This was fairly well organized but I would suggest the organizers add some sort of food (gel or bananas?) on the course. I looked for gel at every aid station; there wasn't any. The spectators were few but very friendly. A big shout-out to the two who passed out orange slices around mile 10. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! The course was awesome, very beautiful and through interesting sections of town. I'm used to running through a city's seedier districts and this one was no different. I don't expect a city to shut down its best and busiest streets. I loved the finish at the Gateway. The police did an EXCELLENT job of keeping runners and traffic separate. Overall, I would recommend this one to anyone.

My third marathon, and the hardest yet for me. Seeing the course elevation, I imagined it to be mostly downhill. The downhill is pretty much done in the first 10 miles, and then you get some ups and downs. The 25th mile was the hardest since you can see the road sloping up. Very well organized with police at every intersection making sure the runners were safe. Got a little warm after 10:30 a.m.

Great course through the city of Salt Lake. The net elevation drops about 700 feet, mostly in the first half of the race. The course ends with a lot of spectators at the Gateway. Some organizational flaws that can be easily corrected in the future: ran out of water for slower runners at some aid stations, had to wait in line for 1-2 hours for gear bag after the race, awards ceremony delayed over an hour and a half because of timing glitch (that was eventually corrected). Salt Lake City is a terrific venue for a marathon and this race has a lot of potential, with a little more attention to details.

On a more positive note, the course was well laid out and the officers did a nice job directing traffic. The aid stations were good, except the ones that ran out of both water and Gatorade. They had good food at the end of the race.

This was my first marathon, and overall I think it was very well run. The first half of the marathon was great, with some very scenic views going through Holladay and running mostly downhill. The second half of the marathon wasn't great, as you go down Foothill, which is just a major road and not quite as scenic. The last 2 miles were not fun as you run down State Street and slightly go uphill at the end. To be honest, the hill wasn't bad; it was just that I live in SLC and State Street is not the most scenic way to end a marathon. Food at the end was abundant and plentiful for all, and stations every 1-2 miles were great and had plenty of people helping to hand out Gatorade or water. I didn't see any gels but was not stopping for very long at the stop stations. There were a few times that there was a car on the course, but the police did a good job of getting them off right away. Overall, not a bad marathon with good organization. I just think the course could have been planned a little bit better.

We ran the half in 2009. It was well organized. We were able to get to the race expo/package pick-up easily, we liked the Traxx system very much, and the finish line was very nice in the outdoor downtown mall area. The Traxx ride is free in the downtown area, so we hopped on it afterward to go back to our hotel. I would run this race again.

I don't know what all the grumbling is about. I thought they pulled-off an excellent event in 2009. I've run both the SLC Half and the marathon. I ran the half this year. The half is the superior event in my opinion, but it wouldn't be without the full marathon at the same time. The full marathon has a tedious section around 5000 south. I could do without that section. I saw some complaints about the section on State Street; sure, there are a few cars, and it's gradual uphill, but that's State Street. It is the "main drag" of Salt Lake City. I thought that was the best part, a big finish. There's a lot of history there. Running up toward the Eagle Gate with the state capitol and downtown rising right there... it's awe-inspiring. State Street and Temple Square ARE Salt Lake City.

You could not ask for a more SLC-representative route, with the U of U, Sugarhouse, Holladay-Murray Blvd., Liberty Park, Eagle Gate, Brigham's house, his statue (hand outstretched toward the bank, back toward the temple), Hotel Utah, Main Street Plaza, Temple Square, then a big finish in the Gateway. It was great. Good finish line food. Bag pick-up was standard. Medal was above average; at least it was a "metal" medal (Ogden's was plastic last year). Want the full marathon experience? Run SLC on Saturday and Boston on Monday; they are timed perfectly for that.

I ran the Las Vegas marathon in December 2008 and that is how I heard about the Salt Lake City race. Overall I am happy with the experience but I will likely not return next year because the course was supposed to be closed to traffic for 6 hours. I finished well within that time and yet had to contend with police waving cars through intersections while other runners and I were already in the intersection. The Saturday scheduling of the race has to be questioned. Marathoners should not have to compete with traffic.

I ran the SLC Marathon for the first time and was unsure if this marathon would be a good one, since I read the comments religiously for many marathons I do from MarathonGuide. But I was pleasantly surprised with Devine. I have ran LA Marathon 10 times and remember how much I disliked some of the changes Devine implemented, but the SLC Marathon was great.

The course at 4,500-foot elevation was great, with not too many turns (so it doesn't slow down your momentum) but it had enough turns to distract the mind.

I didn't think it was difficult at all. There may be a couple miles that have a slight uphill, but it only added about 15 seconds to those mile splits. I made it up at the end because I like to finish my marathons hard.

Fluid stations had enough of both water and Gatorade and enough volunteers.

Not sure if it was volunteers only or spectators too, but orange slices were given a few times throughout the later portion of the course and I LOVE eating oranges on my run! Thanks, volunteers and/or spectators.

The density of spectators was not that great in comparison to more urban marathons, but it is understandable as it's a relatively small marathon with about 1,000 finishers.

Weather in SLC was perfect for me around 50-60 degrees F in April. Great for marathoning!

The medal was fine. I've done 26 marathons and I'm 24. I've seen smaller even at the Rome Marathon but this one was good. Yeah, Devine put their name on the ribbon that goes around the neck, but no big deal. It is nowhere to be found on the medal itself.

I finished in 3:42:00, only a few minutes from my PR, so if you are trained for the elevation, this race is a fun race. I had a great time!

With all of Devine's financial troubles, at least those perceived by the media, I was momentarily concerned that the race might be canceled. To my pleasant surprise, Devine pulled off an awesome race. I agree with previous comments regarding the long hill after mile 24 - I wasn't expecting it! Other than that, the course was beautiful; the crowd, though small, was great; and the weather was absolutely perfect. I even enjoyed the pre-race gospel music.

My small recommendation for Devine, should they be reviewing these comments, is that they consider staggering the half-marathon and marathon starts. Towards the end of my race, I had to politely (perhaps impolitely at times?) excuse myself before passing slower half-marathoners who occasionally walked in 4's (side by side by side by side). I'm all about everybody getting a chance to run, but finishing the last 10K of a marathon in zigzag fashion isn't preferred.

That said, I would run this race again in a heartbeat.

This race can adequately be summarized by the following: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

The Good - Packet pickup was smooth, volunteers were helpful, aid stations were plentiful and the volunteers at them were well trained. The race number, shirt and medal were all pretty decent. There were plenty of post-race refreshments. The course itself was runner-friendly.

The Bad - UTA in the morning was way behind schedule and didn't run enough trains to properly serve the number of runners. A train arrived full just a couple of minutes before the start. The choir that sang the national anthem was absolutely horrible. We're talking Rosanne Barr-bad. They were an embarrassment. Also, they had the marathon and half-marathon merging together at 6 miles and then again around 21. I had to dodge and weave around walkers who were absolutely clueless that the race is about running, not walking. Step aside, PLEASE!!

The Ugly - Post-race baggage pick up. Good GOD!! Who was the idiot who thought it was a good idea to use color-coded stickers IN ADDITION to the race number. WHAT??? The race number is a pretty simple (almost idiot proof) system. Instead, the volunteers had the runners search for their own bags. Absolutely ridiculous.

Unless they fire the person who came up with that system, there is no way I would ever run this marathon again.