I've always wanted to run a marathon and everyone strongly suggested St. George. It was fabulous! The people were great, it was organized and what a party afterwards! I can't wait until next year!! :)

Even though I set a PR by almost 14 minutes, I wouldn't classify this as an "easy" marathon. The hills in the first half can really do you in if you go out too fast. But if you pace yourself, you can get up some speed on the declines in the second half. Also remember that it starts at about one mile in elevation, so if you only train at sea level, you might feel like you are running with weights on your ankles. I was fortunate to fall in with a Clif Shot pace team that kept me from going out too fast. Even though I lost them at about mile 18, it was still great to be with the group for that long.

The weather was very nice for this year's race - nippy at the start but very pleasant for most of the way. Full moon setting to our right and the sun rising to our left. Really beautiful. The aid stations were well stocked and the volunteers very nice.

Would have liked more selection of 30th anniversary wear at the expo - I have enough cotton t-shirts! Was looking for Polartec or Tyvec - didn't see either. Would like to say that reading the race comments in MarathonGuide.com helped me train for this race. However would guess that those who complain about the hills at St. George have never run Big Sur or Lake Tahoe! It was obvious to me from the elevation map that this race has significant inclines, so I wasn't surprised.

I would definitely recommend this race if you can get in and find a place to stay. Get your hotel before you enter the lottery! What with the Columbus Day holiday and the World Senior Games starting the week after the marathon, St. George is bursting at the seams!

This would be a great 1st marathon - big but not too big. The road is closed and you get both lanes of a state highway through the desert. The surface is nice. Despite what anyone says, this is a fast course. It's got some hills, but it's fast. I'm sure there are faster courses, but this is a fast one. You run by old volcanoes and red rock. The support is great along the way. I really appreciated the Clif Bar Pace team guy, he helped a lot. I PR'd. Everyone needs to do this race at least once. It's a classic, with great finish line goodies, a polished red rock medal, and a great dry-tech shirt. It's a classic desert race. If there is any negative, it is getting to St. George. It's in the middle of nowhere....

Everything about this marathon is top-notch. I've run big-city marathons in major cities and they can't come close to this one. The scenery is stunning, the course hard but reasonable, and there is great community support. The main challenge is getting through the lottery selection process (they only take 6,700 runners to maintain the quality of the experience) to be able to participate. If you are lucky enough to get in, don't miss this race.

This race gets 5 stars all round. The organization, the course and the people of St. George were fantastic. If you train for the declines you can take full advantage of this breathtaking course. I have run 14 marathons, including Boston three times, London, New York and Chicago twice. This is at the top of my list. I put in a lot of work to prepare and ran a sub three-hour (2:58). This is definitely a PR course.

Thank you to the wonderful organizers. See you next year!!

-The Aussie from ATL

This is definitely a PR course if you train for hills. Don't listen too much to the naysayers that complain about the climb at mile 7 - it's not that significant when compared to the race overall. This course is FAST! I wish I'd trained more for the declines because I could take the gentler grade declines much faster than some of steeper 6% and 8% downhill grades that are on the course. Ultimately, though, I ended up with a 20-minute PR and qualified for Boston with 10 minutes to spare.

The weather on race day was perfect - it's cold where they bus you up into the hills. Be prepared with extra clothing to discard before you start. The scenery as you run is stunning - especially the red rock gorge at mile 15.

The race organization, aid stations, and finish line were all stellar. Everyone should do this marathon at least once!

As a resident of Saint George, of course I ran here as my first marathon. The experience was awesome. Although I didn't finish as well as I hoped (4:14:51), the overall experience is one I will never forget. One piece of advice if you are to run here: run on hills, then on some hills, and when you are done, finish up by running on some more hills.

Wonderful event! The folks in St. George are super friendly. The course is just as advertised - it is definitely a PR course if you train for the hills, and negative splits are common in this race. The scenery is spectactular - sunrise over the desert is awesome! Will definitely run this event again.

Although I ran a PR and a BQ, I left St. George with a bad taste in my mouth. There were three issues that really bothered me and and still do months later.

1. The lottery:
The St. George Marathon (SGM) organizers urge potential participants to enter a lottery á la Marine Corps Marathon, NYC Marathon, etc. They state that only 6700+ entries will be RANDOMLY selected.
There were only 4613 finishers in 2005. In fact, in the past 4 years the SGM has only grown by 358 finishers. One can only surmise that there really isn't a lottery. It is merely a shameless effort to get the entries and money in before the final weeks of the event. That just doesn't seem to be consistent with the good natured and clean living image St. George wants to portray. After figuring this out I felt like someone P.T. Barnum had spoken about.

2. Accommodations:
Four months before the race, the websites for St. George hotels showed zero vacancies. The SGM website gives you a toll-free number to a local travel agency. Connie at the agency informed me that there were no rooms in St. George or the immediate area. However, she also told me that for $20 I could get on a list that would give me priority should there be a cancellation. I was informed that her colleague had a fancy computer program that assessed the availability issue on a daily basis. I passed on the offer. When in St. George the Friday before the race, I saw more than just a couple small-scale, mom-and-pop motels that still had vacancies.

3. The course:
The course was beautiful and the surface was excellent. But as others have posted before, the elevation chart is not accurate. This has been brought to the attention of race organizers yet the same erroneous chart is still being used. Although there is a serious negative elevation from start to finish, the course is not all downhill as they would like to have you think.

The people in the town St. George could not have been more friendly, helpful and welcoming. The organization was very good indeed. The weather was perfect. The post-race amenities were more than adequate and better than most marathons.

Even though it's mostly downhill, it's still 26.2 miles and a tough course. It does have some significant uphill stretches. I did a PR by 9 minutes, but I think most of it was due to training, not so much the course. The first 14 miles are best described as rolling hills, not consistently downhill.

Run this course for the pure scenery. The quietness is stunning. Since the road is closed, there are no vehicles and very, very few spectators. At the start, our footsteps sounded like the gentle waves of the ocean as 4000+ of us plodded along with no other sounds around. Absolutely stunning sound that you'll hear nowhere else.

The wide open countryside is gorgeous. Run this race and you'll never want to run a big-city marathon again.

Awesome race support before the start all the way through the finish. Very, very well organized.

This has to be one of my most cherished marathon experiences.