Vacation Races Grand Teton Half Marathon Recap (2026)
- amandajeren
- Jun 25
- 8 min read
This was my very first Vacation Races half marathon. All I can say is ....wow. I didn't know what to expect honestly; VR has gone through some changes in ownership over the years which came with rocky customer service. But let me tell you... I was pleasently surprised at how thought out, meticulously orchiestrated and planned for the runners experience to be a 10/10.
How I chose the Tetons
Well actually, I did not chose the Tetons. I originally signed up for the Rocky Mountain half marathon back in 2024. A few days before the race, Vacation Races cancelled the event due to wild fires in the area. I quickly pivoted, found a half marathon in Boulder Colorado, and still made the trip/completed the state. But with Vacation Races, I was offered a refund or a credit. I had chosen the credit, which would expire in one year from August 2024.
My first experience with the "rocky customer service" rumor was when I had found out I was pregnant and was in no shape to run a half marathon on trails or at altitude. So, I had emailed- at least three times- to see if I could pay for an extension on my bib. I guess I shouldn't have cared as much as I did, but after paying north of 250$ for the finisherpix and mail in option, I'd like to use my "experience" somehow. Especially since I was planning to run the year prior!
Finally, the company got back to me and had extended my bib so I could sign up for the Tetons. The Tetons was truly the only race I felt like I could do, given the circumstances: I'd be 8 months postpartum, the hills aren't crazy and it was 100% on pavement (versus technical trails, which, I don't ever train for). So I had them extend my race bib 6 months, to be able to sign up for this race.
How I trained
Running
Training took place between the Delaware half marathon (April 19th, 2026) and this race on June 7th. I had about six weeks to work with. I had no crazy training plans; simply keep up my weekly long runs, and try to increase my average weekly miles. I wanted to run outside as much as possible to get hills under my belt. But that's it. I think keeping my cardiovascular fitness maintained for six weeks was hard(ish), but is what saved me for this race. If I could run 9-10 miles in a long run, I knew I'd be able to do 13!
Strength training
I changed my training program slightly to incorporate some explosive movements. This was to improve my power; not in the sense of true plyometrics, but more just strength training with quick eccentric movements. I also think this made a differene for the Tetons, because I developed more power in my legs and overall practice working through fatigue.
Yoga
I incorporated yoga into my weekly practice, normally on Tuesdays which were running-rest days. These yoga classes focused on traditional yoga, not anything power or heavy in vinyasa.
What I would've done differently
Knowing what I know now, I would have added in some sort of sprint-speed work. This is because due to altitude, my heart rate went into zone4 and zone5, majority of my run. I currently train at 800ft above sea level....well, the race was 6,800 ft above sea level. This tore my cardiovascular endurance apart, especially after mile 5. Although I feel I did well during this run, I was struggling to breath and had to stop many times to get my heart rate to come down. Since I can't mimic altitude, I'd want to add in some training component that would get my heart rate really high and maintain it. Since I did none of that, I truly think 400-600m repeats would've been great practice. I could get my heart rate up really high and practice repeating that.
How I ate
Most of my training, I ate pretty normal with the addition to carbs before run days. I stuck to simple carbs. This time around, I ate a lot of rice and bread. I'm not a huge rice eater, but for a runner it's a great way to get down a lot of carbs easily. The week before the race, I ate carbs at every meal, and probably averaged about 200-250 grams per day. Of course, the two days before the race, I lowered my fat intake and ate even more carbs.
Since packet pickup was at Teton Village, I made dinner reservations at Il Villagio Osteria. This was a great, low key spot to eat because the italian restaurant had plenty of carbohydrate options. We were served regular white bread, and my dinner was a caesar chicken salad with a margarita pizza.
Travel, Accomodations, and Logistics
We flew into Salt Lake City, Utah, because the flights were about 1,100 cheaper. I am not kidding! Jackson Hole airport, althought extremely convienant (it's basically inside the park) is so small, therefore expensive. We flew into Utah and drove to Wyoming, which took about 4.5 hours. It was a long drive, but since it was the day before the race I was okay with chilling!
We stayed in a few different places this trip, but for the sake of the race, I'll only discuss where we stayed the night before/and of the race. Teton Valley Resort, was located in Idaho, about 30 minutes from the start line. There are pros and cons of staying here, but after doing so we decided this was one of the best parts of our trip.
