This was my third half marathon. I made it to Ogden and Pocatello in 2010. This one ranked right in the middle of those two.

The Good: the course was entertaining and beautiful for someone who doesn't know Salt Lake all that well. It was a nice representation of all that SLC seems to be about. Started up at the University of Utah, wound its way through quaint neighborhoods, the Sugarhouse area and ended appropriately downtown with a jaunt past Temple Square and the Gateway Plaza. As far as organization goes, it was pretty well done. TRAX was easy to use (if you got on early enough) and post-race bag pickup was efficient as well.

The Not So Good: Even the Pocatello Half Marathon I ran in offered Gu, bananas and orange slices at aid stations. For an event of this size, I really was appalled there was no more than just water and Powerade along the course. Especially since there was so much food at the end. Shift some money and resources to the aid stations rather than having so much food at the end. The spectatorship was a little underwhelming as well. Not much better than at Pocatello, and that's saying a lot considering the contrast in population. Also, the shirt this year was absolutely hideous. I would be embarrassed to use it as a car-washing rag, let alone run in it. Awful mustard yellow color with a huge sticker on the front. A huge disappointment.

This is a good race, but I'm not sure I'd do it again, especially considering how expensive it is. The course is nice, although a little boring at certain points. The weather is perfect this time of year, and the volunteers and spectators are great. My only complaints are that there are no gels or other type of fuel besides PowerAde at the aid stations (for the price of the marathon, there should've been SOMETHING else available), and that the marathoners have to weave around the walkers and half marathoners for the first part of the run. Different start times for the half and full marathon would help alleviate that. It's hard to find your groove when you're weaving around other runners/walkers. Overall, a good, well-organized run, though.

Devine appears to care about running the race on a shoestring budget. This could be a great race, but under the current race management I doubt the future. I will forward my comments to the mayor; we need change in 2012 - a new race director is in order. No potholes were marked on the course. I saw two people twist ankles. Not enough porta-potties. Long lines at every aid station and the beginning. No food or GU on the race course (except provided by spectators). For 90 bucks I would expect more. But Devine has had 8 years to run this race, and I see little improvement in that time.

I will not run this race again, and advise other to skip this one next year.

This is the second year I have run this marathon. I will summarize pluses and minuses.

Pluses:
Numerous port-a-potties
Great volunteers
Decent course

Minuses:
Can be expensive if you sign up late
Aid stations only have Gatorade and water (just be aware)
Fan support is kind of weak, in my opinion
Weak schwag
Poor t-shirt design

Overall, it was an okay marathon. I wrote a much stronger positive review last year, but after doing other marathons in Utah and elsewhere, I see that you pay a lot for not much in return. I am just not sure where all the money goes. I spent $95 and signed up over two months in advance. I almost would rather just pay the great volunteers out of my own pocket. The schwag was nothing compared to what I have received at cheaper marathons and the shirt this year looked like a bib painted on a t-shirt. We didn't even receive safety pins in our grab bag. The medal was pretty cool, I have to admit. I am from Salt Lake City and some of the fans were great, but others just kind of stared at you while you passed. At the end in the Gateway, I could have heard a pin drop as I came across the finish line. Kind of disappointing.

There were some great people who were handing out oranges, bananas and other things, and I am so thankful to those people. There was an ice cream stand at mile 8 and I had a beer at mile 21 at the "temptation station," which really hit the spot. My complaints are probably nit-picky, but I just think this marathon is very close to being great if they just stretched your dollar a little more and the fans could be a little more supportive of the runners and this race.

Course: The course is beautiful just because of the mountains in the background, but there are not many turns and in several areas you end up just going straight down the same road for quite a while. Didn't bother me, but it might be more interesting if we did a few more turns. First half is pretty much gradually downhill. The last 13 are pretty much flat, with a bit of an uphill at the end as you come up State Street, where many people were forced to walk.

I would advise signing up super early if you want to do this marathon. I only spent $65 last year and felt like it was worth every penny. Maybe I am just bitter that I signed up too late....

This was my second SLC Marathon. I really like this event and will be back again. Aid stations were top notch. Police did a phenomenal job keeping us safe. My only complaint is that full marathoners make a loop through a park and merge with slower half-marathoners who fill the street. It is hard to navigate that section and find your groove. Yes, the hill in mile 24 is hard - but it's more mentally hard than physically hard. Finish is great! Good shirt again. Pretty good medal. While I prefer the Ogden Marathon, this one is definitely worth it.

