Which northern Utah marathon is the best Boston Marathon Qualifier?

[Michael Laputka]

For sentimental reasons I want to qualify on the Salt Lake Marathon course, I've run this marathon all 6 times.  I've also run TOU and Desnews, but never Ogden.  I've been told that St. George is the best, or easiest to run a qualifying time, but I sure like the convenience of the Salt Lake Marathon or one of the other northern Utah marathons.  I have to shave 12 minutes off of my SL Marathon time to qualify.  Should I consider another course?  From what I understand, St George is difficult to get into, it's hard enough trying to run a qualifying time, but now my head is spinning on which course to attempt a BQ run.  Also, I would appreciate it if you rank the Utah marathons, easiest to hardest.  I haven't mentioned the Park City marathon because I figured that one is too difficult, or so I've heard.  If St George holds a significant advantage, then I'd consider changing my "back yard" mentality.

[Paul Petersen]

Easiest to hardest:
1. St. George
2. Top of Utah
3. Utah Valley
4. Ogden
5. Salt Lake
6. Park City
7. Des News

Not sure about Utah Valley, probably ranks near TOU.

[AndyBrowning]

I agree with Paul's rankings except I would put the Utah Valley marathon at #2.  The course changed this year to what I believe is a faster course except it is now run in June which may slow it down a little.  I also think that Des News is a little faster than Park City even though the course is brutal.  I would guess that St George is 10 minutes faster than the Salt Lake marathon at your pace.  Unfortunately you will have to wait until 2010 if you want to run it because registration is closed for this year.

[Sasha Pachev]

I'll have some info after I run Utah Valley this year. From by initial impression it is going to be similar to Ogden in speed.

[Paul (RivertonPaul)]

Those on Sasha's race predictor are in this order fastest to slowest with St. George 3:30 as base:

St. George 3:30.
TOU 3:36:30
Des News 3:36:30
Salt Lake 3:39:13
Ogden 3:40:36
Park City 3:46:03


Interesting that TOU and Des News are the same on the predictor.

[hmm]

May I ask why Ogden is slower than Salt Lake per the predictor?  The Ogden course seems much easier than Salt Lake (which I recently ran, and will be running Ogden on Saturday).  Just wondering if I should adjust my pacing strategy if Ogden is indeed tougher for some reason.  Incidentally, I've run both the Salt Lake and Ogden half marathons, and had a much better time at Ogden (by 5 minutes).  Both were run the same year.

Thanks!

[Sasha Pachev]

Consistent runners that run both Ogden and Salt Lake have been running a little slower in Ogden. Rolling hills at 5000 altitude are not good in the middle of a marathon, and the downhill comes at the wrong time and is badly distributed. Elevation drop is not everything. In order to be beneficial it needs to happen the right way. Good example is DesNews vs St. George. Desnews drops 3200 feet vs 2600 at St. George. Both courses have significant climbing mid race. But St. George downhill is just laid out better, so it ends up being good 5-7 minutes faster, that much! 

[hmm]

That makes a lot of sense, thank you.  So if my goal is 3:30, is there a particular pacing strategy that you would recommend that would account for the rolling hills in the middle and downhill at the end?

[Josse]

I think it all depends on what kind of runner you are.  I hardly ever run that well at St. G so I would not rank that as number one.  But a lot of people have their fastest time there.  For me I would pick Utah Valley, I like the gentle downhill and thinks it suits me best.  I would try another marathon to see if it is the course or something else is lacking.

[Sasha Pachev]

hmm - see http://fastrunningblog.com/forum/index.php/topic,974.0.html

[hmm]

Thanks, Sasha.