Bear Lake Trifecta

The Water’s Edge Resort Bear Lake Marathon weekend is fast becoming one of America’s favorite destination races for those seeking to become members of the 50 State Club. By completing three races in three states in three days (all with minimal travel between races) runners can check off three states at once. Run Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah.

All start and finish lines are within a 45 minute drive from each other, which makes for simple traveling logistics and recovery between races.  You can set up your “basecamp’ for lodging with Waters Edge Resort properties or at other local locations in Garden City, Utah or Montpelier, Idaho. Visit www.watersedgebearlake.com or www.bearlakemotorlodge for more lodging info. 

The closest ‘big city’ to the Bear Lake area is Logan, Utah, which has hundreds of hotel rooms and is just 37 miles away from our event headquarters at Water’s Edge Resort. Montpelier, Idaho is just 20 miles north of Bear Lake and also has a several lodging options.  Our basecamp for Wyoming is The Hideout Motel, right in the heart of Cokeville.  Visit https://hideoutmotel.com/ for lodging and more information.  

Transportation to and from the start/finish lines is the responsibility of the runner.  The courses are out-and-back, so the start/finish line is at the same place. The Bear Lake Marathon does not provide shuttles from various hotels to start lines.

Traveling to Bear Lake might be half the adventure for many of our runners. The Bear Lake Valley is as rural as it is beautiful. If flying, we recommend arriving at the Salt Lake City International Airport and renting a car to get to Bear Lake. You can also fly directly into the Bear Lake Valley airport, it's smaller, and your larger and longer flights may not connect there. Other options include flying to the Pocatello, Idaho or Jackson Hole, Wyoming airports.

Bear Lake is approximately 2 hours north of Salt Lake City, 2 hours southeast of Pocatello and 2 hours south of Jackson Hole.

To keep this complicated weekend a little less complicated, the Bear Lake Marathon & Half Marathon races subscribe to the ‘keep it simple‘ theory and don’t promise a lot of bells and whistles with your races. You’ll have amazing scenery, fully supported course and great SWAG, but we don’t bother with live bands, massive stages or elaborate expos. You’re here to run and we’re here to help you do that here in the mountains!

The time limits for 2023 are 8 hours for the marathon and 8 hours for the half marathons.  

The fastest man and women (combined times) in the Marathon and Half Marathon Trifecta series will receive amazing awards!   We do age group awards in 10-year increments, 0-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70+ for both men and women.  

Due to the nature of the event, and to avoid participants waiting for awards ceremonies each day, awards for the single races will be distributed once the top 3 of each division finishes the race.  We will have an official awards ceremony for the Marathon and Half Marathon Overall and Division Trifecta winners on Saturday afternoon. 

Event details and schedule
 All event details can be found at www.runbearlake.com and will be updated throughout the coming weeks and months. Marathons will begin at 7:00 am, half-marathons will begin at 7:15 am.  No early starts, so please plan accordingly with travel. 

If you want to run the TRIFECTA (all three states), add each marathon to your cart, and use the code ALLTHREE to receive the bundle discount.