I grew up in this small old mining town of Bisbee, Arizona. It's located in the heart of the Mule Mountains in Southern AZ. Located about 15 minutes from the border of Mexico, this is now a small artist/hippy community that was actually voted as "Best Small Town In America" by USA today readers and Sunset Magazine. This race is always on my list of races to do because it is very quirky, I'm able to go visit family and friends, and the course is just plain awesome. Bisbee is a mile high city built up on the side of the mountains. Stairs connect everything, you can't go to Bisbee without walking hundreds of stairs to get where you need to go. Course map pictured below.The Bisbee 1000 aka the Bisbee Stair Climb is a 4.5 mile course all above a mile high, doesn't sound too bad right? Now add in 9 different flights of stairs ranging from 73 stairs to 181 stairs that connect those miles: 1034 stair total! This is a tough course! The course layout is awesome and the unique design is what keeps me and my family coming back each year. This year was my 6th year competing. Coming off a bit of IT band soreness I decided not to compete this year, but rather pace my wife to try and get her best time ever. We had a small family group all racing which makes the experience that much better. My wife's Mom, Dad, cousin as well as a few other friends of the family were all there for the challenge.
The Race starts off on a pretty steep downhill for about half a mile. You really need to have a good pace at the start in order to not get stuck behind the masses at the first staircase. I probably pushed a little too hard and we were clipping at a 5:30/mile pace, but we put ourselves in good position from the start. Climbing and descending the multiple staircases really puts your legs in a weird sort of fatigue, you are either going straight up or straight down for a lot of the race and it really beats up your quads and hammys. Staircases 3,4, and 5 are the hardest of the race as there is little rest between each one. Most other staircases have a slight bit of downhill right after, but these keep taking you up to the highest point of the course: about 5,700 feet elevation. After finishing up these 3 flights with close to 400 stairs there are more runnable sections (Most people are sitting on the ground or not moving too great after this section though). As soon as you get into a nice running groove though, there is a massive staircase right around the corner. The race continues down multiple side streets and small staircases where musicians have set up on course to give a little entertainment. Whether it be a banjo, flute and some drums the unique nature of Bisbee really shows with the music being performed.
Once you finish the 9th staircase there is a small downhill sprint to the finish. Where family and friends were waiting to cheer you in. My wife and I ended up finishing in 44:41 and she was 9th place female finisher! Her best time ever, and broke her goal of a sub 45 minute finish. Her Dad was not too far behind with 46 minutes (4 minutes better than previous) and her Mom 1:19:00 was 7 minutes better then previous! Everybody smashed their previous bests and set new PRs on this awesome course.
Now onto the scores:
Race Location: In my hometown, I will probably be a little biased on this score since this town has been a part of my life for years and I still have so many family and friends around. The town has a population of around 5,000. For a town this small there are some great restaurants, breweries and local coffee shops that there is always something good to eat and drink. The town is very quaint and picturesque and was voted as best small town by these magazines for a reason. 8/10
Swag: This is where the race will lose some points. The medals were awesome as always. It was a nice sized copper medal with pictures of the stairs. The shirts had a pretty cool design this year buuuuuuut are not included in the $100 price tag to enter this race. The race director doesn't give much included in that price and wants you to pay an extra $20-$30 bucks for the race t-shirt?? How does this make sense, what is our $100 going toward? Also there is no usual swag bag with the usual protein bar, gels, coupons, etc. All you get for the $100 is a bib number.... 5.5/10
Experience: Once on the race course the experience is great. There were great volunteers at aid stations and around the course. The hippies and artists playing their music was great and the course is marked extremely well. The part where this race has been getting worse throughout the years is the pre and post race. They only had about 8 port-o-potties for 1500 runners plus spectators. There was a line of hundreds for the entire hour before the race started. I already mentioned that the entry fee didn't pay for much, but it felt like there wasn't that much thought put into the little things this year. There were no vendors with goods, besides the overpriced race t shirts, etc. The prizes for age group winners used to be nice metal sculptures and then they were hand painted tiles and now they just seemed cheaper and rushed. Overall the course saves this race from a race director who seems to be skimping on providing a great experience for the runners. The experience has declined each year.... 6.5/10 (Because the course is so awesome)!
Post Race: Provided bananas, apples, protein bars, muscle milk, and water upon finishing which was great. There is a second smaller race with a cash prize that takes place after the stair climb. The "Ice Man" puts you in the shoes of the ice delivery man of the past and has you carry an 8 lb block of ice with tongs up 155 stairs and then down a steep hill to the finish. This is an awesome watch and even better to try. I had never been so tired from a 2 minute workout ever in my life. After that, there are a few small bar/restaurants within walking distance and there was a beer festival starting right after this race was done. You can definitely have a fun time post race in Bisbee, between the great beer, amazing scenery, and quirky people. 8/10
Overall: This race is such a fun time, but the small things that are being skimped on are really adding up and are very noticeable. Our family group will have this race on our yearly schedule next year, but would like to see some changes to take this race back to how it used to be!! 7/10
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