| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |
| H (°F) | 85 | 101 | 87 | 90 | 86 |
| L (°F) | 56 | 61 | 51 | 54 | 57 |
Basic race swag bag scarce, cold at the top or starting so I took a later bus around 5:30. Beautiful scenery 85% downhill nice finish area park. MORE
Basic race swag bag scarce, cold at the top or starting so I took a later bus around 5:30. Beautiful scenery 85% downhill nice finish area park.
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I ran the Half last year and decided to do the marathon this year. Overall, the course is beautiful, not easy for me given the climbs at elevation, but I … MORE
I ran the Half last year and decided to do the marathon this year. Overall, the course is beautiful, not easy for me given the climbs at elevation, but I was only using it for a training run.
Being from out of town, the expo wasn’t the easiest to find and i almost missed it as I had to go directly there from the airport. Then I asked about gels at the start(forgot mine) and the volunteers said ‘probably’. It was so late I ran around for an hour trying to find some and didn’t. Then at the start they did have them.
At the start, it was cold, and they announced 2 minutes until race time. I properly discarded the heat blanket I brought, but then we heard nothing – and the race actually started 17 minutes late. That’s a long time to wait when you’ve been told 2 minutes with no further updates. There were 6 port-o-potties at the start, which were not enough. Get on the first bus!
I was in no hurry and finished in 5 hours. The course was open for 6 hours. Even so, there is points at the end where you have to cross the road with traffic and about 1/2 mile before getting there I watched the police leave, requiring me to stop and wait for traffic. Not cool.
The volunteers are wonderful. Never short of water, power aid, or gels. The best part of the race!!
The medals are great and the shirt is okay – better last year. The womens runs small – size up.
Overall, a nice marathon, tweaking a few things could make it top notch!!
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Utah (and Runtastic) are known for their wicked fast canyon races--extending our race season through the summer without the penalty of heat. This one was another one where you need … MORE
Utah (and Runtastic) are known for their wicked fast canyon races–extending our race season through the summer without the penalty of heat. This one was another one where you need to be on the bus between 4:30-5:15 for a 6:30 race start. I live in SLC but am a morning wimp so got a hotel in Provo (really the closest you can get and it was still 20min to the bus) which makes morning a little more tolerable. It is pitch black at the top which is just a hair under 8000ft. The grades are steep and there are s-turns in the road so be smart and run the tangents. I was tearing down at a decent clip, along with everyone else before I started having some thinning of the crowds around mile 5ish. The bulk of the run is in the canyon and you don’t get to flats and rollers until mile 9 or so. That’s also the first time you’ll see the sun break over the ridge. Only for a minute though and you’re back in the shade of the trees. The run out to the finish is flat but you can’t see it, there are a couple of turns to make. Don’t slow down, it literally is around 2 turns and you’re there! Great finish food/choc milk/OJ/powerade and as always, incredible medals.
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The marathon was poorly organized. After running the full marathon I was given a half-marathon medal and after registering for a men's medium t shirt, I was given a men's … MORE
The marathon was poorly organized. After running the full marathon I was given a half-marathon medal and after registering for a men’s medium t shirt, I was given a men’s small. I have reached out to get these mistakes fixed, but have heard nothing back…
The course starts out on an uphill and includes at least 2 mile-long significant climbs in the first 10 miles. There's also a 2-mile (or so) out and back section … MORE
The course starts out on an uphill and includes at least 2 mile-long significant climbs in the first 10 miles. There’s also a 2-mile (or so) out and back section (which I think is fun because I love cheering on runner’s around me) that was on a gravel road- the only flat on the entire course. The final 16 miles are all downhill (of varying degrees of steepness). It was the toughest course I’ve ever run and all the marathoners I spoke with agreed.
However, the race organizers do a great job with this race! The shirts are gender-specific and a very attractive cut! They are cotton (because what marathoner needs yet another tech shirt?) so I wear it around and always get compliments (I own several of their race shirts- all soft and attractive). The medals are well designed and heavy! They have great age group medals as well that compliment the finisher’s medal. Other perks include free massages at the finish, free race photos (on course and after), instant results, and above average finish line food (pizza, creamies, popscicles, cookies, chocolate milk and the standard bananas and oranges). Each race put on by this race company has it’s own theme to it (this one is the maple leaf). The shirt and the medals and everything else from the start to the finish line carry the theme throughout the race.
It is a very scenic course. We started before sunrise and as the sun was starting to color the sky we were running along a ridge and about 20 runners took out their phones to take a picture of the runners silhouetted in front of the sunrise. The race starts at the top of Payson Canyon so you have to take the race bus to the start. The busses for the marathoners were the really nice chartered busses, while the half marathoners rode school busses. 😀 We only had to wait about 30 minutes at the top of the canyon for the race to start- just enough time to use the porta-potties and make last minute adjustments and check your gear bag. I was impressed at the timing of it! Usually when a race starts at the top of a canyon you might have to wait up to 2 hours for the race to start!
I’d recommend any race put on by Runtastic (the race company). If you choose to do this one, train on hills! As brutal as it was, it was my marathon PR thanks in large part to all the downhill, but I have never felt so beat up by a race either. 😉
I didn't plan to PR this race but it happened easily even with holding back during the first 2 miles. It's a screaming fast downhill course through a beautiful canyon. … MORE
I didn’t plan to PR this race but it happened easily even with holding back during the first 2 miles. It’s a screaming fast downhill course through a beautiful canyon. Even though it takes place at the end of August, it starts early enough and at a high enough altitude that I never got hot. The race shirt is one of my favorites- soft cotton and no ads, just a maple leaf and the name of the race. I wear it all the time. Free massages at the end and a PR bell to ring and free race photos are my favorite kind of swag!
