5/5 Stars

Started out dark and chilly, would have napped on the bus to the start but the guy behind wouldn't shut up (that's ok, he was nervous). Sat in the parking lot until start time, shed the space blanket, did the bag drop-off, then cruised down the hill. Saw my hubby along the side at the finish. Afterwards, cold towel around my neck (great idea), hot shower back at the hotel, then off for sight-seeing.

YES, 10 seconds better than at your Canyon City race last year! (Really have to turn on the afterburners when I do Canyon City this November!) I ran the half, so BQ was not on my radar.

Nicely downhill, without being so steep that you worry about your knees the whole distance. I like that it was downhill all the way to the finish, rather than flattening out at the end. That little bit of gravitational pull helped keep me rolling.

I've been doing triathlon training lately, so have dropped back on my running mileage. But, I get out about 3 times per week for a run. I did slack off a bit, and had trained only up to about 9 miles for this one, but thanks to the downhill, I did not hit any wall at that distance.

Be prepared for a chilly, not at all comfortable spot waiting for the start. If you are willing to risk it, don't take one of the first buses up the hill, that only increases your wait time in the dark and cold. I'm vegetarian, so our hunt for restaurants was difficult. Found really REALLY good Indian/Nepalese food at Kathmandu (3142 S. Highland). Ate good Japanese at Suehiro, right behind the finish line. Carbo loaded at Siragusa's, which was OK, but not a prize winner. These are all near the Hawthorne Suites, where we stayed, near the finish line.

Drove up to Snowbird and Alta. Lift to top of Snowbird and hiked around a bit, but as it was the day before the race, I chose to ride back down the hill. Went to movies (Mission Impossible!) the night before the race.
After the race, we went to Ogden to visit the railroad museum. Next day we went to Brighton and Solitude to look at the mountains. On the way home Monday (Los Angeles), we turned off to see Brian Head, saw some awesome rock formations on the road there, then Cedar Breaks. We have visited Zion Kolob Canyon several times, and that is a worthy side-trip as well.

5/5 Stars

It was chilly but not cold at the start of the full marathon. After the start, it was a fast run with simply amazing scenery. This was my seventh marathon and it was the most scenic one by far! The aid stations were well manned and the volunteers were extremely helpful. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience.

I PR'd by nearly 15 minutes.

The scenery was amazing. The elevation start at about 9700 feet allowed for an 18-ish mile downhill start with only one short (half mile) uphill section around Brighton Ski Resort. After the out-and-back on Wasatch Blvd, the course again turned downhill to the end. This is a great course to PR on if you've trained your legs for the downhills.

I thought I included enough downhill training, but my legs (quads) were pretty shot by the end. I guess there's no such thing as too much downhill training!

Train for long, hard downhills. During the race, just appreciate the amazing views and the first 18 miles will just vanish! Save a little energy for the out and back on Wasatch and then cruise on home!

Coming from New Jersey, the low humidity made the temperatures seem cooler than the thermometer was reading, and that made it fun to go hiking in the mountains, even in the midday.

5/5 Stars

Crossing the finish line!

Yes...6 minutes. Im not a Boston qualifier

In the canyon is AMAZING!! Seriously nothing better. Unfortunately I am not a fan of the Wasatch out and back AT ALL and that's when I lost time.

I run pretty much daily so my intense marathon training is only 4 weeks. I did probably 8 runs down in the canyon. I still could not believe how sore my legs were after the race.

Wear layers you can shed. It gets HOT!

5/5 Stars

I wish someone had warned me via the web site/registration that running downhill would cause severe blisters. I had to run 11 miles with blood soaked shoes and socks. It was excruciating the last 3 miles. I run 10 miles a day, up and down hills in Oregon, and NEVER experienced this before. Other than that, the volunteers were AMAZING, the runners and crowds were so uplifting and supportive, and it was an easy, cool, beautiful run (except for the foot pain). The last 3 miles I utterly despised. It felt like hitting a heat wall when I left the canyon.

The blisters cost me 1.5 hours off my usual time. Massively disappointed. I'll try again next year to kill my time.

Gorgeous Gorgeous Gorgeous, except for the part in the city. I wish we could start the Half higher in the Canyon and spend less time running in the city. Loved passing a tiny waterfall, a pretty stream, and oh, those mountains were just Beautiful.

I trained for a year, running up and down hills in Oregon and learning to power walk a mile in 15 minutes. I injured my back 15 weeks before the race, and missed 12 weeks of training. Making up 12 weeks in 3 was done by intervals with a personal trainer, running twice a day, lots of weight lifting, and completely changing my diet.

