{"id":3423,"date":"2015-11-24T11:46:30","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T16:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/?p=3423"},"modified":"2015-11-24T11:55:40","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T16:55:40","slug":"monument-valley-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/monument-valley-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Monument Valley Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

2015 Monument Valley<\/span>
\nMarathon and Half\"0-0park-1\"<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

Saturday, December 12, 2015\u00a0\u00a0beginning at 10 a.m<\/strong><\/p>\n

MONUMENT VALLEY \u2013 Winter time paradise.
\nWhen Mother Nature segues from summer to winter, it is a time for unparalleled
\nextravaganza for people who enjoy life on the mild side.<\/p>\n

And for serious outdoor winter enthusiasts, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is
\ndefinitely the place to be.
\nNo matter what kind of blanket Mother Nature covers the valley of fiery red rock
\nformations here in December, Monument Navajo Tribal Park will ablaze with excitement.<\/p>\n

Yawning canyon walls will awaken as runners from throughout the world will gather for
\nthe very first time to participate in a marathon, half marathon and relay here on the northern outskirts of the Navajo Nation on Saturday, December 12th beginning at 10 a.m. Runners will be able to see one of the world\u2019s finest natural master pieces as they immerse themselves in the
\ntranquil and rustic charm of Navajoland.<\/p>\n

Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department Manager Martin L. Begaye, explained,
\n\u201cWe are very excited to bring a new event to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in
\nDecember. We are very fortunate to attract many worldwide visitors to our parks between the
\nspring and fall months; however, it has always been a challenge to attract tourists to our parks
\nduring the winter months.\u201d<\/p>\n

After months of planning with various different entities, Begaye said the Department is
\npleased to announce running as a new venue for outdoor recreation enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our visitors enjoy taking photos of our tribal parks, but there are more and
\nmore visitors who want to experience our parks by venturing in some sort of outdoor activity,\u201d
\nBegaye stated. \u201cWe want to enrich their memories of the Navajo Nation and let them know that
\nwe are a year-round tourism destination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inaugural event will include a marathon, half marathon and relay. According to Tom
\nRiggenbach who is the CEO of Navajoyes.org and marathon organizer, the marathon and half
\nmarathon will be competitive while the relay will be non-competitive and have few strict
\nguidelines. The course will be dirt road, which includes a 400-foot climb in the final couple of
\nmiles of the race.<\/p>\n

Riggenbach stated, \u201cI know of many runners from afar who are willing to participate in
\nthis place of timeless beauty. There is truly a sense of peace and calm when you run on the
\nNavajo Nation. There are many runners who are looking forward to this much anticipated
\nevent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The marathon event was the brainchild of Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez who is
\nan avid runner and a strong advocate of living healthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cNavajo Nation President Russell Begaye and I want our people to live long healthy lives
\nand one way of achieving that goal is through physical exercise such as running. Not only do we
\nwant more visitors to embrace our unique Navajo culture and our land of enchantment, but we
\nalso want our own Navajo people to visit our tribal parks. The marathons provide a great
\nopportunity for the Navajo people and our visitors to see our beautiful parks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avid runners Nez and Riggenbach both echoed that many runners serve as an inspiration
\nto others and every runner is a winner.
\nThe coveted event is a collaborated effort between the Navajo Nation Parks andRecreation Department, the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President, the Navajo Nation Division of Health, and Navajoyes.org, which is an entity that promotes healthy living for the youth.<\/p>\n

The Annual Monument Valley December event will also include hot air balloons that will
\ngrace the crisp blue skies on December 11-13<\/p>\n

The balloon launches will be held from 7 a.m. to
\n9 a.m. with evening glows at the Monument Valley Welcome Center on December 11 and in Kayenta on December 12th.<\/p>\n

For more information about how to register for the marathon, contact Riggenbach at
\nwww.navajoyes.org or chuskaman@yahoo.com. He can also be reached at (928) 429-0345.<\/p>\n

To Register click Here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Individuals who want to obtain information about the hot air balloon event can contact
\nthe Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department at (928) 871-6647 or via their website at
\nwww.navajonationparks.org<\/p>\n

Navajo Nation Division of Natural Resources Administration P.O. Box 9000 Window Rock, Arizona 86515 (928) 871-6592 & 6593 dnrpr@navajo-nsn.gov<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2015 Monument Valley Marathon and Half Saturday, December 12, 2015\u00a0\u00a0beginning at 10 a.m MONUMENT VALLEY \u2013 Winter time paradise. When Mother Nature segues from summer to winter, it is a time for unparalleled extravaganza for people who enjoy life on the mild side. And for serious outdoor winter enthusiasts, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[1082,438,134,142],"class_list":["post-3423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-navajo-events","tag-1082","tag-hot-air-balloon","tag-marathon","tag-monument-valley","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3423"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3430,"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423\/revisions\/3430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}