good time to re-assess your pace and shake out your arms a bit. Then you have a quarter mile of steepness to the split at the top of the mountain where we’re planning a water stop to be staffed by the great kids from Sahuaro High School.
The race route will take you to the right, counter-clockwise, with a gorgeous view of the Starr Pass area to the west and the Santa Rita Mountains to the south. You can see the sparkling observatories of Kitt Peak and the mountains surrounding Baboquivari Peak. The hill softens a bit as you make the half-mile push for the red-white-and-blue “A.” There are a couple of false summits as you approach the top, so maintain a steady pace and a smile on the way up. According to mapmyrun.com, the whole climb is about 1.5 miles with a 509 foot elevation gain. Not that bad, right? Once you hit the low brick wall marking the parking areas on the east side, you’re almost to the top. Another hundred yards or so, and you level out for a few steps before plunging downhill.
Miles 7-8 The downhill is probably the hardest part of the course. Enjoy the pull of gravity, but you’ll want to be careful of running too fast - don’t brake yourself, but don’t overstride too much, either. Like with the Tucson Marathon, too much too fast will blow out your quads, so be smart on the downhill section.
Miles 9-10 Once you’re off the hill, the half-mile stretch heading east on Congress is pretty easy. Please stay inside the cones on the south lane of Congress. You’ll turn south on Grande and stay on the right side of the road all the way down to the bike path entrance just north of 22nd/Starr Pass Blvd. You may be tempted to pick up the pace on this stretch, but it’s probably better to be patient here. We’ll have a water station, a medical tent, and an ambulance at the dirt lot when you enter the bike path on Grande. At this point you should be in a nice rhythm.
Mile 11-12 Once on the bike path, you will stay on the right hand side of the bike path and head south for exactly 660 yards then do a U-turn and head back north still staying on the right side of the lane as you pass runners for another 660 yards until the path opens up. (As you can probably tell, we needed this turn-around on the bike path to ensure that the course is exactly 13.1 miles.) You’ll head north on the bike path all the way until St. Mary’s again. You should be feeling good, so this is a nice place to step up the pace a bit. There are some shady stretches and you’re getting closer to home on this primarily flat stretch.
Mile 12-13.1 Exiting the bike path onto St. Mary’s is a bit tricky. As you come up the hill off the bike path approaching St. Mary’s, you can either hug the pathway to the right and stay on the narrow sidewalk heading east across the Santa Cruz or you can jump down from the curb to the main roadway. If I were racing it, I would probably hop the curb, but it’s a bit high, perhaps as many as 10”, so be careful here. As you head under the I-10, you’re about 2/3 of mile from the finish line, so it’s time to put the pedal to the metal!!
Awards
September 20 Update: $4,200 in Prize Money for TMC A-Mountain Half-Marathon Announced: Possible Biggest Purse in Tucson Running, with prize money based on times and placing
• Preem award of $200 to first male and female runner to the “A” on Sentinel Peak**
• $200 to the top 5 men who break 1:11 and to the top 5 women who break 1:25
• $500 for course records. Current course records are Scott Smith’s 1:06:23 and Alicia Shay’s 1:24:37, both set in 2012.
• $100 to first male and female member of the Southern Arizona Roadrunners
• $100 to first male and female member of the Southern Arizona Roadrunners in the master’s division, 40-and-over.
** NOTE: A-Mountain preem prize money is only given if the A-Mountain leader finishes the complete half-marathon in under 1:30 minutes for the man and 1:40 minutes for the woman
Half-Marathon RRCA State Championships
Special RRCA Coaster Award to the top runner in the open, masters (40+), grand masters (50+), and senior grand masters (60+) categories for both men and women.
Updated Age Group Awards—thanks to the Running Shop!
1/2 Marathon
1st place age group: Adidas compression socks, commemorative mug
2nd place age group: Adidas elite ii running glove, commemorative mug
3rd place age group: Adidas running cap, commemorative mug
5K
1st place age group: $20 gift cert, commemorative mug
2nd place age group: $10 gift cert, commemorative mug
3rd place: Commemorative mug
NOTE: Overall 5k winner in the male and female division receives a free entry into next year’s Half-Marathon
NOTE: All age group winners will receive a commemorative race mug. You must be present to receive the mug, otherwise they will be raffled off. Gift Certificates may be picked up at The Running Shop within 30 days of the race.
Beneficiaries
Proceeds from the event will fund local charities, including Cox Charities and Big Brothers, Big Sisters Tucson, as well as Child and Family Resources
Community Partners
We want to thank a host of community partners for help with this event, including our title sponsor, Tucson Medical Center. Without TMC’s support, we could not produce such a large event. We urge all runners and walkers to patronize our sponsors and partners:
- Caliente and the Arizona Daily Star
- Snell & Wilmer Law Firm
- Muscle Mile
- Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club
- Cox Communications
- Tucson Lifestyle Magazine
- The Running Shop
- Chris Cox Chiropractor
- Waste Management
- Rural Metro
- The City of Tucson Mayor’s Office, the Downtown Tucson Partnership
- Sahuaro High School, Catalina High School, St. Augustine High School
Interested in being a sponsor? Contact Race Director .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). It’s expensive to put on a race Downtown, and we’re looking for course sponsors, t-shirt sponsors, and post-event sponsors. Join the healthiest community in Arizona!
Race Weather
Race conditions are typically 63 degrees at race start, and clear skies. Check out Tucson’s current conditions and forecast so you’ll be prepared!
Results
2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 |Contact
- Contact the Southern Arizona Roadrunners Hotline at (520) 326-9383 for more information.
- Race Director Randy Accetta: Call 520-991-0733 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