The course elevation chart may be a little off. That two-mile hill at the end was gradual, but I'm sure it gained more elevation than the marathon website showed. (If not, it sure appeared that way). There was a special aid station for quitters somewhere around mile 17 - I think. It was hilarious. The sign read, "you know you want to quit," and they were handing out shots of what looked like Whiskey in dixie cups to anyone who would simply give up. That was so funny that I laughed for about 2 miles. Salt Lake is clean, and since they hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002, it is really a beautiful city to run.

All in all the event was fine, but it is clearly eclipsed by at least three other marathons in Utah for various reasons.

The expo was very disappointing - there was almost nothing there.

I did not find the pasta party, and people/runners simply were not hanging around on Friday before the race. By not holding the expo on Saturday, people where either going home from or coming from work, which limited the time runners had to hang around and socialize. I much prefer a Sunday race, since it makes the event feel like it is the entire weekend. The course was nice enough and gave you a pretty good tour of Salt Lake City. The police support was first-rate, but if they could find a way to spread the decline over a larger part of the course instead of all at once at the race start, it would be nice. The spectators were sparse but enthusiastic.

My real complaint was the organization. The post-race handling of the checked bags was very poor.

This is a event in a first-rate city which has too much potential to be great not to have someone put some real time and effort into ramping it up to create a truly top-notch event. Salt Lake City should not play second fiddle to Saint George and Ogden.

Thank you to the race organizers and volunteers who made this year's marathon (2010) a great experience.

Course: I loved the race course. State Street and South Temple ARE Salt Lake and it is a rush and a privilege to be able to run on them. The course on State Street really only starts to rise for one block (between 1st South and South Temple) and then it is downhill the rest of the way. PLEASE do not change this. The previous finish via 4th Street/West Temple/2nd Street was not interesting or important to me. Running by Temple Square was an honor.

Organization: This marathon is as well organized as any race I have been a part of. They do a superb job. This holds true for each of the three years I have participated in this marathon.

Spectators: Fewer than past years. However, the ones who were there were very helpful. Thank you to those who gave the oranges at mile 10 and around mile 20.

Constructive Suggestions (not criticisms):

1) I would like to split off from all of the half-marathoners sooner. This may involve altering the start times by 15-30 minutes between the marathon/half-marathon. The same aid stations could still be used and it should not cause significantly more congestion of the finish of the two races at Gateway.

2) With the appearance fees paid in the past to elite athletes now eliminated, I would like to see the entry fee lowered to be closer to those of other marathons in Utah. It is the same now as it was during those years of elite runners. I think this will attract more runners to the marathon.

Summary: A great marathon and it is my hope to be able to return annually for many more years to come.

This was a good marathon, but not my favorite. I can't complain about the organization or volunteers at all. The volunteers were prepared, happy, and a joy to be around. Using the Trax system to get to the start is a great, no-stress way to move everyone. The course was generally flat to downhill and I enjoyed the areas that we ran through. The crowd was enthusiastic, but sparse for a big-city marathon. I did enjoy running into the Gateway and the crowd that was there. The food after the marathon was plentiful and good. I really enjoyed the burritos that were being passed out. I have heard that there was a problem with the bag pickup, but I arrived after the majority of the half runners and mine was found quickly

With just over 1,000 running the marathon and over 4,600 running the half-marathon, the marathon felt like an afterthought at times. There were no pace markers to help people start with others going the same speed. That made for a slow start. At mile four the marathon split from the half and then joined back up at the same spot after making a mile-loop around a park. This put us with a lot of slower runners that we needed to navigate around. Although I don't use GU, some of the other runners I was with were looking for it or some other food at the aid stations.

The runners' area was a parking lot that required a long walk to get through. There was no place to lie down or stretch without doing it on the warm asphalt. A grassy area would have been nice. It was also too far from the course to watch others finish without leaving the runners' area.

These are small complaints, but enough that I will go to a different spring marathon next year.

This was the fifth year I've run the Salt Lake City Marathon. The fact I keep doing it says it all - they do a very nice job. The organization is excellent. The shirt and medal are very attractive.

The course is generally pretty good. There's the hill at the end, which had most people walking up it at mile 24.5, and a section where you run on a "freeway" for a couple of miles, but the rest of it is very scenic and pleasant.

There are not a lot of fans, but those who are there are enthusiastic.

The volunteers are very supportive and helpful. If there were a special ranking for them, I'd give 5+ stars.

I'll run this race again, but's it's been disappointing to see fewer and fewer marathoners at the race each year. I think there were only about 1,100 this year - much fewer than the first year I ran the race. I think the half-marathon, which shares the marathon course for the first 7 miles, is slowly eating up the marathon. That said, it is still a very good experience.