TMC Get Moving Tucson Half-Marathon, Tucson Lifestyle 5k walk/run, and Cox Charities One MIle
Sunday, October 21, 2012 / Half-Marathon and 5k walk and run
Description
Please note the new race date of Sunday morning, October 21st, 2012.
Join us for the second running of the TMC Get Moving Tucson Half-Marathon—discounted pricing deadlines are April and July, so start making plans to Run the A now!. Enjoy an exciting course, family-friendly post-race activities, cash for winners, age group awards, raffles for all, and plenty of post-race food and drink. Of course, all participants receive a colorful technical shirt.
We’re grateful that Tucson Medical Center has agreed to be the title sponsor for 2012 and 2013. TMC is a great partner, committed to a healthy community. In addition, we’re excited to be working with Cox Communications and Cox Charities for 2012. Cox Charities will be our primary beneficiary, and we’re thrilled to provide a portion of our proceeds to Cox Charities and their youth educational programs. We’ll keep you updated on additional news about the 2012 Get Moving Tucson series of events.
This is the third and final event of the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown. Those who complete all three events will receive a special commemorative award at the conclusion of the 2912 race.
The Half-Marathon is part of The Running Shop Grand Prix, produced by SAR.
The start/finish and staging area is in Downtown Tucson, on Church Street immediately north of Congress, between the Downtown library and the Court House, just like last year. Click on the map to the right and it will expand—you can also see the online half-marathon route including the elevation chart at mapmyrun.com here. The Tucson Lifestyle 5k route and the new Cox Charities One Mile will be in historic Downtown Tucson.
Special thanks to sponsors: Snell and Wilmer law firm, AAA Arizona, Providence Service Corporation & Second Saturdays, and Body Basics. All these organizations share our commitment to building a better Tucson. We’re delighted to have them as partners.
Date and Time
Sunday, October 21, 2012
6:30 AM start for the half-marathon
6:45 AM start for the 5k race
7:00 AM start for the Cox Charities One Mile family friendly walk/run
PLEASE NOTE: we may modify the schedule slightly, so check back!
Race Distances and Courses
The Half-Marathon route will include A-Mountain, the Santa Cruz Riverpath, and streets of Downtown Tucson. The 3.1 mile and One Mile will have out and back courses that let you share the fun 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
Half-Marathon
$45 Through April 30
$55 Through July 30
$65 Through September 30
$75 Through race day
5k run/walk
$15 Through April 30
$20 Through July 30
$25 Through race day
Cox Charities One Mile Walk/Run
$15 Through July 30
$20 Through race day
* All children 10 and under are free, with no t-shirt. Extra t-shirts may be available for sale.
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.
- Race day registration & packet pick-up will be available at the race site, 5:00-6:15 am for both the half-marathon and the 5k. Please be sure to arrive early enough to register on time! Race-day registrants may have to wait to receive t-shirts. Check back for additional registration details.
Training Advice
How to Run the Half, a mile-by-mile description of the race course
Miles 1-2 From the starting line on Church at the Court Hous/Jacome Plaza north to Sixth and along Sixth to I-10 is all a gentle downhill. Be careful of starting this first mile too fast. 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.
Miles 3-4 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/cytomax stop. 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 4-5 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 6-7 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 7-9 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. Please note, though, that you will run through a construction zone on this strip. The Ashton Company will clear the area for you, but it will be dirt here. 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 9-10 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 start/finish line, but you still have almost 4 miles to run. If you feel good, it’s a nice time to start racing, but also a good place to be patient and conserve some energy if you’re feeling tired.
Miles 10-11 This is a tough mental part of the course: you will head south on Church straight past the finish line as the 5k finishers are either finishing to your left or hanging out cheering for you. But you still have 3.1 miles to go. The first part of the 3.1 miles is east on Congress - most of the 5k runners should be done by the time you hit this stretch, but we’ll have the lane coned into two parts, one for the east-bound trip and one for the west-bound trip. At the east end of Downtown, you cross to the Fourth Avenue underpass so you’ll want to watch out for the rail tracks. You’ll be tired, so be careful here. Still, this is a good place to run hard - you’re almost done, so look ahead and see who you can pick off.
