Reason for my Run
The week before my half marathon in the Grand Tetons I realized I did not know what else I was going to do there except wake up at 3 am to run a little over 13 miles on a Saturday.
In October of 2023, I saw a really pretty picture of a runner surrounded by mountain scenery and horses and told myself “I’m in.”
Flash forward to May 2024, I found myself packing for my 4-day trip with no plan in mind. Little did I know the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole would soon become one of my favorite places in America. Even better, I had convinced my Texas sister to meet me there (little did she know she would be also waking up at 3 am to be a spectator at my half-marathon).
Day 1
On day one I jumped onto my flight to Salt Lake City where I would pick up our rental car. I had a wonderful layover in Denver, where I was able to check out the Capital One lounge with endless food, drink, and comfort options and found myself eating a delicious acai bowl for breakfast.
Once, landing in SLC I met up with my sister and we grabbed our Chevy Malibu and hit the road. Like I said, we did not have much of a plan, but at least we had a 4-hour drive through Idaho to figure it out… with 4 hours of not having reception, we absolutely did not figure it out.
Once arriving in Jackson Hole, we were starving and looking for a beer garden type of vibe. We ended up at Snake River Brewing and absolutely fell in love with this place… so much so that we went there the next day, and the day after that too. Snake River offered fantastic beer and fun brewery food that my sister and I both loved.
After dinner, we stopped at the Whole Foods in town to pick up some snacks and fun drinks before heading out to our Airbnb for the night.
While we primarily went there for the Grand Tetons half marathon, we stayed in a location called Driggs, Idaho. Driggs was located about 45 minutes west of Jackson Hole, but the Airbnb prices were significantly lower since they were not in a primary location, and we may have booked our accommodation about 2 weeks before the trip.
While our stay was a little far out, we had so much fun staying in this area of Idaho and found ourselves eating at so many cute restaurants here. To get from Jackson Hole to Driggs we spent most of our drive on the side of a steep mountain. Yes, this was the same mountain shown on national news that had a section of it catastrophically collapse from a landslide not even a week after our trip here. I believe this road is thankfully repaired now, but this is still so scary to think of.
Day 2
On day two we decided to sleep in since the previous day was long and day 3 was half marathon day. We woke up and had oatmeal and coffee that we bought from Whole Foods and ate it outside in the beautiful 70-degree weather with our view of the countryside surrounded by mountains.
We decided we should probably do some hiking in the Tetons, but we did not want to do anything too intense since the run was the next day.
Grand Teton National Park was about an hour and 15 minutes from our Airbnb and we drove through Jackson Hole to get there. On our way there we found the cutest bagel place ever with amazing egg salad bagels (my absolute favorite). This place was called Pearl Street Bagels and was located on this beautiful river, with again another incredible mountain view. I decided there was no way I would ever get tired of looking at these snow capped mountains or this area in Wyoming.
After bagels, we headed to REI to search for running gloves because I forgot mine. With no luck, we decided to start our 30-minute voyage from Jackson Hole to Grand Teton National Park. About a 30-minute drive north of Jackson Hole, we entered the National Park from the south entrance. We had about another 30-minute drive before we arrived at the Taggart Lake parking lot. This was one of the shorter hikes Grand Teton National Park had to offer, but the end of the trail was breathtaking.
My sister and I enjoyed our Clif Bars while staring at the clear blue water with the iced-capped mountains in the background. In May it is still a little too cold to jump into the water (for me at least), but some people were still brave enough to do it! After our 45-minute rest period and lots of photos, we headed back to Jackson Hole for some lunch. Like I said earlier, we ended up at Snake River Brewing, again. This time I had a bison burger and a beer 😊. We decided to head back to our Airbnb in Idaho for an earlier night since we would be waking up at 4:00 am for my half marathon.
Half Marathon Day in the Tetons (WooHoo)!!!
We woke up around 4:00 am to get ready and head to a location outside of Jackson Hole to start the run. Thankfully, my sister was there to drop me off and wait around for a few hours on this cold early morning. The run began at 7:00 am and was AMAZING.
The course looped around the Teton Mountain range, and the views were insane. I was originally scared of feeling the impact of altitude since I am from the east coast of the States, but I honestly did not feel any change. At the end of the 13.1 miles, the finish line sat on the beautiful Grand Tetons Golf course and made for some incredible finish line pictures.
When the race was over, we headed to brunch and then back to the Airbnb for a much-needed shower and nap.
That night we ventured from our Idaho Airbnb back to downtown Jackson Hole. We visited the famous Million Dollar Cowboy bar first! This place was super cute and felt very old-time western. We walked around the Jackson Hole square and shopped.
Before ending our night in Jackson Hole we of course ended up at…. Snake River Brewing!
Heading Home
On our very last day, we packed to go home, and I did some yoga in the beautiful countryside. After, we jumped back into our rental car and made the long drive back to Salt Lake City. My sister and I said our goodbyes to each other and went home.
I will for sure be back to visit Jackson Hole, Wyoming! I also recommend the company Vacation Races to anyone looking for the coolest half-marathons ever! 😊
– X`oxo Mason
