THE MOST WELL DONE MARATHON to date! Elaine was so hands on! She was accessable and available! I was impressed with the goody bag as well as the speaker! The course was gorgeous! There was enough food for even us "back of the packers!" The only downside was the number of bikers (and bike fumes) that were on the road. I got yelled and sweared at a number of times. The white car that shadowed us was GREAT! The lady kept an eye on us and made sure we were ok!

Wonderful marathon! True to its promise, it only featured women. It had a very small, very friendly field. There were incredible volunteers, and roving spectators cheered for everyone. There were possibly 2.5 miles of uphill running, maybe 2 miles of level course, and the rest was downhill and a visual delight. Run it if you refuse to whine about a course. Run it because Elaine understands female marathoners (100+ marathons to her credit). Run it because it is a tough and fast course. Run it because there are few courses this spectacular.

Good luck to all of the Leading Ladies running East Coast marathons this fall!

This was a beautiful, majestic course, and a great opportunity to participate in a women's-only event! It was well organized and had the best water stops and volunteers. There were 10 or so water stops along the course, and every one had Hammer Gels, water, PowerAde, pretzels, M&Ms, and even ibuprofen at mile 21 (where I needed it)! All the stops were staffed by men - and they took great care of us. The t-shirt and medal are really cute - and there's a purse that says, "It's in the bag."

The weather was perfect - low 40's at the start and in the 70's at the finish. The course is a net downhill, but it does have some significant climbs at mile 2 and 11, so be prepared to run up and down. The downs really test your quads, so practice that for this race. Overall it is downhill or rolling, and it is SO BEAUTIFUL out there! The course is well marked and easy to follow. At the finish, I received my medal and a red rose and was fed a frosted sugar cookie with fresh fruit - kiwi, strawberries and blueberries!!! There are no spectators on the course, so bring your own - it is a super easy course to spectate. This is a must-do for every woman who is or wants to be a marathoner!

To say that this course is all downhill is not quite accurate. The first half has some stretches of uphill, but this is actually quite pleasant, as the last half is VERY downhill, and can be killer on the quads! However, the scenery along the course is quite breathtaking (so you might end up really short of breath, since elevation might already be taking your breath away!), making the slight challenge of the downhill worth it!

If the course wasn't enough of a selling point for this race, then the organization should seal the deal. The RD is a sincere and kind lady, and I enjoyed talking to her before and after the race. All details are attended to, making this a great race for the gals. Pre-race packet pick up went smoothly, and it was enjoyable to look around and chat with people. Race morning was also a smooth operation. There was adequate course support during the race, and the post-race festivities were very fun. We got roses from a friendly guy in the pink tux shirt! Lots of good fruit and smiling faces.

There aren't really any spectators along the course, but it is a pretty place and a simple course, so that is encouragement enough to keep going. What pretty sight lies just up the next turn? All in all, this race provides a great mix of small-town hospitality, great amenities and pretty sights - a lovely experience!

This is a unique event!

It's held in stunningly beautiful country with green mountains, flowered fields and a running river along most of it.

The course is well marked, the aid stations are frequent enough, well supplied and manned by mostly men supporting this women-only race.

It starts early (the bus leaves at 4:00 a.m.), but once you're up, it's wonderful to watch the day break. And the race director personally greats everyone at each bus at that very early hour.

She definitely pours her heart out - she cares deeply that women that run this, not only enjoy it, but also to feel empowered. She directs this race as a gift to women - and I hope more and more are able to take full advantage, participate and appreciate.

Thank you for a fabulous Sunday!!

This is an awesome race. I did the inaugural - long overdue response. Elaine, the Director, is incredible. She knows how to satisfy her customers. If you are going to do this race, and I highly recommend that you do it, ask her about Ginger's Bed & Breakfast. It's a fabulous place to stay. Ginger makes homemade wine, too. Tell her Patricia and Dennis said, "Hello."

