A Runner’s Weekend in Malad, Idaho

Race weekend in a small town has a rhythm that the big-city marathons cannot match. Here is how to spend your three days in Malad if you came to run the Malad Valley Marathon.

Friday: arrive, pickup, settle in

Friday afternoon, point the car north on I-15. From Salt Lake City the drive runs ninety minutes. From Pocatello, fifty. From Boise, four and a half hours but worth it. As you crest the rise at the Idaho border, the Malad Valley opens up to the north. Forty miles of farmland with two mountain ranges holding the sides. You will know you are close when you see the white grain silos west of the freeway.

Take exit 13 for Malad. The town has one main street, one stoplight, and about 2,200 people. Drive to Malad City Park at 20 S 100 W (start of the greenbelt). Packet pickup runs 4 to 8 PM. The same volunteers at the table will be cheering you across the finish on Saturday morning, so introduce yourself.

Malad has more Welsh-descended residents per capita than any town outside Wales itself.

For dinner, grab whatever’s open in town or drive 30 minutes south to Tremonton, Utah for more options.

Sleep at the Malad Motel or Hotel Malad. Both are walking distance to the park with race rates in early September. If they fill up, Tremonton, Utah has chain hotels half an hour south.

Saturday: race day

Wake at six, eat your usual race breakfast, walk to the park by 7:30. Gun goes at 8. One start for all distances. You line up by distance with the marathoners up front and the mile runners at the back.

Course details live on the Course page. The short version: the marathon and half head north up the valley along quiet country roads. The 10K and 5K loop closer to town. The mile stays in the park. Four aid stations along the loop, roughly every 2 to 3 miles on the Half and Full, with water, electrolyte, and porta-potties at each.

After you finish, hang around for the awards ceremony. The announcer reads off the top three men and women in three categories per distance. Overall, Under 18, and 40 and Over. Up to eighteen medals per chip-timed distance. Even if you did not place, stay and clap for the people who did. The whole ceremony takes thirty minutes and it is the best part of the morning.

Saturday afternoon belongs to your legs. Drive twenty minutes north to Downata Hot Springs in Downey for mineral pools and a quieter soak, or thirty minutes south to Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville, Utah, for hot soaks, a cold plunge, and a lazy river. Two hours either way will reset your calves. Bring flip-flops.

Saturday evening, eat. Malad has a couple of restaurants in town. If you want a real meal, drive back to Tremonton for variety. Order something with carbs and something with protein. You earned both.

Sunday: the long way home

Sunday morning, sleep in. When you finally roll out, drive west on Daniels Road up to Daniels Reservoir, about fifteen miles out. Brook trout and rainbows in the pines, and a quiet shoreline whether you fish or not.

For the drive home, take the long way. Cut across to Bear Lake via US-30 and Logan Canyon. The lake water is the color of the Caribbean from a certain angle. Stop in Garden City for a raspberry shake. Cross back south through Brigham City and pick up I-15. You add ninety minutes, you gain a day of memory.

A small marathon gives you a town to remember. Malad is built for the weekend. Come run, come eat, come soak, come fish, come home with a story.