CB from Tucson - there's a reason it's called a "souvenir chip." Enjoy - it's part of the experience!

The wind and rain were a little bit of a challenge, but once again, St. George pulled it off. The rain didn't seem to keep the spectators away, support staff was friendly as usual, buses loaded quickly, aid stations were well prepared, refueling resources were plentiful at the end, and the wait for the massages was reasonably short.

What a great community.

While I'd love to see this race open up and eliminate the lottery so I know I can run every year, I appreciate their commitment to controlling the size so that it runs smoothly.

Actually, it's a pretty speedy first half also; but, you can't beat the second half. In 35 marathons, this is only the second negative split I've had. It's a fast course. If you are on the bubble for a Boston time, try this one. I was and it worked. My previous best was 3:44 and I managed a 3:35:33 for a 26-second BQ here.

This is an excellent race and I highly recommend it. The race organizers did a great job. Packet pick up was easy. The expo had a lot of vendors and plenty of space to walk around. The actual race organization was the best of all the marathons I have run so far. The buses to the start were efficient with plenty of parking nearby. There were plenty of well stocked fluid stations, with food/ gels available at multiple stops. There were also plenty of stops with Vaseline and icy hot. Volunteers and spectators were enthusiastic (and plentiful!) despite the rain! I cannot say enough good things about the course. It was BEAUTIFUL, even in the rain!! The race organizers made several adaptations for the rain, including plenty of hefty bags for everyone at the start, and they also let the baggage trucks stay later so that you could stay in warm clothing for longer. I managed to stay pretty warm with all the bonfires at the start. Overall, a GREAT race that I plan to do again, hopefully with the sun shining. This race is a must-do for the scenery and organization!!

I ran this race in 2008, and as luck would have it, there was a steady soaking rain and cold blustery wind for most of the day. Now granted, nobody can control the weather, but there are some obvious things that race directors can do (but did NOT do in this case) to help runners deal with bad weather. First of all, it's a good idea to have a covered area at the start to give runners a dry place to stretch out, lie down, etc. A few tents will suffice. This is especially important when you have to make runners wait at the starting line for several hours before the race gets underway, as is the case for St. George. The campfires were great, but they can't keep you dry.

Second, the announcer at the start asked us to turn in our clothing bags for retrieval at the finish line (this is a point-to-point course) over an hour before the race even started. Not the best way to help people stay warm. Apparently somebody realized this at some point, because they kept delaying when the clothing truck was going to leave, but that didn't do any good for those of us who turned in our bags the first time they said they needed them. This is a foolish policy no matter what the weather - give the runners as much time with their warm-up clothes and gear as possible.

And last, but not least, it was a borderline dangerous oversight to not hand out the Mylar space blankets that most marathons distribute at the finish line to keep finishers warm. After spending several hours in the cold rain, I saw a lot of runners shivering uncontrollably while they waited in line to pick up their gear. The bottom line is that when people get wet, they get cold (especially marathoners, who tend to have very low body fat), and it's only common sense to have plans in place to deal with rain, even if it's not common in this area of the country.

Aside from the weather and lack of preparation for it, everything else about the race was fantastic. I couldn't believe how many volunteers and spectators were willing to spend hours standing in a cold rain to hand out drinks, pick up our discarded trash bags, and cheer us on. They were really incredible. The course was beautiful and had just enough uphills to keep things interesting. And the finisher's medals were fit for Olympians (no exaggeration). The long-sleeve race T-shirts are very nice too.

I hope the race directors learn from their mistakes and prepare for bad weather next year. If they do, St. George will continue to earn its reputation as one of the best marathons in the country.

First of all, let me be the first to say that it rained the entire morning. The yucky weather was not enough to ruin my race, though. This is a perfect example of a well-done marathon where pretty much everything went smoothly.

I got on the bus at about 5:15. The last bus left at 5:30 but there were plenty of empty buses at 5:15. More buses than runners, in fact. We drove from Vegas (left at 1:45 NV time) and really appreciated the A.M. packet pick-up since it meant we could stay in Vegas instead of having to pay to stay in a St. George hotel.

It was cold, cold, cold and wet at the start line. I didn't come at all prepared for the rain because there was only a 40% chance of rain so I figured that I would risk it. That's the last time I do that! A million thanks to the guy who loaned me his sweatshirt while in line for the porta-potties, and also to the one who gave me an extra garbage bag. You guys rock.

Even though the bonfires were pretty much just piles of embers due to the rain, they still gave off plenty of heat, so I huddled by them until several minutes after the gun went off. This was a mistake because then of course I got trapped behind the slower runners for the first couple miles. I doubt it cost me more than a couple of minutes, but it was mildly annoying, and entirely my fault. :)

I really thought about dropping out in Miles 1-3 because of the horrible weather, but I'm so glad I didn't because I ended up getting a decent time, for the first time in the last several marathons. I felt great for almost the entire run. The Veyo hill is hard but tons of spectators at the bottom give a great psychological boost on the way up. And there are so few uphills that the ones there were completely bearable.

Despite all of the downhills, I never did have any problems with quads or anything, and I didn't do serious downhill training. I probably should have tried a little harder for a BQ, but I was enjoying the novelty of feeling decent AND getting a decent time, so I didn't feel like pushing hard enough to be miserable.

