Choosing a first marathon

[Carolyn Herlin]

I've been running for about a year and a half and I'd like to run a marathon next year. It will be my first marathon. I live in Colorado but all of the marathons that I'm aware of here are on Sundays and I don't want to run a Sunday marathon. So I'm looking to Utah because you seem to have Saturday marathons there. I'm wondering what marathons are available on days other than Sunday in Utah and which of them would be a good first marathon.

[Luz]

I'm sure it's a matter of opion based on what you want out of your first marathon experience (like do you want to qualify for Boston, or just have a great "first"?)  Obvioulsy we all love Top of Utah (Logan in Sept) and Saint George (So. Utah in Oct)-- but the Ogden Marathon is easy to get into, and has a good portion of flat in the beginning, and a little downhill on the last half that may make it a good 'first.'  P.S.  We don't even have Sunday races in Utah (well, maybe a few 5&10K's out of Salt Lake-- but probably none of them are serious races). 

[Carolyn Herlin]

I'm just looking for a great first. I don't think BQ is in the cards for me at this point.

[AndyBrowning]

Here is a list of non-Sunday marathons in Utah (these are off the top of my head and I may have missed some).  If I were running my first marathon in the spring I would run Ogden.  If I were to run my first in the fall it would either be Top of Utah or St George.

April - Utah Valley
April - Moab
May - Ogden
July - Des News
August - Park City
September - Provo Marathon
September - Little Grand Canyon (Price)
September - Top of Utah
October - St George

[Jon Allen]

There are no major/established Utah marathons on Sunday that I am aware of.  Of the major road marathons, I would recommend Ogden or Top of Utah- both good courses but the races are not huge.  St. George is also a great race, lots of downhill, but is bigger and has a lottery to get in it.  Many bloggers have done Salt Lake City marathon and Park City marathon, so hopefully they will share their opinions.  I have never done Deseret News but would not recommend it based on what everyone has told me.

Differences- SLC and Ogden are spring, TOU and St. George are fall.  Park City and Des News are summer.
SLC is an urban marathon, while St. George, TOU and Ogden are more rural/canyon.  

If it were me, I would do Ogden in the spring or St George or TOU if you want a fall race, just like Andy recommends.  I'm biased towards TOU over St. George, too, but that's just me.

[Paul (RivertonPaul)]

I agree generally.  If you just want a good experience, you should probably avoid Deseret News, as the staffing and support tends to be the poorest of the major Utah marathons ones.  You can also look at marathonguide.com for options.

[Jose Jimenez]

Having just completed my first marathon just last week I fully reccommend Top of Utah.  Great organization, race directors, course, volunteers, the list goes on.  They do a really good job and the course is beautiful.  I will be doing Ogden in May and I hear that it also is a really good marathon.

[Carolyn Herlin]

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. I think I'll target Ogden. My kids are still in school in May, and so I'll probably have to travel to Utah by myself. I have family there, so it's not really a big deal. Also, I'd like to do the Bolder Boulder just because it's fun and I'd like to make it a tradition (I did it for the first time this year). It's a 10K and I don't really need to run it fast, but it's 9 days after the Ogden marathon. I don't know whether I'll be able to manage the Bolder Boulder at that point.