Fast Running Blog

I know this sounds crazy, but I was able to gather the results for every St. George Marathon, from 1977 to last year, and was able to compile a list of the top 1000 times for both men and for women.  So, top 1000 men's times, and top 1000 women's times.  To make the list for men,  the time was 2:40:33, and for women, 3:13:48.
The most difficult part of this list was finding the results!  The city Marathon offices were very helpful, but actually didn't have the results from 1978 and 1979.  I was able to track down a copy, and will be giving the City a copy. 
What I thought was most amazing, is that there is a MALE runner that actually has a time from EVERY decade in the top 1000, so he has a time in the 1970's, 80's, 90's and 2000's.....
Do you have any guesses on who that might be?

Cheers
Mike

I'm going to guess... Russ Bennett.  Am I right?

You are correct.  Russell Bennett finished in 9th place in 1979 as a 19 yr old, running a  2.40.22.  Russ eventually ran a PR of 2.27.29 in 1994, but also, at the age of 41, in 2001, ran 2:34.29, giving him a top 1000 time in each decade.

It is incredible to report that Russ Bennett has an astounding 19 times in the top 1000, the next most by an individual male runner is 13 times in the top 1000.   The St. George marathon has a "10 year club", but Russ would lead the way in a different "Ten Year Club" of runners with at least 10 times in the top 1000.  Total population of that "club" is only 6 Male runners.  I haven't totaled the Women side just yet.

And yes, i do have a job and a life, but i found this very interesting.


I learned quite a few interesting facts, maybe I can share a few.

cheers
Mike

I only know that because I work with Russ, and know he is in the 25 year club, or something like that.  I also know he was very fast, and still is a top finisher.  He's a good guy.  Pretty impressive SGM accolades.

So Mike, have you posted the list somewhere?
I guess this is the kind of thing you do in the summer when you live in St. George and Vegas - you can't get out and do anything!

Yes, Dave, when it is 113 degrees outside, I compile lists.  And I guess this is my latest.  As for you, your best time of 2:26:52 in 2007 lands you #218 on the list.  Interestingly, you also have the 4th fastest time for a runner that lists Washington County as their hometown.  3 of those 4 fastest times were also done in 2007, with Nick McCombs of Toquerville running a 2:20:49, the 52nd fastest time, and of course, Clyde Behunin of St. George, running a 2:25:50, for #184 on the list.
The other runner in the top 4 from Washington County was in 2001, when Hobie Call of LaVerkin, ran the 166th fastest time, 2:25:07.
On the results sheets, it lists hometowns, but in 1980, 81 and 82, it didn't list a hometown, but they had a "mark" if it was a local runner, so my note above should be correct.

And no, I have not posted it anywhere, i just finished it last week, and I am not sure where to post it. 

I am currently trying to rank the top 50 "legendary" runners, in order, based on my extremely scientific research, that participated in the St. George Marathon.  It would combine performance of the runners, of course, along with some longevity stats thrown in.   I am just not sure anyone cares other than me. :)

I think it is pretty cool stuff too!

Those are interesting stats!  Don't worry, there are more than one of us bloggers who are OCD enough to find "useless" trivia like this interesting.  One day I'm going to have to break into that Top 1000...

Here is another interesting stat. 
On the Men's side, the 1990's and 1980's dominated the times in the top 1000.  The most times in the top 1000 actually came from the 1980's, with 383 places.   The 1990's had 375 places, and the decade beginning in 2000 only had 226 spots, with the 1970's having the remaining 16.   The 5 year period with the most places was 1991-1995, but then in the latter half of the '90s, it very much tailed off.   The year with the most spots was 1995 with 60.  That was my first year running in the St. George marathon, and I do remember cool temps, and a big increase in runners, as that was the year that Runners World Magazine came out with an article that St. George is the best marathon to qualify for Boston.   That year also included many high level runners trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials.
On the Women's side, a much different story.  The 2000's totally dominated, with 467 spots in the top 1000, followed by the 90's with 354, the 80's with only 178, and the 1970's had 3 spots in the top 1000 (and yes, that adds up to 1002, we have a tie for 1000th spot).   The greatest 5 year period for the Women is the current period, from 2005-2009, and 2007 had the most from 1 year, with 70!  2007 was also an Olympic qualifying year, had cool cloudy weather, and a slight tailwind.
Cheers
Mike

If you email it to me, I can post it on my website.

Paul, I am still reviewing the list, catching a few errors.

Your 2nd place time in 2007 of 2.18.09 was the 16th fastest time in the history of the St. George marathon, in fact, only 5 runners in the 33 year history ran a faster time than you did, but did not win the race.   Your time would have WON the St. George marathon in 23 of the 33 years, quite impressive.
Cheers
Mike

Awesome job Mike. I'm loving all the cool facts.

Hey Thanks Clyde, and you own 3 times in the top 1000, #184, #357, and #649.