This was, by far, the most beautiful course and one of the fastest courses I have run yet. Spearfish Canyon is not only breathtaking; it also has PR potential. If I weren't on my "50 state" marathon quest, I would do this race again. If you don't make it in the St. George lottery, this is a good alternative... if you're a female! I ran a 4:06, which is about average for me, and I'm sure I could have run faster if I would have trained better. You have to love downhill running to enjoy this course. I love the small race concept with few to no spectators, but this is so small that the majority of the race I was alone with not another "human" in sight for miles. I got a little scared, thinking of lurking mountain lions and no one around if I were attacked! Maybe I was being a little paranoid, but that was the only concern I had. If I were to get injured, how long would it take to get help? Also, should mountain lions be a concern? Anyhow, it's still a "must-do" race. To have Kathrine Switzer and watch the Women's Olympic Marathon the night before the marathon was a HUGE treat for such a small race.

I thought this was a wonderful marathon. It was very well organized and the scenery was beautiful! I loved the casual early start with no corrals, speeches, etc. I live at sea level and seldom train on hills but it didn't bother my legs and frankly I enjoyed the ease of going downhill. The volunteers at the water stations were great and never crowded. The only spectators I noticed were a couple of women on bikes near the end. They were screaming, bringing me Gatorade and generally being very supportive. I have been talking this marathon up to all of my friends and we are hoping to put a group together and come in '09.

I ran the 2008 race. The course is beautiful; however, you MUST be prepared for the topography. I'm from Omaha, Nebraska and, contrary to popular belief, we have some rolling hills, so I figured I would be capable of training on these rolling hills to achieve the appropriate fitness level for running an entirely downhill race. I couldn't have been more wrong. I am not kidding when I say that the race runs entirely downhill - there are no flats to be found. There were points in the last eight miles where I thought I seriously wasn't going to be able to finish because of the pounding my legs and joints were taking. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I actually cried at one point along the way because it hurt THAT BAD after several hours of the same pounding. I ended up finishing a full 20 minutes slower than my time in Nashville just several months prior. It is now two months post-race in South Dakota and I am still not fully recovered from some of that pounding. As the previous writer discussed, the grade for runoff on these roads makes for some pretty massive discrepancies and is, once again, very hard on your legs and joints.

I really did enjoy the scenery and was generally fine with the setup (you have to be realistic - this is not Chicago, Nashville, San Fran, etc.), but wish I would really have listened to the comments regarding the downhill impact. I seriously would recommend only running this race if you can find a significant stretch (13 miles +) of terrain to train on going exclusively downhill, because the risk for injury with the downhill and road grading appears to be pretty significant.

I took on this race to complete my South Dakota portion of the "50 States" quest. A couple of side notes: my husband, 6-year-old daughter and I stayed at the most fantastic bed and breakfast in Spearfish - Secret Garden B&B - and would do that again in a second. Also, it would be wise for you to drive the course prior actually to running it. Because we figured out where the start was the day prior to the race, we had no problems getting to it the next morning, and I was able to avoid getting up extra early to take the bus to the start from the park in Spearfish.

Absolutely a gorgeous place to run a marathon. Some of the bends in the road in the last half of the course were very, very sharply angled for runoff - a 4-6 inch discrepancy between the left leg and the right... which is very uncomfortable running. Also, they had a large number of half marathoners sign up prior to the race, and thus anyone finishing the marathon in over 4 1/2 hours did not get any refreshments other than water and a couple small slices of strawberry/fruit. The Gatorade was gone, and the roses were gone. They never increased the amount of post-race food to accommodate the extra runners; as usual, the marathon runners got you-know-what.

Also, the reception as the finish line was so ho-hum. It felt like, well, if you can't finish in under 4 1/2 hours, you don't even rate our attention. Regarding the merchandise, the shirts and merchandise were rather unattractive. You would think that a ladies' marathon could at least design some nice-looking decals/apparel that people would want to buy. Having Katherine Switzer there was a big plus.