It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a month since I ran the Every Woman’s Marathon! One of the fun things about this year’s race was getting to visit Scottsdale, Arizona. It was my first time in Arizona and while it was a quick trip, I tried to maximize my time there. Here’s a recap of how I spent my three days in Scottsdale for the Every Woman’s Marathon.
FRIDAY
I took a direct flight out of Charlotte that departed at 9:20a and had me landing in Phoenix by 11:30a thanks to the two-hour time change. I grabbed an Uber and made the quick 15 minute trip from the Phoenix airport to Scottsdale. I checked into my hotel around 12:30p and was so pleased that they had a room ready for me!
The hotel for all #TeamMilk was Hotel Valley Ho and it was delightfully mid-century modern in its vibes but with modern touches throughout. The hotel originally opened in 1956 and it was a hot spot until taken over by Ramada in 1973. In 2002 it was purchased and went through an $80 million renovation. It reopened in 2005 and has been thriving again ever since!
I had a standard king room and there was plenty of space for me to sleep, work and hangout as well as an outdoor balcony with a view of Camelback Mountain.
Here’s the bathroom. The walk-in shower had amazing pressure which is always something I love in hotels!
Hotel Valley Ho has an amazing restaurant off the lobby called ZuZu. I had two meals there and both were great! This was their chopped salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, cheddar, marcona almonds, candied slab bacon and green goddess dressing. I added grilled chicken. One thing I loved was that they serve brunch daily from 6a-2:30p and the menu has options ranging from breakfast specialties to sandwiches to salads.
After lunch I grabbed my Kindle and sat by the pool for about an hour. I did more snoozing than reading but it was needed! Hotel Valley Ho has two pools. This was the quiet/relaxing pool. There was another near the lobby and restaurant that was more of the party pool.
I felt rather blah after a late night packing and morning of travel so I decided to do a short shakeout run to explore Old Town and get some fresh air. I had to stop and pause my watch about 20 times to look at the map but it felt good to move and I got myself orientated to the area.
Back at the hotel I took a shower and got dressed for dinner.
Blurry photo but fun reunion! Beth (middle) and I were sorority sisters at Georgia together and have stayed connected through social media. It was so fun to see her IRL and she absolutely crushed the marathon and set a big PR!
We met at The Henry which was the kind of place that has a little bit of everything with a cozy neighborhood feel. I wasn’t really in the mood for anything in particular so I went with rigatoni alla vodka with burrata,
Back in my room, I crashed early and slept so hard.
SATURDAY
I woke up feeling rough on Saturday. I had a cold which was a huge bummer. (And I guess the reason why I felt so low-energy/blah the day prior.) Luckily, it wasn’t the worst cold of my life – just annoying – and it wasn’t chesty. I mostly just felt like I had a scratchy (but not really sore) throat and some head congestion. I decided to get out of my room and take a short walk to find coffee and breakfast.
I ended up at Kaleidoscope Juice where I had a smoothie and coffee and took a “flu shot” to go. I loved this spot and ended up going back again the next day after the marathon for a smoothie and coffee!
I walked through Old Town and found myself at a donut shop. Oops! 🙂
I popped into Chin Up Donuts and had a brown butter and sea salt donut that was delish!
I went back to my room and relaxed for a couple of hours and wrote this blog post.
Around midday, I showered, dressed and walked to the race expo which was at the Scottsdale Civic Center.
The Every Woman’s Marathon crushes it with their expo. There was a hair braiding bar!
Yoga sessions!
A coffee bar!
A sculpture garden with the name of every participant organized by what number marathon it was for you. I made it onto the 4th-10th board this time!
The EWM also goes above and beyond to support women and mothers. They had a lactation and quiet room at the expo as well as lactation stations at the start, finish and on-course during race day.
Getting my bib was quick and easy. There was no line and the whole process was super organized. They had two photographer stations set up where you could have a professional photo taken and immediately texted to you. There was also a slowmo video station!
I popped into the merch tent where I got a cute hat. Had to put on my jacket because a short rain shower moved through.
Love this windbreaker that I received from Team Milk!
I wandered through Old Town again after the expo and saw all the cowboy things. These guys were just riding around on horseback.
Hats in every color!!!
It was easy for me to pass on the hats but I had a moment with the boots. The only thing that kept me from buying a pair was luggage constraints!
Back at the hotel I Door Dashed a few things. Water for hydration, bagels for race morning breakfast and nail clippers because I forgot to bring them and did NOT want to be losing any more toenails. We needed a solid trim down. The life of a runner, am I right?
We had a Team Milk dinner on Saturday night with a special appearance by the Every Woman’s Marathon captains – Katherine Switzer, Des Linden, Deena Kastor, Katelyn
Hutchison and Danielle McLaughlin. We were all a little star struck to have all of them in the same room. Each captain took a moment to share a word of race day encouragement/advice and they also asked some audience questions.
My pre-race feast! The food was great!
