BASS LAKE – The 6th Annual Yosemite Half Marathon is excited to be returning this year to celebrate the beauty of Yosemite and the Sierra National Forest.
Vacation Races would like to thank the local communities for welcoming them back. This year, the race will take place on Saturday, May 8th.
The race is produced by Vacation Races which was founded in 2012 and hosts half marathons across the country at our nation’s National Parks.
On Saturday, runners will park their vehicles in the designated parking areas along Road 426 & School Road in Oakhurst starting at 4:00 am and will ride shuttles to the start line in the Sierra National Forest. Shuttles for runners will run between the start and finish lines from 4:00 am to about 1:30 pm.
We expect the heaviest morning traffic will be between the hours of 4:00 and 8:00 am. We want to make folks aware of this so that they aren’t surprised by traffic on Saturday.
The planned course will take runners on fire roads through the Sierra National Forest just north of Bass Lake, then down Beasore Rd and around part of Bass Lake, ending at Recreation Point.
During these hours there will be some 3,000 runners on the roads starting on Forest Road 6S40 off Sky Ranch Rd and then coming down Beasore Rd crossing onto Road 274 from Beasore Rd to The Pines Resort. The road will be closed for the runner’s safety. Please use the detour to North Fork in order to get to Oakhurst, if necessary.
North Shore Rd will be open but will have heavy runner traffic from The Pines Resort to Recreation Point Campground. Traffic will continue to operate, but drivers should expect delays. If at all possible, plan to avoid traveling in these areas during these hours.
The event coordinators would like to express their apology in advance for any inconvenience this may cause residents. “Each year, we host this event to get people outside and exploring the Yosemite area. Our runners love the experience, but even more so, they love the hospitality of the community — we love it too,” said Lyle Anderson the 2021 Yosemite Half Marathon Director.
Vacation Races operates this activity under a U.S. Forest Service special use permit with the Sierra National Forest.
The rest of the weekend action will take place at Recreation Point. This is where the drive-thru bib pick-up and the finish line for runners will be. The drive thru bib pick-up will take place on Friday, May 7 from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.
We always tell our runners to “be excellent.” What does this mean? We believe our runners should always be kind to one another, kind to their hosts, and kind to nature. While they visit, we encourage them to explore and visit local restaurants, shops, and more.
About Vacation Races
Producing beautiful half-marathons against the backdrop of our country’s majestic national parks, Vacation Races is motivated by their vision of promoting health, natural beauty, well- being and creating memories. Founded in 2012, and providing the only national park races, Vacation Races’ foray into racing events focused on three different, regional parks – Zion, Rocky Mountain and Lake Powell. Now expanding with nation-wide opportunities, Vacation Races faces 2016 with races in Zion, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite and Lake Powell. For more information on Vacation Races, visit their website at http://www.vacationraces.com/.