The shoes and socks make all the difference. Research is so important, and never take the advise of non-runners in sports stores, when you buy socks and shoes. If I had known I needed larger shoes and different socks for running downhill, I never would have had to run 11 miles in bleeding blisters. I have socks made to cool your feet. I should have worn thicker ones. Hotter feet over blisters, oh yeah, I would have gladly made that trade!

Visited family, lost a lot of sleep, met new runners. I came from North Carolina, to Portland, to Salt Lake City, where I was born and raised.

5/5 Stars

Yes. It was my first marathon

5/5 Stars

Perfect weather, fantastic people, and excellent race logistics. This will be a race I repeat!

No, I was 6 minutes off but it was understandable as I have been sick for a few weeks. I was surprised at how good I still performed. Great course! Next year I coming after you PR!

Beautiful canyon features. Great exhibition of our Utah rocky mountains. The course is a fast downhill route that is sure to push your PR...if your legs can take it.

I usually run 3 days a week anywhere from 4-8 miles then a long run on Saturday 9 to 12 miles. My advice is to follow a plan if you are unfamiliar with training for a half or marathon. Also, take those days off. Recovery is important to stay injury free!!!

Check the forecast and dress warm for the start. Eat simple carbs and lean protein for the few days before the race. A big carbo loading dinner just the night before can actually leave you heavy. Also, don't skip the aid stations. A little Powerade or fuel (Gu, salt pill, jelly beans) with water will make a difference.

A group of us came from Wellsville (Cache Valley) and so we were excited to hit Ikea and dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse.

3/5 Stars

Beautiful weather!

Yes. I did qualify for Boston, ran 2:54:04

Severe grades in parts, pretty easy course to PR on. Out and back wasn't that bad either.

60 plus miles a week. Wouldn't do anything different. My advice would be to train downhill and run the course. Don't focus all your training on downhill though and make sure to include some rollers in preparation for Wasatch Blvd and Fort Union.

Run the course. That's really the best advice. Make sure you have lace locked your shoes to prevent heel slippage so you don't have blister and toenail issues. Bring layers. Decide at the start what to wear and what to shed.

4/5 Stars

Overall, it was an awesome day. Close to perfect weather (a little warm at the end, but if I was faster this wouldn't be an issue ;), the excellent company of friends, and a timely start. The aid stations were well manned, and the volunteers were amazing. It would be impossible to have such a positive experience without them - so thank you!

I did, by 25 minutes!

The first 2/3 of the course were breathtaking, the downhill was crazy but cool, loved every minute. Once we got to mile 19, though, not so much. I know it's the logical approach to have us ending in a populated area where it's easy for spectators to cheer us along, but once we came out of the canyon and started seeing strip malls and gas stations, it was anticlimactic. Not sure how it could be changed and still make the miles accurate... but it might be worth considering to have the last 1/3 of the course be located in the more residential areas if possible.

My run group is fortunate enough to live near a fairly large (8,000 feet, so not quite as high as BC) mountain, so we were able to do lots of downhill training. It definitely made a difference. Anything I'd do differently would be in regard to my nutrition past mile 15. I need to re-work that to avoid the slog of those last miles, and hopefully next time come in under 4 hours :).

Stay at Hyatt House Sandy - wonderful place! In lieu of pasta, try a baked potato the night before. Layer with clothes you're ok with donating to charity, and drop along the course. Oh, and if I had this race to do over again (and I might next year), I'd have stayed put with the 3:55 pacers!

We traveled from Las Vegas, and didn't do too much before the race (other than make a stop at the State Liquor Store for our celebratory wine), but we went to downtown Salt Lake (Temple Square area) for dinner the night of the race, and it was delicious. We had dinner at the Copper Onion.

5/5 Stars

Race day was great!

I did not PR, but I did beat my prior Big Cottonwood Marathon time by 2 minutes and qualified for Boston!

I love running downhill, so the course is awesome! The canyon is beautiful and the weather was perfect this year. The out and back on Wasatch is really hard, but I made it!

4/5 Stars

This race will be a real lasting memory. I stuck with the 3:10 pacers as long as I could. I felt like they were friends by the end. They were great. When I fell off the pace at mile 22 they waited at the line for me to finish. That really meant a lot to me.

I did. Fourteen years after my last PR I razored down the time by... 3 seconds!!! Ecstatic about this. I qualified for Boston by over 12 minutes.

Fantastic until mile 19. The out and back took any remaining juice out of my legs and I was just spending minutes from the bank like I'd won the lottery.

Since I'm older and am trying to avoid injury (and because I like it) I do a lot of cross training. I run 3-4 times a week. I do yoga at least once a week. I use leg focused work out videos, and core strength videos.

Run fast at the beginning. I suspect one's legs are going to be fried for the out and back no matter how fast or slow you go down the hills. Take advantage of the reduced cardio portion of the downhill and train your legs beforehand.

We stayed in Park City and enjoyed what it had to offer.