St George Marathon

[bluegoose]

Is anyone registering this year? I got turned away last year, but I think we (my wife and I and 2 or 3 other friends) will try again. I guess they opened registration up to 7,000 runners this year, so our chances are up this time. The only downside is that I might actaully get a race ticket and will then have to get ready for it. I don't want another bonk like last year.

[BigPiney]

my wife is considering it. She wants to sign up for somehting that will make here get out and train.

I think next year is the year I do a marathon, either that or a 1/2 Ironman. I'll have to shop around to see where I would do one.


7000 runners, wasn't it capped at 5000 before?

[cowboy]

I ran it last year. Never again. The downhill from mile 20 on is the most brutal, bone jarring stretch you'll ever run.

My next marathon will be the Top of Utah in Logan this fall.

[venkman]

I loved St. George, such a beautiful course. I will probably put in for the lottery, if I don't get in I'll try Top of Utah.

[bluegoose]

I ran it last year. Never again. The downhill from mile 20 on is the most brutal, bone jarring stretch you'll ever run.

My next marathon will be the Top of Utah in Logan this fall.

logan is not much better, is it?

[beelzebabette]

logan is not much better, is it?

I don't remember Mile 20 of the St. George Marathon--could it really be worse than the start of the Provo River half? I loved the grade on the Top of Utah. It made the first 17 miles feel (relatively) like a piece of cake. I did appreciate that the hills in St. George were earlier in the race.

If I could get a guarantee that it wouldn't snow (or rain) in Logan, I'd choose the Top of Utah over St. George without question.

[ERCougar]

I ran it last year. Never again. The downhill from mile 20 on is the most brutal, bone jarring stretch you'll ever run.

My next marathon will be the Top of Utah in Logan this fall.

Great idea. Just start your course with an even more brutal, bone-jarring downhill.

Pretty canyon though.

EDIT: Sorry to repeat bluegoose...got too excited about posting before reading.

[beelzebabette]

Great idea. Just start your course with an even more brutal, bone-jarring downhill.

The slope is very different. I don't think you drop more than a hundred feet in elevation in any mile versus nearly 500 on St. George's mile 20. I think that's what he's referring to.

[cowboy]

The slope is very different. I don't think you drop more than a hundred feet in elevation in any mile versus nearly 500 on St. George's mile 20. I think that's what he's referring to.

Yeah, and it's a lot easier to take a steep mile early in the course when your legs are fresh rather than later when your knees already have 20 miles on them.

[RobinFinderson]

I'm not a marathon runner, and Faith isn't signed up for the St.George. But she is getting ready to run the L.A. Marathon, which will be her first. After all of the weight loss discussions it is interesting to note that in addition to our softies (I am getting closer to being in the 'softy' category) we also have a lot of runners. I'm really proud of Faith. She runs just about every day. Maybe I can drive her out to the St. George marathon next year and some of us resident softies can go eat at Benja while we wait for the runners to wrap things up.

[Commando]

Marathons are a funny phenomenon... Miserable to run and totally terrible for you, yet people clamber to run in them.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I ran the St. George marathon in 2005, and sadly it was really the last time I ran. It was a horrible experience.
It was my second marathon and I was much better trained than I had been for my first in Edmonton the year before. I am not in the shape many of you are in, but I was in some of the best shape of my life at the time. I gotta start running again.

[Pheidippides]

Just found out a buddy of mine is going to be running this. If you see a big tall guy, say hi. By tall, I mean 6'6"

[CardiacCoug]

Marathons are a funny phenomenon... Miserable to run and totally terrible for you, yet people clamber to run in them.

Absolutely. They are terrible for your joints and probably bad for your heart, too.

Spending hours and hours daily at a high blood pressure with very high metabolic stress while running cannot be a good thing. Anecdotally, we see a bunch of middle-aged marathon runners with terrible coronary artery disease despite their outstanding aerobic conditioning and cholesterol profiles.

I saw a study that showed a "greater than predicted" amount of coronary calcium for "extreme" endurance athletes. I think more and more studies will support that moderate exercise is good -- Marathons and Triathlons, not so much. You can have too much of a good thing.

My wife is running the Boston Marathon in 2 weeks. As usual, she thinks I'm full of crap.

[cowboy]

Absolutely. They are terrible for your joints and probably bad for your heart, too.

Spending hours and hours daily at a high blood pressure with very high metabolic stress while running cannot be a good thing. Anecdotally, we see a bunch of middle-aged marathon runners with terrible coronary artery disease despite their outstanding aerobic conditioning and cholesterol profiles.

I saw a study that showed a "greater than predicted" amount of coronary calcium for "extreme" endurance athletes. I think more and more studies will support that moderate exercise is good -- Marathons and Triathlons, not so much. You can have too much of a good thing.

My wife is running the Boston Marathon in 2 weeks. As usual, she thinks I'm full of crap.

Please don't tell me this. I keep thinking that my cholesterol (238) doesn't matter as long as I can run a 4-hour marathon. Butter would be a hard thing to give up....maybe it's an addiction.