Dessert was milk and cookies. I really enjoyed this whole dinner. It was so special to hear from the captains in an intimate setting and I loved chatting with the other creators. We all passed our phones around the table and followed each other. I made some connections that I know I will maintain for a long time!
Back in my room, I got all of my gear organized for the next day and watched the Georgia game. I unpacked my bag from the expo – EWM kills it with their runner swag. Here’s what we got:
- Rabbit t-shirt
- Custom bandana
- Supergoop sunscreen
- Reusable tote bag
- SPI belt
- Heali K-Tape
- A scrunchy
- Custom reusable bib clips
I drank a ton of water and then it was off to bed!
SUNDAY – RACE DAY
I wrote a full race recap in this post so I’ll pick up with post-race back at the hotel.
I was rotting in bed post-shower when I got a text from my friend Lina telling me she was in Old Town. I knew she was in Phoenix for the weekend for a tennis tournament for her son but we didn’t think we’d get to meet up. It turns out that he finished early and they had some time before their flight. I invited her to come hang at my hotel and it turns out she was only three minutes away. I threw clothes on and rushed down to the lobby. It was so wonderful to sit with her for an hour and catch up. Lina was one of my closest friends in Charlotte. She moved overseas (we went to visit her in Brussels!) and then to Pittsburgh (where I also went to visit!) and she’s now living in Houston.
Lina took off for the airport and I took off in search of dinner.
I ended up at Rehab Burger Therapy which was mentioned on every Reddit thread that I browsed for Scottsdale restaurant recs. The posters were not wrong – it was insanely delicious. Easily one of the best burger that I have ever had. This was mostly due to the flavor of the burger itself and absolute perfection on the medium cook. It was also loaded with provolone cheese and thick sautéed mushrooms. Definitely recommend Rehab Burger Therapy if you find yourself in Scottsdale!
Lucky for me there was a highly-rated ice cream spot right around the corner. I sat and had a cup and then walked back to my hotel.
SUNDAY
I woke up early on Monday morning (thanks to the time change) and my flight wasn’t until 1:30p. I decided to make the most of my time in Scottsdale and hike Camelback Mountain. I realize this sounds insane after having just run a marathon but I kept the race tame and felt minimally sore on Monday. I also have so much back-to-back effort in these legs after a summer of weekends on the trails and six days of TransRockies.
I walked a little over 1.5 miles from my hotel to the trailhead. I took the Cholla Trail to the summit which was 1.47 miles one way with 1,350 feet of gain reaching a max elevation of 2,704.
It was a gorgeous morning to climb a mountain! Cool and sunny. Apparently, this mountain is a huge tourist destination and they have to do a ton of rescues during the summer due to people trying to hike it in the heat without a lot of experience or conditioning.
The first mile up was mostly a dirt/rocky path but the last 0.5 miles to the summit was along a rocky ridge and a straight up scramble using your hands and feet. I had to really be careful and pay attention to what I was doing. I wished greatly that I had my trail runners with me for traction through this whole hike.
This photo shows a great depiction of the ridgeline.
Summit!!!!! I am SO glad I decided to climb Camelback before heading home. And I’ll have you know I was not the only crazy runner hiking that morning. I passed at least 6-8 other women who had run the marathon.
I walked back to my hotel coming in at just under seven miles for the day. I popped into the restaurant for an acai bowl and coffee and then got showered, packed and Ubered to the airport.
Speaking of Ubers, Waymo driverless cars are so popular in Phoenix/Scottsdale. I was told this is the first place they were launched but you saw them everywhere! I did not brave going for a ride in one but I was tempted.
I got lunch at the airport because I had a long flight and knew I wouldn’t eat again until I got home that night. Quickly ate this before boarding.
It was an easy four-hour flight to Charlotte and I worked the whole time. I took the parking shuttle to my car and was home shortly after 8p.
I immediately pre-heated the oven and popped a frozen pizza in to cook. It was my first time trying Urban Pie and omg – it was so good! I had the uncured pepperoni with creamy rosa sauce and it might be the best frozen pizza I’ve ever had. I finished it off with a drizzle of hot honey and dipped in ranch.
FINAL THOUGHTS
- I am very glad to have visited Arizona but I can confidently say that I am not a dessert girly. I like dry climates and could definitely live somewhere like Colorado but I deeply need big trees and green things.
- The Every Woman’s Marathon is unmatched and I cannot recommend it enough if you are a woman who likes to run marathons or has a marathon on your radar. They do everything right from the branding to the vibes to the actual events. This marathon is so celebratory of ALL accomplishments and the community feel is very sweet!
- I can’t wait to see if next year’s EWM is in Scottsdale or if they’ll move it again!
- Race travel is fun and I need to do more of it! Loved running EWM in Savannah in 2024, Scottsdale this year and being in Colorado for TransRockies. I just signed up for a The Golden Ultra in British Columbia in September 2026!!!
QUESTIONS
Have you traveled for a race?
Do you like the dessert?
Have you rode in a driverless car?
