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St. George Marathon Runner Comments

Back to St. George Marathon Information & Reviews

Course Rating Course 4.8 
 
Oranization Rating Organization 4.8 
 
Spectator Rating Spectators 4.3 
 
 
Number of comments: 216 [displaying comments 71 to 81]
More Comments: [ < 1 .. 6 7 8 9 10 .. 22 > ]

 

Richard Ostler from Salt Lake City, UT (10/9/2010)
"Volunteers are Awesome!" (about: 2010)

11-50 previous marathons | 4-5 St. George Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


The St. George volunteers are awesome. I was especially grateful for those who applied Bengay to my legs. They were on their knees applying this stuff to runner after runner. I got treatments at several stations (once calves, then knees, then quads, then thighs). I wish I could go back and hug and thank all of them in person. They deserve a special place in Heaven.

This year was warmer (near 50 at the start and 75 at the 4-hour finish). Stats show that the average time was 7 minutes slower in 2010 than 2009.

I love this course. I have run in 4 times ('83 '84 '09 and '10). I have an negative split average of 6 minutes.

Great job, St. George!

 

P. N. from Pennsylvania (10/7/2010)
"Superb" (about: 2010)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 St. George Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


The St. George Marathon is the best! It is extremely well organized, the volunteers are great and the course is spectacular. Other marathons could learn a lot from this one - e.g. having fires at the start and ample goodies at the end. Well done!!!

 

Denny Pewsey from Apopka, Florida (10/5/2010)
"Where marathon meets perfection" (about: 2010)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 St. George Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


Hoping to run a Boston qualifying time, I trained and did all that was needed to get myself to St. George. Perfection was my expectation for myself and for the St. George Marathon race organization and perfection is what happened there:

* no waiting to board the bus that takes you to the start
* a festive start area, with food and drinks, Mylar blankets, gloves, bonfires and more than enough porta-potties. Large, well organized staging and start areas.
* the course is fast, with some uphills, some of which are challenging, but it's mostly downhill, and some of them are challenging. An almost certain Boston qualifier with proper and plentiful hill training.
* beautiful desert mountain views, sunrise over Veyo volcano, adequate spectators at several locations and plenty at the finish, along with school bands.
* efficient finish line where you get a medal made from local rock, misters to cool off, a calm, relaxing recovery area for finishers with good food and drink and plenty of volunteers to serve.
* it seemed that every need of each runner was met and each runner was made to feel like a champion.
* I am usually able to find fault with anything, but this St. George Marathon is one of true perfection.

 

Bob Zobrist from Portland (9/29/2010)
"Great Boston Qualifier" (about: 2009)

4-5 previous marathons | 1 St. George Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


This was my 4th marathon. I ran the first half at 1:45 and was able to have a negative split in the 2nd half. I ran with my wife until about mile 21. She pulled away and finished 2 minutes ahead. It's ok... I'm good with it. Mile 18 has a hill that does not show up on the charts. Best to drive the course in advance. Very quiet course until the end when you really need it. The noise at Boston wore me out. Looking forward to a fun St. George race in 2010.

 

P. G. from Lake Elsinore, CA (12/16/2009)
"Fast and fun" (about: 2009)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 St. George Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


It is very cold at the start, but fires were provided to keep us warm. Dress accordingly. Miles 7-12 were uphill - be ready for that - but otherwise, it was a very fast course. The last six miles are on a nice downslope with amazing crowd support.

 

s. p. from Lufkin, TX (10/18/2009)
"Excellent marathon" (about: 2009)

6-10 previous marathons | 2 St. George Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


Other marathon organizers could learn a lot from St. George. I gave "spectators" five stars, even though there obviously are not a lot of spectators along most of the course (since it is a closed course through beautiful scenery and very small towns); you can't have it all. However, even in the small towns, people were out cheering. Once we got into St. George, the crowds were plentiful. The start of the race is very well organized with the bonfires. One suggestion would be to improve the speaker system for the music, since it was very difficult to hear towards the back bonfires. All of the volunteers at the water stations were excellent - thank you!! There seemed to be one water station that was misplaced too. Somewhere around mile 22 or 23 I arrived at the water station, but it seemed to be several hundred yards short of the mile marker. This temporarily "messed with my mind," thinking I had gained several minutes although I hadn't run any faster. Not sure why this happened. A friend told me the same story after the race. This is, of course, a very minor point, but it would be helpful for this not to happen. This is one of the few races I have run more than once, and I would certainly consider doing it again. Great job, St. George.

