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Apr 28, 2024

Utah Valley Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Utah Valley Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.5

Organization 4.3

Spectators 3.5

Number of comments: 64 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

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L. S. from Salt Lake City, Utah (6/21/2015) "FAST with a few x factors" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Utah Valley Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 If you are anything like me, you are reading these reviews looking for a fast course to help you reach that elusive BQ time or other marathoning goal. You are wondering if Utah Valley might be the race for you. Well, in my opinion, YES, this is a FAST course, but it is not a 'gimme.' Some runners will do better here than others. Here are some considerations: 1) Altitude: I happen to live in Salt Lake City so I am used to running at higher altitude. My conclusion after reading reviews on here and talking with some people on the course is that those from sea level will feel the thinner air to a degree, but I woudn't let it scare you. 2) Weather - The average temps for June in this area are pretty high. I personally don't run well in anything much higher than 60 degrees, but because the race starts at such high altitude, the heat really wasn't a factor for me until the last 6 miles. I took plenty of electrolytes before and during the race and the volunteers and supporters did a lot to help keep us cool those last few miles (otter pops, sprinklers, etc.) I never cramped up. Wind was not a factor this year, but is always a possibility. Seems no matter what you'll have to deal to some degree with less than ideal weather conditions at this race. Just be prepared for that and you'll be fine 3. Hills - this race feels like its 80 percent downhill with a few pretty difficult uphills thrown in (the one at miles 8 was particularly memorable). Some people run downhill better than others. I thought my quads would have been really torn up, but they didn't feel any different from any other marathon. Of course, again, because I live in Utah, where there is no 'flat' terrain, I train on a lot of uphills and downhills. So my advice would be to train with downhills as best as you are able. So, just to give you an idea of how I did on the course, I was injured in March had to take over a month off of running completely. I scrapped my plan to run Ogden to May and decided to run Utah Valley instead. I only got in 3 full weeks of training plus my taper after being injured and PRed by 1:25 minutes at Utah Valley, running my first ever negative split. So yeah. . . I would say its fast. As for Provo, it has a cute downtown, but its not somewhere I would want to spend a great deal of time (head to SLC or Park City for better sight seeing). We tried to find a restaurant with good reviews nearby, but it was truly terrible. The host hotel was just ok, but they allowed a noon checkout and free parking so i cant complain. I would do this race again!
j. k. from Seattle, WA (3/19/2015) "unbelievable scenery and organization" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Utah Valley Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This race takes the cake. I have never seen more beautiful country. I loved the pr bell. The course is faster than some of these reviews stated, because that bell was ringing constantly from people setting their pr.... myself included.
B. S. from Oregon (7/2/2014) "problem with children at the finish line" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Utah Valley Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 Great day to run my 136th marathon. There is a safety issue at the finish line. People, particularly small children, dart out to run with a runner through the finish line. This is sometimes done without looking. The finish line should be reserved for runners only so runners and/or kids are not hurt Family should meet afterwards. I almost ran into one kid who wasn't looking.
C. C. from Booneville, MS (7/2/2014) "beautiful and tough" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Utah Valley Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This marathon looked like a beautiful and fast course. It is beautiful, but it is a really tough marathon. Much of it is downhill, but this can be tough on the legs. The uphills were a shock to me and the altitude, though not great, caused much decline in my performance. I was 30 minutes slower than a marathon run 3 wk before. The wind was unwelcome for this year, but nothing can be done about that. It is a wonderful experience, but this is a really tough marathon. Just remember that. The course is beautiful if tough, the organization was great, and the people were fantastic. But for a low lander, this marathon kicked my ___.
J. T. from Denver Co (6/17/2014) "Beautiful and well run" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This race is well worth doing. It's well organized. The staging area with the fire pits created a great place to talk to other runners before the start. The course is great. Mostly down hill with extended ups, but nothing two steep to bother me to much. (maybe because I live in Denver and am no stranger to hills) But it is a stunning course for a road race. Not much crowd support in the canyon, but that is to be expected. (not many places to park) But more support once you get into Provo. We got lucky on the temp, it was by far the coolest day of that week. But it was a bit windy in the canyon. A not that weather in the mountain west varies to a huge amount so some years you might be snow at the start of the race or other years it could be in the mid to upper 80s by the end of the race. But all in all a great race.
B. s. from New York, NY (6/15/2014) "A Test of a Different Sort" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Utah Valley Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I PR'd by 5+ minutes and broke 3 hours for the first time. Does that mean this race is too easy, given the downhill point-to-point course? Sorta. Running downhill does wreck the quads, the altitude is high, a headwind hit us leaving the canyon, and it was very warm. I say that to make myself feel better about the accomplishment, given that it felt like 70% of the time we were running downhill. That noted, this was a very well done midsized marathon. My thoughts: Pros: + Efficient transportation to start, good staging area organization + Beautiful scenery + Very kind volunteers + BQ t-shirt, PR bell, nice medal + Fast course + Cheap hotels, transportation, etc. Con: + Very little crowd support All-in-all, I would recommend this to anyone, but especially those interested in checking off Utah
K. H. from Los Angeles (6/14/2014) "Challenging downhill course" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Utah Valley Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I read so many reviews on this race before I decided to jump into running this race. Just like what the reviews said, it is a very beautiful course. You see beautiful countryside, fields of grass with horses running around in spectacular mountain backdrops. You can even see snow on top of the mountains in mid June. I love the camp fire setup with music playing before the race. A lot of runners gather around the fire to keep warm. It was early enough u can still see the stars and moon. It was this experience itself worth signing up this race. But it is not an easy course. Majority of the time was downhill, but the high attitude and the long stretch uphills from mile 7-9 and another smaller uphill on mile 16 can be a killer with the combination of the high attitude and trying to keep up the pace. I come from sea level Los Angeles, it took me around 5-6 miles to get used to the thinner air. But as I ran to the lower attitude, more oxygen kicked in, then the high attitude became not a factor. This race is very well organized, they planned everything so well. I did the Big Cottonwood last Sept near SLC, comparing these two I would have picked Big Cottonwood as my first choice. BCW doesn't have any uphill but instead, it has steeper downhills. UVM's downhills are not as steep. UVM's last few miles are all gentle downhills whereas BCW's last 10 miles are flat. SLC has more things to do afterward or before the race whereas Provo has not much to do. If I will do this race again, I would focus on enjoying the scenery and the surroundings more.
C. H. from Ogden Utah (5/21/2014) "Beautiful course, well organized." (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Utah Valley Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 The course is beautiful. The aid stations in the middle of the downhill was a difficult place. Aid stations at the top of the uphill would be a much better place for a runner. Also more bathrooms would be helpful.
R. F. from Orem, UT (4/8/2014) "Impressions of race" (about: 2013) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Utah Valley Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This race is probably has a more scenic course than any other race I have ever done. The first half goes down Provo Canyon with towering cliffs on both sides. Nice job on course selection!
C. S. from Pleasant Grove, Utah (6/19/2013) "One of the best races that you can run!" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Utah Valley Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This race is phenomenal. The course is fast and beautiful. I love the way how this race doesn't wind you up and down random city streets to kill off the last few miles. It is a straight shot from Provo canyon to the finish line at the middle of Provo City. The volunteers were awesome and you don't get better views than Provo Canyon. The temperature was fantastic and the food was great. They have one of the best pre-race expos that I've seen. I absolutely loved this race, and I'll do it again for sure!

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