My First Time Running In Sedona
My First Time Running In Sedona
One Saturday in February, at around 9am I pulled into busy Sedona, Arizona. This time with the expectation that everything about this run would suck and I was totally okay with that.
Trail running has become one of my favorite pastimes. To me, there is nothing better than throwing on a pack filled with snacks (don’t forget your snacks!) and heading out into nature for hours on my own two feet. There’s no pressure. I can walk up a hill if I feel, stop and take in the view, take zero pictures or one hundred. I enjoy those days that exist with just me and nature’s noise.
I visited Sedona once before with the expectation of visiting a desert town in Northern Arizona. This town would have amazing views and an even better energy. Sounds amazing to me. If I have to be 100% honest, all I remember from my first trip to Sedona is a hiking trail where I didn’t spend more than 2 minutes at a time listening to “nature’s noise”, no parking, overpriced food, and a view that wasn’t any different than where I currently lived at the time. I wasn’t impressed.
Fast forward a couple years later. My girlfriend decided to have her bachelorette party in Sedona. At first, I was excited. I couldn’t wait to celebrate with her! Soon after, I made two connections. I would be in Sedona on President’s Weekend and I would be in the middle of training for a 21 mile race, so training must continue over the weekend. I would now officially have to run on the busiest trails I have probably ever experienced.
The week before, I scouted the trails by looking at the course map on the race website and comparing it to some trails on All Trails. I realized I might be able to take on the majority of the course and all of a sudden, I am stoked for this running experience. I came up with two routes: Mezcal Loop and the Girdner Trail. I would pull into town on Saturday morning, run the Mezcal loop (plus a little lollipop on the Chuckwagon Trail), and then on Sunday run out and back on the Girdner trail.
On Saturday, I found the last spot in the parking lot (yay!). I sat down in the parking lot, tied up my shoes, chugged more vitamin water, ate another quick snack and headed on my way. I turned left onto the rocky, red dirt Mezcal trail with a smile on my face. Alongside my goal of running for a couple hours, I also had a goal to take a few decent pictures to showcase the beauty of running in Sedona. This quickly turned into one of those runs where I was stopped every 5 minutes to take a picture because I truly thought that moment had to be the best view of the run and I better not miss the opportunity to take a photo of it.
The contrast of red rocks and green trees is one of my favorites. This is what the trail solely consisted of. I kept running along the red dirt path. The miles ticked by abnormally fast. I would occasionally come to a section of slick rock that ran alongside a large rock face and then back to the red dirt path. Every once in a while I would get surprised at how technical the trail felt as rocks kept jumping out at me. My winter, snowy, dirt road legs were taking a beating from these flowy desert trails, and I was loving it.
The trail continued on similarly to how it had the last 5 or so miles, until I turned a corner and realized I was standing on a cliff looking down on a river. I really didn’t expect to see a river flowing through this desert trail. Winding my way down to the river, I discovered I had to cross it to continue on my trail. A river crossing? In the desert? How freaking cool is this?! I stood there, looking at the river, still surprised, and then proceeded to go full steam ahead across the river.
Once I climbed up from the river, back on top of the red rocks, the trail began to merge with one of the most popular trails in Sedona: Devil’s Bridge. Since I shockingly spent the majority of my run thus far not seeing any other fellow humans, I was dealing with all of the people fairly well. I actually started to laugh as I made my way through. Recognizing the faces I was getting from others while shoving food in my face as I was running. I started making the connection that these people had no idea what I was doing.
I quickly made a right hand turn onto the trail that connected me back to my parking lot. Still being lots of people, I yelled ahead to some girls ahead of me to let them know I was planning to pass. They didn’t hear me. As I got closer, paying attention to their steps and not mine, they heard me coming from behind and slowly started to move over. All of a sudden, I am face planted on the ground next to the girls. I get up quickly and make a joke about how it always seems to happen in front of others and at the end of the run. They giggle. Before I know it, I am back in the parking lot. In my own world and starstruck by nature's beauty, I sit down to take off my shoes and start reflecting on the eleven miles of Sedona trails. Out of nowhere I hear someone yell, “Are you leaving? I really could use that parking spot.” Quickly, I am brought back to reality.
Moral of the story? Go take a run in Sedona, my friends.
Author: Sydney Nagy had the chance to run the amazing trails in Sedona and wanted to share her story. She is coaching on the Becoming Ultra platform now too. Learn more about her here.
