St. George 2011 roll call

[Pheidippides]

You want a marathon that offers a nice, easy course and is located where you will have support from family and friends. If you live in Utah, you are in luck, as you have three decent courses to choose from. I'd recommend the ToU in Logan because it's easy, you're pretty much guaranteed to get in, and there is over ten miles of course where crowds can cheer you on, so you can have friends and family helping you make that last push.

If you are into traveling, and you can take your cheer squad, then big marathons like San Diego, Houston, Nashville, or Marine Corps (DC) are a blast. Good luck, and keep us all posted.

I would endorse ToU. It is a blast, albeit a bit smaller. Houston is awesome, but you need to draw out in a lotto unless you can document a sub 4 hour time (you can use a half marathon too) and the deadline for 2012 is past - it's a January race. Chicago is supposed to be fantastic.

[Borg]

cowboy-
I've had a friend do the ToU. That might be a good one to go for...I've also heard good things about the Ogden Marathon as well. Would love to do some travelling, that always makes an experience like this so memorable. But, before I get to that point, I want to see if I can make it first!

Yep, I am in Utah, so, I think one of the local ones might be in order. I am considering:

Top of Utah
Salt Lake Marathon
Ogden Marathon (hard to get in?)
Saint George (heard that is hard to get in tho)

Won't have a cheer squad. Mrs. Borg thinks it's a major waste of money for things like this. Grrrr..

[Pheidippides]

Edit: if you want to budget a vacation around it, I can't recommend the WDW marathon enough. That one was above and beyond. As soon as they get rid of the powerade I'll call it perfect.

[Eddie]

The only one I've run is Ogden - and I've been there twice.

While it is considered small, I was never alone on he course. Though there were times that there were gaps and the next person was 20-30 yards ahead or behind. I didn't know anyone I was running with and don't do a lot of talking, but I suppose I could've if I was interested.

It isn't the most crowd friendly due to the canyons. The first 8 miles is on a closed road, so the only people there to cheer are volunteers, people camping, and folks who live there. You'll get a crowd at mile 8 and another at mile 13. There will be a decent crowd about mile 18.5 as you head down Ogden canyon and then small groups along the canyon and another small crowd at 23 coming out of the the canyon and a big crowd at the finish.

I was impressed with their support. I thought the course was easy - except for a quarter mile uphill at mile 14 that I walked.

I really want to try something different to see what it's like, but have no regrets about doing Ogden.

I would just suggest - if you want to do Ogden, sign up early. Two years ago I didn't sign up until January and had no problem getting in. Last year the field was full by November. This year they've moved the registration back a little to November 1st - and I would get signed up that first week if I wanted to be sure to get in.

[Solon]

Can't believe I missed this thread.

I'm in. Not staying in St. George, though. I'm probably driving down to Veyo the morning of.

I'm excited. First time running St. George.

[SteelBlue]

The only times that matter are start and finish, so why don't you just pull your sweatshirt off right before you cross the start and then put it back on? I used the bib chip in Indianapolis in May and only had it pinned on two corners and it read just fine. They seem to work pretty well.

I've used the bib chips many times but can't recall being told not to cover it with a sweatshirt. I need to cover my bib number to move up in line. Maybe nobody will care.

[Solon]

A nice morning run, although it got pretty hot by the time my slow butt made it to the finish line. Overall an uneventful run, except for the MMM (not Mountain Meadows Massacre, although that's close by; rather, the mid-marathon [bowel]movement).

I either need to get serious about training or find a new dragon to slay. I didn't train much for this run and had a hard time getting excited for it. Maybe I'm burned out, or just need a workable time-goal to shoot for. As it is, I just run at a comfortable pace, more worried about quick-recovery than speed.

Kudos to BigPiney & SteelBlue. I heard (and saw in this morning's newspaper) that they're fast.

Also, special recognition to the 3 people I saw wearing their LDS garments under their running clothes. (one woman, two men). That's dedication.