Now the things I cannot say enough about: the spectators, especially the last 3 miles. The whole town comes out and cheers, even with the weather. (It never did stop raining through the whole race, though it was pretty light.) The aid stations: super well-organized, plentiful, and the volunteers, well, what can you say about these people who were willing to stand in the rain for all of these hours just to support runners? All of those people are awesome and hugely appreciated. The beautiful views were super motivating. I am normally bored on courses like this, where it's just a straight shot down one road, but I was NEVER bored here. I really appreciated that the road was closed to traffic. The Tucson Marathon could be similar to this if only the road could be closed. I know, I know, that's impossible, but I can dream, right? The shirt and medal are super cool. I just have one tiny complaint - that they don't have the actual date on them, just 2008. Tiny complaint, like I said.

Oh, the one more serious complaint I have is that the chip removers were not easily visible at the finish, and I ended up coming home with my chip, something I have never done in 10 previous marathons. I know this is probably my fault, but I am so used to the chip cutters being immediately across the finish line that I have stopped seeing it as my responsibility to find them. :) I was surprised that a runners marathon like this one would depart from marathon custom by not having the chip cutters right there. (My brother said he saw loads of runners walking around with chips on their shoes at the finish, and wondered why, so I know it wasn't only me.)

This is the ONLY marathon I have run that I want to run again. I want to really train for Boston, then come back and qualify. This is definitely the course to do it on if you are OK with downhills.

WAY TO GO, ST. GEORGE!!!

If you're running your first marathon, this one is so well organized. Great help. All water stops were well staffed. Mile marker balloons were easy to see. Great experience!

It was a great experience to run this marathon. I did not expect such beautiful views through the race. I think that the photos on the website do not really transmit the amazing views. I went there to qualify for Boston, and i did not know how fast and helpful will be for me. At the end i did it!. It is important to consider Downhill on your training.

This is a great marathon. And, if you approach it right, you can really enjoy it. The key is to understand the course and to prepare for it. You have to understand how you want to run each mile. Although the marathon is downhill, there are a number of miles with significant uphill stretches.

I am indebted to a Excel spreadsheet that I found. It lays out the course by mile and models your mile splits based on your desired time. To find it, go to the St. George Marathon website, click on the marathon chat forum, go into general discussion and search for "cougar race calculator." "Cougar" is the name of the poster of it and I express my thanks to him/her. I wanted to qualify for Boston, put in 3:33:00 as my target time, modified the spreadsheet for my slow start and finished at 3:33:16 (8:08 per mile). I laminated the mileage splits and checked them off one by one. (It was dark for the first 4 miles, which I didn't anticipate - so I was blind to my progress until then). My miles ranged from 9:00 to 7:40s.

This race is four races, and the first 6.5 miles are downhill. Use them to warm up and come out of it fresh. The next 7 miles have significant uphill stretches, particularly at Veyo Hill. It is beautiful; enjoy it and don't blow your race on it. (I ran Veyo Hill at 9:00 per mile and the 2nd 10K at 8:30 overall) and then from 13 to 21 you gain time and endure the decline. The last 5 you just hang on. You should run negative splits. My first half was 90 seconds slower than my last half. And, I let up a little on the last half because I was ahead of plan and had back spasms.

Remember to cut the corners. I was surprised how many people run down the middle of the road and add significant distance to their run. Run the tangents.

Learn how to run downhill. Practice it before the race. This was my first marathon with lots of downhill and even though I trained, I didn't train enough. It is a different technique and you need to learn it and practice it before the race. I laminated a card with my downhill focus on it, but still, when I got tired, my technique degraded when my mental attention was diverted. My quads got beat up and I had lower back spasms. You must train so that your muscles have memorized the technique. If not, your technique will revert and you will lose time.

The race organization was superb. Once you get into populated areas, the crowd is great. Kudos to whoever puts up the signs along the route - even the unpopulated part. My favorite sign was "Run for Rabies Awareness."

One other tip: They have a great clothing drop. I dropped a bag labeled with my number in the clothing drop truck and carried the plastic clothing bag they gave me at registration in my back pocket. It is pretty compact and didn't bother my running. At mile 3, I put my hat, gloves and second shirt in it and dropped it on the side of the road and it was waiting for me at clothing pick up.

This is a very friendly marathon and one worth running. Prepare for it right and it will be your all-time best race.

From the scenery to the weather to the fans, this was a great marathon. I spent almost half the year training for it and it still exceeded my expectations. I will definitely keep it on my list for a repeat if I can get through the lottery again. The fans who were out were supportive and enthusiastic, and the race was wonderfully organized. There are some uphill sections but that's obvious in the race profile, but overall the course had so much downhill running that it was not hard to run.

This was my 14th marathon and first trip to St. George. Everything was well organized, and staffed with friendly, enthusiastic volunteers. One note - a friend arrived late the night before, and made it to the expo before it closed, but they had run out of shirts. They took his information and are to mail his shirt to him. The bus ride to the start (at 4:15 a.m.) was fine - we boarded early to participate in the early-bird drawings. There were plenty of bonfires to keep the runners warm, great music, and lots of porta-potties, although the usual potty lines were present close to race start time. The course was gorgeous, with a start in the dark that made for a beautiful sunrise over the mountains. Not a lot of spectators due to the closed course, but the ones present were very enthusiastic. Plenty of water and good (not watery) Gatorade, fruit, Gu, Vaseline, quick "run in" sports cream rubs provided by the volunteers, accurate mile markers, sufficient potties on the course, and a mostly downhill course. Another note - there are a couple of significant lengthy inclines in the first half, so be sure to train on hills. A big hit were the big, red, white, and blue Popsicle bullets at the finish line! Overall, two thumbs up - an excellent race!