St George Marathon
Link to Web Site: www.stgeorgemarathon.com
Rating: 
Date of Run: 1 Oct 2005
Reviewed By: Foo
Comments: This is a favorite marathon of runners trying to qualify for Boston. It starts at around 5200ft elevation and drops half of that over its length. Runners think this will help them go faster. I did. At the start (which happens prior to sun-up) the temparature is 45 degrees. The downhill proceeds nicely until around mile 8, which has a 300 ft (or more) hill. At elevation that slowed be down quite a bit. By mile 14 you're back on time and the steep downhill there starts to make you think you can make it. Then the drop in elevation and the time of day bring the temperature up above 70 at about mile 17 or 18. The heat got me. I had to walk at mile 23. Then I trotted in from there. Still a PR, but not the Boston Qualifying time I wanted. Also, the extended downhill really tears up my calves. Took me over a month to recover.
It's also a pretty tough marathon to get into. They have a lottery that you have to sign up for by sometime in April. I think they allow 6000+ entrants, but they get around 8000 applicants. The price is $45.