Journeys of The Key West Southernmost Walker: July 2019

Idaho Falls Half Marathon

Idaho Falls, Idaho

Saturday, July 27, 2019

On Saturday, July 27, 2019 I race walked the Idaho Falls Half Marathon in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The weather was supposed to be sunny with little wind and a temperature varying from 67 to 78 degrees; however, the actual weather cloudy skies with some light drizzle, a light breeze and a temperature varying from 67 to 70 degrees. The course was a point to point journey that started in the hills East of Idaho Falls, going mostly medium downhill for the first 4 miles then going mostly gentle downhill or flat for the rest of the way. The actual course was different from the map that is still listed on the website with no notification or explanation and very poorly marked causing many of the 350 participants to miss turns. The only marking for turns were pieces of pointed orange tape in the traffic lane that was not closed to traffic and forced participants to go in the same direction as the traffic on the side of the road. Some of the tape did no adhere to the road and was missing. Also if the traffic was heavy and a piece of tape was to direct the participant to turn left at an intersection, it sometimes was hidden by the traffic. There were no volunteers or police to control traffic and keep participants safe at intersections or serve as course marshals to ensure that the participants stayed on course. There were no medical stations. Participants had to wait at traffic lights and often had to yield to traffic at intersections with or without stop signs. There were two spectators who normally work as school crossing guards who took their stop sign out of their cars and acted to control the crossing of a major road that had a major amount of traffic. There were no mile markings either on the road or on a sign along the course for either the half marathon or the full marathon. Water/Gatorade stations were located approximately every two miles starting at mile 3. Each station consisted of a table and anywhere from 2 to 4 volunteers who filled the top of the table with cups of water and Gatorade and expected the participants to help themselves. Oftentimes the volunteers were standing in front of the table blocking the participants from easily accessing the liquid. There was only one station that functioned like a normal station in a race and actually handed the cups of liquid to the participants. This is the second time I have done this event. When I did the event in 2017, it was well organized and fun and I expected the 2019 event to be the same. I never imagined that any half marathon could be so poorly organized and unsafe for the participants. I do not expect to return to this event again.