Kanab readies for its closeup; Little Hollywood Half Marathon

KANAB — It could be said that all good ideas are born on a run. At least that was the case for four running buddies who had a dream to put on a half marathon in Kanab. Now the first-ever Little Hollywood Half Marathon is set to take place in scenic Kanab Aug. 22, and, the four running dreamers, want the community to be a part of it.

The impetus for the race came while friends Danielle Ramsay, Lexie Little, Becka Ott and Alexis Cutler were training for the St. George Marathon, Ramsay said. The four women said they love training and running in Kanab, and felt it would be the perfect place to hold a 13.1-mile race.

“Kanab is gorgeous, like absolutely gorgeous,” Ramsay said, “so a few of the girls I run with said ‘there should be a half marathon in Kanab’ and the more we talked about it, the more we thought it would be so fun.”

Little Hollywood Half Marathon race flyer, location and date not specified | Photo courtesy Little Hollywood Half Marathon, St. George News
Little Hollywood Half Marathon race flyer | Photo courtesy Little Hollywood Half Marathon, St. George News | Click on flyer to enlarge

Nicknamed “Little Hollywood” during the heyday of western movie making, Kanab and the surrounding area was the backdrop for over 100 western movies and television series, making it the ideal location for a footrace of the same name.

The closed course will begin north of Kanab in Long Valley and will wind past Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and into red rock country. The route will then take runners through Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and finish at the Little Hollywood Museum, where finishers will be able to meander among the movie props and memorabilia.

“We want them to have a really authentic ‘Little Hollywood’ experience,” Ramsay said. “As you run the course, there will be places where movies were actually filmed that you will be able to see from the course.”

The race is a mixed surface course, meaning runners will race on a mixture of pavement and hard packed dirt roads, Ramsay said.

The half marathon will be paced by American Flyers Race Pacers, who use course-specific pacing bands to help guide racers to their perfect pace and ideal finish times.

Registration for the race is $55 and includes a quality race shirt, finisher medal and a catered breakfast of biscuits and gravy by Houston’s Trail End Restaurant. Additional finish line refreshments will also be available.

A portion of the proceeds from the race will be donated to the Symphony of the Canyons, the area’s symphony orchestra, Ramsay said.

Registration is open now and can be done online.

“We are just excited for people to come,” Ramsay said.

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