Miss Navajo brings half, full marathon home to Kin Dah Łichíí

Special to the Times
By Lee Begaye

KIN DAH ŁICHÍÍ, Ariz.

For Miss Navajo 2025-26 Camille Uentillie, the inaugural Fluted Rock Half Marathon and Marathon was more than a running event race. It was a chance to bring a running event to her hometown.

Nearly 150 runners gathered Saturday morning in Kin Dah Łichíí for the event, with 116 runners completing the half marathon and 23 finishing the full marathon. Beginning at the intersection of U.S. Highway 264 and Navajo Route 39, the course carried runners through the open sagebrush landscape of Kin Dah Łichíí before climbing into the pine forests near Sawmill, where Fluted Rock rises above the Defiance Plateau, creating one of the most scenic race routes on the Navajo Nation.

“For the Fluted Rock Half and Full Marathon, I had several ideas from the beginning,” Uentillie said. “I knew I wanted to go big or go home. That’s when I said, ‘OK, home is Kin Dah Łichíí. It’s where I’m from and has a lot of great terrain.”

To read the full article, please see the July 2, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.

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