 

m. c. from slc ut (10/14/2009)
"What an experience" (about: 2009)

3 previous marathons | 1 St. George Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


This was the best organized marathon that I've run. The course was on a closed road and routed through stunning scenery. The finish line has tons of goodies.

 

Trudy Shuman from Maui, Hawaii (10/13/2009)
"My favorite marathon of all time" (about: 2009)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 St. George Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


My dream of qualifying for Boston finally came true on 10/3/09! I entered my name in the lottery thinking there was no way St. George would pick me - and to my disbelief, I got in! I researched the online comments and studied the virtual course tour leading up to the marathon so I knew what to expect. The hills that were noted on all the runners comments frightened me, which was good because that made me train even harder on hills at home. I live on the island of Maui, and we have valleys and mountains, so training for inclines and declines was not a problem. I wasn't worried about the elevation since I live at 3,300 feet of elevation and bike up to the volcano at 10,000 elevation quite often.

The day before the race I drove the course and took in the hills and, most of all, the downhills. This course is definitely a fast one if you run it right. The first half has some rolling hills, with the exception of Veyo, which is long and pretty steep, so holding back and not going out too fast in the first half is a definite MUST. I was impressed at the second half, which offered A LOT of downhills right smack into town! Driving the course the day before allowed me to take in the beauty of the mountains and all I could think of was how cool it was going to be running in the middle of nowhere surrounded by the beauty of the desert.

The bus transfer the next morning was well organized. The bonfires at the start was something that took my breath away - words cannot explain how beautiful it was. The race itself was the best marathon I have ever done EVER! Our local Maui Marathon is voted as one of the top 10 scenic marathons in the U.S. and as a native Hawaiian, born and raised on the island, I can honestly say, St. George is so much nicer and way better than our marathon, hands down!!! St. George has an essence that cannot be compared to any other race - everything from the preparation, organization, the course, the scenery, and most importantly, the friendly volunteers who made this race so enjoyable.

Yes, the Maui Marathon is mostly ocean view since you run along the ocean most of the way but it's also run on a very busy, noisy and narrow highway, whereas St. George has the beautiful dessert mountains and it is so peaceful (and in some ways, spiritual). Part of the highway is closed to traffic, so there were times when I was running by myself. I was able to focus on me and my race and for once enjoy myself! I qualified for Boston and ran a 25-minute PR because I trained for it, studied the course, and read the past runners' comments. I knew what to expect. I will definitely be putting my name back in the lottery again next year. St. George will always remain close to my heart.

 

julia thorn from melbourne, australia (10/13/2009)
"Couldn't be better" (about: 2009)

50+ previous marathons | 1 St. George Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


This was a magic marathon for me. It was my 91st and I was not anticipating such a good experience because I was tired from running Lake Tahoe the weekend before. Everything went right from start to finish.

The course is great, on a closed road with the sun rising as you warm up. The silence apart from runners' feet was almost eerie. I loved all of the downhill running, but I was having such a good day, it was as if the whole course was downhill. What more can I say?

I stayed at the Holiday Inn and the staff were very helpful with a shuttle to the start and back afterward. It was quiet the night before the race and they provided a good breakfast at 4 a.m.

I flew in and out of Las Vegas - which was very convenient and offered more choice of flights than St. George. The lunch for overseas participants was good too.

 

Z. J. from West Jordan UT (10/12/2009)
"My favorite marathon" (about: 2009)

4-5 previous marathons | 2 St. George Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 3


This was my second SGM, and my fourth overall marathon. I absolutely love the course, the organization, the people, and the town. I didn't want to leave! I may have to move to St. George just to avoid the lottery in future years. Don't let anyone tell you the course is all downhill or you'll blow up in miles 8-13, which are all pretty much uphill. But it's a great race, no doubt about it. Thank you for a great experience!

 

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