By GABRIELLE SHIOZAWA
Moapa Valley Progress
Just after sunrise, and the park’s towering red rock formations are streaked with golden light and dramatic shadows. In the distance, the outline of the first runner is barely visible as he crests a hill and coasts down, heading for the next challenge. His pace lengthens. His breath quickens. Behind him, another runner appears, and then another. Caught in the maze of the desert landscape, with everything aglow, it seems for a moment that the entire world is on fire.
It was early morning on Saturday, November 11, and 74 competitors were gathered in the Valley of Fire State Park for the annual Valley of Fire marathon, half marathon, 10k, and 5k event.
This year’s competition, hosted by Deborah Bowling of Planet Ultra, drew many of its competitors from Moapa Valley and its surrounding areas in Las Vegas and southern Utah. But racers also came from further afield: from Canada, Germany, and all across the United States.
Markus Nett, the first place male competitor in the 10k race, said that he was on a tour around the Valley of Fire when he heard about the event.
“I thought, ‘If there’s a race, I’d better be in it!’” said Nett, who now resides in Las Vegas but originally hails from Germany. “I just wanted to compete! I signed up this morning.”
As for the resulting experience, Nett remarked, “It was brilliant, and I’d love to come back sometime.”
While Nett was a first-timer on the Valley of Fire course, the first place female 10k finisher, Lorraine Christian, was in her third year of competing.
“It’s a challenging course, which I like,” said Christian, “and the scenery here is absolutely beautiful.”
Nett’s finishing time in the Men’s 10K race was 42:58. Christian’s was 52:07 in the Women’s 10K.
Locals Tara Neilson and Jared Marshall competed in the half marathon race. Neilson was the first place female competitor overall, while Marshall placed first in the 40-49 year old division. Both Neilson and Marshall are avid runners, yet neither of them had previously participated in the Valley of Fire event.
“Some of our other family members signed up this year, so we did, too,” explained Marshall. “It was fun!”
“I’d always heard that it was super hard, so I didn’t want to do it,” laughed Neilson, who competed in the 2016 Boston marathon. “But it was really good. It was pretty, and it was tough. [There were] a lot of hills and a lot of ups and downs, but you just have to make up for it on the downhill.”
Marshall and Neilson ran close races, finishing the half marathon course at 1:44.48 and 1:46.35, respectively.
Stefan Brors, the first place male competitor overall in the half marathon, finished with a time of 1:42.14.
Another pair of locals, Darrell Moffatt and his son, Darrell Moffatt Jr., competed in the 10k race together.
“It was inspiring to run with somebody half my age and still be able to keep it close,” commented Moffatt Sr. “It felt great.”
As for the course, Moffatt said, “It was a tough course, but it was well worth it. It’s probably the toughest course out there! I really enjoyed running it.”
Moffatts Jr and Sr completed the 10K race with respective times of 1:06.29 and 1:08.43.
Hillary Brainard of Las Vegas raced with her sister, Michelle Love, as well as with her friends Jessica D’Amico and Jessica Koslow.
“I always get [Michelle] a race for her birthday, and I thought we’d go somewhere really pretty this year,” said Brainard.
“It was tough,” admitted Love. “The hills are tough!”
“But it is beautiful,” added D’Amico. “It’s so beautiful here.”
Spurred on by the success of the Valley of Fire event, the group of friends has decided that they will participate in the Death Valley Half Marathon, also hosted by Planet Ultra, on January 6.
Julie Ramirez, who hails from Dallas, Texas, said that she was so amazed by the scenery in the Valley of Fire that she repeatedly stopped to take pictures during her race.
“I eventually quit, though,” Ramirez laughed. “Pictures don’t do it justice.”
Ramirez placed first in the 30-39 year old division of the half marathon with her time of 2:03.00.
In the 5K event, Mesquite’s Leon Durbin continued a multi-year winning streak with his time of 22:10, a four-second improvement from his 2016 race time.
Debbie Arsen of Las Vegas was the first to finish the 5K in the female division, doing so with a time of 28:13.
This year’s event even offered a full marathon which simply involved running the half marathon course twice. Tyler Post of Reno, NV was the only competitor to take on the full marathon. He ran the course with a time of 4:44:31.
Next year, Planet Ultra will move the Valley of Fire racing event to Saturday, October 27. For more information, visit runvalleyoffire.com.
