Three hundred and twenty-five runners and walkers helped Zion National Park celebrate its Centennial by participating in the Centennial 10K Fun Run on Saturday, April 18. The event is one of a series of events planned in 2009 to mark 100 years since the park’s first establishment as Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909.
The Fun Run began at 9 a.m. at the Great White Throne pullout along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and ended on the Pa’rus Trail at the south end of South Campground. The course ran beside the rushing Virgin River and beneath the towering sandstone cliffs and peaks for which Zion National Park is famous. Signs depicting a major event from each decade of the park’s existence marked each of the kilometers for the runners. Fun Run participants were from Utah, nine other states, and South Korea. The runners from South Korea and Alaska traveled the longest distance to participate.
The event was a cooperative effort of the staff of Zion National Park, the Zion Natural History Association, Xanterra Parks and Resorts, Parks Transportation, Inc., Zion Canyon Visitors Bureau, and the other members of the Centennial Committee. Special thanks go to the 65 volunteers who made the event possible.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
