Dear Community Members:
Since the mid-1990s, I have proudly dedicated much of my life to being the Race Director of Moab Half Marathon events, including the Canyonlands Half Marathon, The Other Half 13.1 Mile Run, Thelma & Louise Half Marathon and Relay, and the Winter Sun 10K. In the summer of 2017, I sold the business to Mad Moose Events. I am guessing that by now most folks here in the Moab Valley have heard the news, so I wanted to take this opportunity to announce it publicly and to say goodbye and thank you.
I became involved with the events starting in 1996, when I first moved to Moab. For the first six years, I volunteered in exchange for a free entry into Canyonlands. Then in 2001, I took over as race director for the Winter Sun, and in 2002 for Canyonlands. Though I no longer ran the races, I suspect I covered even more miles than the runners did on race day. In 2004, Sheri Simmons and I created The Other Half, a fall companion to Canyonlands. In 2006, we purchased the events from the local running club, Rim Rock Roadrunners. In 2012, we added Thelma & Louise Half Marathon to our repertoire, an all-female event that honored the race’s namesake movie that was filmed near the course.
Over the years, Moab Half Marathon, Inc., has generated donations totaling over $316,000 to nonprofit clubs, organizations and teams, most of them local. Support also went to the local chapter of Girls on the Run, a national organization designed to inspire 3rd-8th grade girls to be joyful, healthy and confident through running. MHM brought the program to Moab and over the past six years, our staff donated its time and supplies to coach program participants.
It has been my profound pleasure to partner with all of these deserving groups, and I could not have produced such quality events without them, the countless volunteers, businesses, staff, and government entities that were part of every race. And of course the races would not happen without the hundreds of thousands of participants who enjoyed the incredible beauty that we are lucky to call our backyard. To you, runners who came from all over the state, region, country and world (and many from right here): Thank you for all your kind words, your appreciation and your support. I can’t express my gratitude in words. It truly touches my heart, and I will miss you. I am very proud of the professional, high-quality well-run events that we showcased to the world, and honored that you were part of that success.