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Fast and Fabulous
Basic race swag bag scarce, cold at the top or starting so I took a later bus around 5:30. Beautiful scenery 85% downhill nice finish area park. MORE
Basic race swag bag scarce, cold at the top or starting so I took a later bus around 5:30. Beautiful scenery 85% downhill nice finish area park.
Nice course, a few things to fix!
I ran the Half last year and decided to do the marathon this year. Overall, the course is beautiful, not easy for me given the climbs at elevation, but I … MORE
I ran the Half last year and decided to do the marathon this year. Overall, the course is beautiful, not easy for me given the climbs at elevation, but I was only using it for a training run.
Being from out of town, the expo wasn’t the easiest to find and i almost missed it as I had to go directly there from the airport. Then I asked about gels at the start(forgot mine) and the volunteers said ‘probably’. It was so late I ran around for an hour trying to find some and didn’t. Then at the start they did have them.
At the start, it was cold, and they announced 2 minutes until race time. I properly discarded the heat blanket I brought, but then we heard nothing – and the race actually started 17 minutes late. That’s a long time to wait when you’ve been told 2 minutes with no further updates. There were 6 port-o-potties at the start, which were not enough. Get on the first bus!
I was in no hurry and finished in 5 hours. The course was open for 6 hours. Even so, there is points at the end where you have to cross the road with traffic and about 1/2 mile before getting there I watched the police leave, requiring me to stop and wait for traffic. Not cool.
The volunteers are wonderful. Never short of water, power aid, or gels. The best part of the race!!
The medals are great and the shirt is okay – better last year. The womens runs small – size up.
Overall, a nice marathon, tweaking a few things could make it top notch!!
Gorgeous canyon run with cool bling
Utah (and Runtastic) are known for their wicked fast canyon races--extending our race season through the summer without the penalty of heat. This one was another one where you need … MORE
Utah (and Runtastic) are known for their wicked fast canyon races–extending our race season through the summer without the penalty of heat. This one was another one where you need to be on the bus between 4:30-5:15 for a 6:30 race start. I live in SLC but am a morning wimp so got a hotel in Provo (really the closest you can get and it was still 20min to the bus) which makes morning a little more tolerable. It is pitch black at the top which is just a hair under 8000ft. The grades are steep and there are s-turns in the road so be smart and run the tangents. I was tearing down at a decent clip, along with everyone else before I started having some thinning of the crowds around mile 5ish. The bulk of the run is in the canyon and you don’t get to flats and rollers until mile 9 or so. That’s also the first time you’ll see the sun break over the ridge. Only for a minute though and you’re back in the shade of the trees. The run out to the finish is flat but you can’t see it, there are a couple of turns to make. Don’t slow down, it literally is around 2 turns and you’re there! Great finish food/choc milk/OJ/powerade and as always, incredible medals.
Lack of attention to detail
The marathon was poorly organized. After running the full marathon I was given a half-marathon medal and after registering for a men's medium t shirt, I was given a men's … MORE
The marathon was poorly organized. After running the full marathon I was given a half-marathon medal and after registering for a men’s medium t shirt, I was given a men’s small. I have reached out to get these mistakes fixed, but have heard nothing back…
Brutal course, but 2 thumbs up!
The course starts out on an uphill and includes at least 2 mile-long significant climbs in the first 10 miles. There's also a 2-mile (or so) out and back section … MORE
The course starts out on an uphill and includes at least 2 mile-long significant climbs in the first 10 miles. There’s also a 2-mile (or so) out and back section (which I think is fun because I love cheering on runner’s around me) that was on a gravel road- the only flat on the entire course. The final 16 miles are all downhill (of varying degrees of steepness). It was the toughest course I’ve ever run and all the marathoners I spoke with agreed.
However, the race organizers do a great job with this race! The shirts are gender-specific and a very attractive cut! They are cotton (because what marathoner needs yet another tech shirt?) so I wear it around and always get compliments (I own several of their race shirts- all soft and attractive). The medals are well designed and heavy! They have great age group medals as well that compliment the finisher’s medal. Other perks include free massages at the finish, free race photos (on course and after), instant results, and above average finish line food (pizza, creamies, popscicles, cookies, chocolate milk and the standard bananas and oranges). Each race put on by this race company has it’s own theme to it (this one is the maple leaf). The shirt and the medals and everything else from the start to the finish line carry the theme throughout the race.
It is a very scenic course. We started before sunrise and as the sun was starting to color the sky we were running along a ridge and about 20 runners took out their phones to take a picture of the runners silhouetted in front of the sunrise. The race starts at the top of Payson Canyon so you have to take the race bus to the start. The busses for the marathoners were the really nice chartered busses, while the half marathoners rode school busses. 😀 We only had to wait about 30 minutes at the top of the canyon for the race to start- just enough time to use the porta-potties and make last minute adjustments and check your gear bag. I was impressed at the timing of it! Usually when a race starts at the top of a canyon you might have to wait up to 2 hours for the race to start!
I’d recommend any race put on by Runtastic (the race company). If you choose to do this one, train on hills! As brutal as it was, it was my marathon PR thanks in large part to all the downhill, but I have never felt so beat up by a race either. 😉
Beautiful canyon run
I didn't plan to PR this race but it happened easily even with holding back during the first 2 miles. It's a screaming fast downhill course through a beautiful canyon. … MORE
I didn’t plan to PR this race but it happened easily even with holding back during the first 2 miles. It’s a screaming fast downhill course through a beautiful canyon. Even though it takes place at the end of August, it starts early enough and at a high enough altitude that I never got hot. The race shirt is one of my favorites- soft cotton and no ads, just a maple leaf and the name of the race. I wear it all the time. Free massages at the end and a PR bell to ring and free race photos are my favorite kind of swag!