We loved Teton Valley Resort because we basically got an entire cabin to ourselves. This spot is like the ultimate glamping experience; a restaurant, pool, tennis courts, cabins and RV park. The cabin included a kitchen (ideal before a race), bathroom and bedroom. We had our own parking spot and front porch, which we ended up using a lot. The price to stay here was way more reasonable than anywhere in Jackson Hole.
Reasons that played against staying at Teton Valley Resort was simply the drive to the park and back. It is up extremely windy roads that if you go off a bit... well, we wont go there. It's through the mountains, with animals everywhere, mostly driving 35 mph (unless you're my husband). I did not want to make this drive after any drinks or frankly driving at night at all. I was so nervous driving to the race because it was so dark, no street lights, and we legit passed a moose on the side of the road (thank god we didn't hit it!). This reason is the only reason we left Teton Valley Resort. We stayed in a hotel in Jackson Hole for one night, so we could fully experience the cowboy town without having to make that dreaded drive!
Race Day
Grand Teton Half Marathon is a point-to-point course. Meaning, shuttles are involved. Many times (like for instance, Boston Marathon), shuttles are used before the race to transport runners to the starting line. This way, their cars are closer to the finish line. For Grand Teton, it was the opposite. Parking was available at the starting line for those who were neither staying in Teton Village or Jackson; that was us. With the race starting at 6:30 am, and our half hour drive in the dark (add on 15 minutes), we were going to leave around 4 am. Another caveiot was that the starting line lot closed at 5 am, so we did not want to miss out on being able to park here. Anyone staying at Teton Village or Jackson caught seperate shuttles to the starting line. Getting there at 5 am was fine with us; but we did have to wait for awhile.
We waited for about an hour, before getting out of the car to start the porta-potty process and line up. It was a chilly 50 degrees in the morning, so I kept my layers on til we were closer to the start. While we were waiting, I ate an Ana Bar (higher sugar protein bar). I had trained with these because the extra protein helped control my bloodsugar while the actual sugar in the bar went straight towards my glycogen storage. However, too much time waiting did make my bloodsugar reach about 220 by the time we lined up. I blame it on nerves! Since I didn't have activity mode on yet, I had insulin on board (meaning my pumped was dispensing insulin to bring my bloodsugar down). This is never good for a run, because when I have insulin on board during cardio, I drop super fast. So right as I was taking off, I ate a stroop waffle (Honey Stinger), even with the high blood sugar. This decision ended up keeping me a little higher throughout the run but I officially never went low!
As the sun came up, it was goregous. We lined up and took off. Highlights of the race include:
scenic, picture-esque views of the Teton range, snow capped mountains, and fields
horses! tons of horse farms lined the course and the galloping morning energy was so fun to catch at mile 3
almost zero hills... pretty sure this was wrong on their website as we were supposed to have some elevation gain, but I felt like this was a pretty flat race
no crowd support. honestly, you didn't need it. it was too pretty to need people encouraging you and disrupting the scenic views
hydration and water every other mile. i loved this!
being a cupless race, water and hydration were kept in giant jugs that you filled up your own handheld or hydration vest. i never noticed lines or waiting
porta-pottys at the water stops
mile 5 & 7 had honey stinger gels and quartered bananas.
the ending! the huge vacation race arch, the photo opps, the mountains in the background and vendors all surrounded the after party.
Can you tell I enjoyed the race? My finishing time is nothing to boast about; to be honest, the breathing had me STRUGGLING. But, my body felt amazing. I was alert, calm, and so happy at the end. A feeling I haven't felt racing in quite some time. It made me realize I truly do love running to see the world. And seeing the Tetons like this was exceptional.
The medals are super cool, too. They're big, give a picture of the Tetons and have the ribbon labeled according to what race you did; half marathon, 5k...etc.
To return, we caught the shuttle back to our car. They had constant shuttles running to help sift people out, however, there was still some waiting time here as lines got long. We didn't notice this much because of the runner's high I was feeling.
The rest of our trip was absolutely incredible. We stayed for a few extra nights and completely pampered ourselves with massages, hiking, rafting, dancing out cowboy bars.. you can read all about the Grand Teton National Park recap here (I'll insert when this blog is done:)).
If you are interested in training for this race, I've learned a thing or two! Email amanda@fitandfearlessamanda.com to inquire about Grand Teton Half Marathon training.
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