The Destination - Part One

With 2 weeks until race day, I thought I'd look into the destination cities a little. I'll discuss the specifics of the race, including the course, closer to race day, but in brief, it actually covers three separate cities. The race begins in Phoenix proper, then passes through the suburb of Scottsdale and finishes in Tempe near Sun Devil Stadium, home of the Arizona State University Wildcats. Jill and I are staying in another suburb, Chandler, a little south of Tempe.

So let's start with Phoenix itself. I'll do Scottsdale, Tempe and Chandler in a subsequent post.

• It is the 5th largest city in the US, with a population of around 1.5 million. The Phoenix Metropolitan area has a population of around 4.6 million.
• Phoenix enjoys an average of 300 sunny days per year.
• Average annual high temperature is 85 degrees.
• January's average high is 67 degrees.
• Since 1896 it has only snowed 7 times in Phoenix.
• Famous Phoenicians include Dan Quayle, John McCain, Steven Spielberg, Alice Cooper, Barry Bonds, Phil Mickelson and Mike Tyson.
• Before it officially became Phoenix, the town was called Pumpkinville due to the large pumpkins that grew in fields by canals.
• Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport is the 18th busiest in the world.
• The Phoenix area is home to over 200 golf courses.

Though I once caught a connecting flight in Phoenix, other than that, this will be my first trip to Arizona. Hopefully I won't slip on any left over pumpkins.

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