Deer Creek Half Marathon

What do you get with registration?

Beautiful well marked course Locally made finisher and age medals Shirt that you will actually wear while running Great Harvest Bread breakfast Free race photos Live results Well stocked aid stations Our goal is to provide convenient, affordable, and fun races to runners. We recommend viewing our website for more information including course map and details as well as other races we offer! Happy Trails Running

Half Marathon

The Deer Creek Half Marathon starts and finishes at the Deer Creek Dam Trailhead. This puts you straight onto the trail meaning unless you decide to go swimming in the lake there is no way to get lost. All of this race is run along the beautiful Deer Creek Reservoir. You will be rewarded with terrific views of the lake and mountains while going both directions! This trail is well packed dirt with little tripping hazards. This makes it beginner friendly and an awesome trail to run on for runners of all levels. We do recommend bringing a water bottle or pack due to the aid stations being 4.3 miles apart. ​ Start to Aid 1 - 4.3 miles and +297/-358 ft elevation Aid 1 to Aid 2 - 4.5 miles and +329/-329 ft elevation Aid 2 to Finish - 4.3 miles and +358/-297 ft elevation 13.1 miles and +970 ft elevation total 100% Dirt Trail No cutoff time, we want everyone finishing even if it means walking. Aid Stations Aid stations will have Gatorade, water, Honey Stinger gels/waffles, fruit, and an assortment of whatever looks good at Costco that the race director wants an excuse to eat. Usually Swedish Fish or Nerd Clusters. Navigation Course is marked with pink flags, ribbons, signs, and trail marshals. After the first quarter mile this course is extremely easy to follow. Course Map

General

Race July 11th 2026 Starts and finishes at the Deer Creek Dam Trailhead Half Marathon will start 6:00 am Early Registration - $60 Registration - $70 Late Registration - $80 Packet pickup Friday 3 pm to 6 pm at the Sandy Salt Lake Running Store Race day pickup starts at 5:00 am. We recommend all runners arrive at least 45 minutes early to ensure a stress free and smooth start. Pre-race announcement 10 minutes before each start time. Swag Runners will receive a high quality race shirt and a custom locally made finishers medal Post Race Breakfast Great Harvest Bread will have a seasonal sweet bread and pumpkin chocolate chip bread! We will also have chocolate milk, orange juice, and bananas. Awards Overall male and female will receive a custom locally made topographic plaque for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Salt Lake Running Company will provide 1st place with gift cards as well! Age Division medals will also be handed out to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place male and female in these age groups: >20, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70+ Free Photos Xotio Media will be on the course taking photos as well as the finish line. Photos will be hosted on their website providing easy access for downloads using bib recognition. We will NOT put a logo or watermark on your picture. Instead of ruining your picture with our logo we would rather rely on you telling your friends and family about our races! Finish Line Awards ceremony will be held when we have our winners. Revive Sport & Spine will be there to help with your aches and pains post race, Dr. Reheisse is amazing! We will also have a Photo backdrop for pictures with friends and family. Parking Free parking Word of mouth Your friends and family are the best way to promote this race. Running is much more fun with a buddy! Volunteers These events are not possible without help! To show our appreciation all volunteers will receive a free race entry for any future Happy Trails race. Expires after one year. In addition volunteers will have access to food at the finish line area. Late Registration Begins June 11th and closes July 10th at 11:59 pm We cannot guarantee all participants registering after June 11th will be able to order a shirt. We will order extra to do our best to accommodate late registration. If we do not have your size or you do not want a shirt you can use code NOSHIRT at checkout for $10 off registration. Same Day Registration Not available. Registration will close Friday night at 11:59 pm Weather Average high is 84*F and average low is 57*F in July for this area which stays cooler in the mornings due to being higher than the Salt Lake Valley Race Director - Don Hantla 801-230-5070 [email protected]

Capacity

Due to our races utilizing beautiful and amazing trails we are limited on how many runners we can have. This is because of trail usage, parking, facilities, and permits needed to make these events happen. Half Marathon runner cap - 150

Loyalty Discount

Save $5 with code HAPPY if you plan to do more than one of our events this year or if you have referred a friend to sign up for one of our races this year. This code will stack with others such as NOSHIRT Dimple Dell Blitz Backyard 4th Saturday March Happy Trails Marathon & Half 3rd Saturday April Corner Canyon Trail Series (5k, 10k) May through Oct Juniper Canyon Half Marathon 1st Saturday May Butterfield Blitz Backyard (4hr, 8hr, 12hr) 3rd Saturday May Rose Canyon Ultra (50m, 50k, 30k) 1st Saturday June Deer Creek Half Marathon 2nd Saturday July Butterfield Canyon Marathon & Half 2nd Saturday August Jordan River Marathon & Half 3rd Saturday September Dimple Dell Half Marathon 2nd Saturday October Jordan River Blitz Backyard (4hr, 8hr, 12hr) 3rd Saturday October Traverse Mountain Half Marathon 1st Saturday November As a small company we depend greatly on word of mouth and runners coming back to run with us. This is another way we can say thank you! Follow us on social media @happytrailsrunning for up to date information on races and FREE race entries! (Race Drops each month)

About Us

At Happy Trails Running we focus on a beautiful course and an amazing experience. We want our races to be events that runners look forward to every year. We believe in quality over quantity which is why we cap all races at 300 or less participants. This lets us hold races in unique areas that would be off limits to a large race due to parking and trail capacity. We also believe in keeping everything local. This enables us to both support our community but also keep costs down. We want our races to be simple, affordable, and convenient for runners. You won't find huge expos at our races, just local businesses, friends, and family having a great time! If there is anything we can do to improve your experience with our races please reach out to us. We are always trying to improve our events. Your feedback, what you liked and did not like, is the best way to achieve this. Our courses will not focus on setting PR's with mostly downhill running but instead on enjoying all of the beautiful trails the Wasatch Mountains have to offer. We hope our races will make lasting memories and experiences for all of our runners. If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you! We hope to see you at the races or on the trails. Until then, Happy Trails!