Coming out of the Fourth Avenue tunnel, you’ll turn right onto 9th Street, and head about two blocks east before turning left on Bean Street, then left again on 8th Street and heading back to Fourth Avenue. I happen to like turns like this: it shakes out my legs and the corners give me something to think about—indeed, you can sneak a peak at competitors.
Miles 11-12 Heading north on Fourth Avenue is a bit annoying: there will be good crowds and a water station for you, but you’ll be climbing a deceptive uphill for about a half-mile to University Avenue. Be patient, but be tough. You’ll turn right at University and head towards the UA, then do one final U-turn just before you hit Euclid - then it’s back down University and rocket-ship down Fourth Avenue all the way back to Congress. Use the downhill on Fourth and the crowds to your advantage. You’re almost done so let ‘er rip if you can.
Mile 13 The last mile of the course is downhill on Fourth then up the Fourth Avenue underpass hill, with a finish along Congress and Church. Rock star it here: push the pace, enjoy the shade, and run to the finish line. You’ll be done in no time—then it’s on to the food, drink, music, relaxation, and free massages!
A note on training for A-Mountain: weekly free social training runs will begin on Monday night, August 22nd. Be ready to run (or walk) at 5:45 pm—meet at Meet Me at Maynard’s, 400 North Toole. The route is almost exactly 6.2 miles—we’ll start at Maynard’s and go straight west on Congress, then up and down A-Mountain, and back along Congress to the finish at Maynard’s. You can go farther or shorter as you wish . . . pace groups are being planned.
Here is a five-week plan for getting comfortable running the 1.5 mile incline of A-Mountain. It will work for all levels of abilities.
Week One: Run an easy conversation pace straight down Congress Avenue and up the A-Mountain then back to the Train Depot at Maynard’s. Run conversation pace—perhaps a 5 or 6 on a scale of 10.
NOTE: This conversation pace should be comfortable and relaxed—you may get a bit fatigued on the hill, but don’t push it. If you need to walk, by all means, walk up the hill.
NOTE: If you want to do the A-Mountain loop a couple of times before advancing to Week Two, by all means, get comfortable going up the mountain first . . .
Week Two: Start at Maynard’s and run the 1.5 mile warm up. Do this at a conversational pace—perhaps a 5 or 6 on an a 10-point effort scale Then run strong on the uphill to the gate—perhaps a 7-8 on the effort scale. Rest at the parking area for 2 minutes, then run strong to the A at the top of the mountain, again at a 7- 8 on the effort scale. Then jog downhill and run conversation pace back to Maynard’s. Total distance: 6.2 miles, total effort: 1.5 miles
Week Three: Start at Maynard’s and run the 1.5 mile warm up at an easy, comfortable pace. Then run strong on the uphill to the gate. Rest at the parking area for 2 minutes, then run strong to the A at the top of the mountain. Then jog downhill to the point where the A-Mountain Road divides. Run strong up the south side of the mountain back to the A. Then relax and run conversation pace back to Maynard’s. Total distance: 6.7 miles, total effort: 2 miles.
Week Four: Start at Maynard’s and run the 1.5 mile warm up. Then run strong on the uphill to the gate. Rest at the parking area for 2 minutes, then run strong to the A at the top of the mountain. Then jog downhill to the gate near the parking lot. Run strong all the way to the A. Then relax and run conversation pace back to Maynard’s. Total distance: 7 miles, total effort: 2.2 miles.
Week Five: Start at Maynard’s and run the 1.5 mile warm up. Then run strong on the uphill to the gate. Rest at the parking area for 2 minutes, then run strong to the A at the top of the mountain. Then jog downhill and run conversation pace back to the very bottom of the hill. Turn around and run fast to the A. Total distance: 9 miles, total effort: 3 miles. This is a capstone workout.
Race Hotels
Details on host hotels will be announced.
Awards
Prize money, age group awards, and other prizes will be announced.
Beneficiaries
Proceeds from the event will fund a host of local charities, including Cox Charities, Child and Family Resources, and the Educational Enrichment Foundation.
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
- Cox Communications
- Tucson Lifestyle Magazine
- Body Basics
- Tucson Meet Yourself
- The City of Tucson Mayor’s Office, the Downtown Tucson Partnership
- Greater Tucson Leadership
- Imagine Greater Tucson
- Delta Sigma Pi, AKPsi, and Sahuaro 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
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).