How about this fact:
There was a runner in the St. George marathon that ran a very fast time, in fact, the #10 all time fastest time, 2:17:19, by the name of Brian Larson.  It is amazing that of the tens of thousands of runners that have toed the line up in Central, Mr. Larson ran the 10th fastest, a time that would have won 25 of the 33 marathons......but.......not only did he not win, with the 10th fastest time ever, he didn't even take 2nd place!!  In 1991, Brian finished 3rd, behind Tracy Fifeld and David Petersen, in easily the fastest 1-2-3 ever in the race.  This was the 3rd time that Brian had run the marathon in St. George, running 2:19:30 to finish 6th in 1987, and then finished 2nd in 1989 in 2:22:24.

Another stat.....When considering the breakdown of the top 1000, there are 309 different MALE runners that have 1 time in the top 1000.  108 have two times, 47 have 3 times (such as Clyde noted above), 16 have 4 times, 7 runners have 5 times in the top 1000, 6 have 6 times, 5 have 7 times, 9 runners have 8 times in the top 1000, 2 runners have 9 times, 3 have 10 times in the top 1000, and then....Ronald Greenwood has 12 times in the top 1000, Brad Hardy has 13 times in the top 1000, and as mentioned before, Russell Bennett has an amazing 19 times in the top 1000.
Much different for the women......for their top 1000, 423 different FEMALES have only 1 time in the top 1000, 98 have 2 times, 44 have 3 times,  eighteen females have 4 times, 12 have 5 times, 6 have 6 times in the top 1000, 2 have 7 times, 3 have 8 times, and then, Alydia Barton and Kerilyn Hatch each have 9 times in the top 1000, Brenda Graham Gray has 12 times, and finally, the legendary Cheryl Harper has 15 times in the top 1000.


Of Course, this is all leading to the eventually unveiling of the top 50 Male and top 50 Female All - Time St. George Marathon runners based upon my extremely scientific research   ;).   I am just debating on whether to run it by the City Staff to give it an air of respectability.  Although, they would probably look at me and roll their eyes.....

Mike, we could get you in touch with our buddy Aaron (who works at the city with the races) and maybe he cold give Kent a push to do something cool with it.

Hey Dave, that is a good idea, I know Aaron Metler a bit, but not as well as you do, and you probably see him much more than i do.  I believe he initially is aware of what I was doing with the top 1000 list, as he was my contact to get me in to see Carlene at the city offices to get the other marathon results.
Thanks
Mike

Looking forward to seeing the posting. It would be nice if the race directors took advantage of your work. I would not suspect that it would require much server space to include all the results much less your interesting analysis...

Pretty cool stats, man do you have some time on your hands! 

Well, jtshad, do i have time on my hands?  ......well, not really.  But, what I do have is a belief that the St. George marathon is really one of the best marathons in the US, and, now that it is on its 34th year, is starting to have some historical perspective.  I wonder if there is any recorded race recaps from prior years, probably not, except in brief articles in the local paper.
I decided to look at the results from different angles, and found some interesting stats that I decided to share.
I am also very close to finishing the top 50.  I have the top 30 done, and am trying to strip away another 15 runners of the 35 I still have ranked to come to 50.  Soon to come....

Another interesting fact.......Here are the fastest times for each place in the race on the Mens side.  For example, the "fastest" 6th place time in the history of the St. George marathon is Brian Larson, who finished 6th place in 1987 in 2.19.30, no one that ever finished in 6th place in the St. George marathon had a quicker time than his that year.

Here are the rest.
Of course 1st place is a tie between Criss James ('87) and Paul Cummings ('81) in 2.15.16.
2nd  David Peterson ('91) in 2.17.13.
3rd  Brian Larson   ('91)  in 2.17.19
4th  Fernando Vazquez  ('87) in 2.18.56
5th  Chris Schallert ('87) in 2.19.08
6th  Brian Larson ('87) in 2.19.30
7th  Stan Holman ('95) in 2.19.54
8th  Christopher Morlan ('95) in 2.20.40
9th  Matt Messner ('95) in 2.20.59
10th  Phil Olsen ('95) in 2.21.33
11th  Travis Grappo ('95) in 2.21.54
12th  Ken O'Brien   ('95) in 2.22.00
13th  Gordon Hyde ('95) in 2.22.27
14th  Gus Hermes  ('95) in 2.22.39
15th  Eric Peters  ('95) in 2.23.35
16th  Taha Mahmood  ('95) in 2.23.55
17th  Paul Okerberg  ('95) in 2.23.59
18th  Michael Cahill  ('95) in 2.24.28
19th  David Ronco  ('95) in 2.24.50
20th Deron Scott  ('95) in 2.25.22

Interesting list. So what was up with all the fast times in 1995? More than 1/2 the list came from that year.

Something was obviously in the water in '95. Well, either that, or it was the final race before the '96 Olympic Trials window closed.

The 95 race was my first marathon.  I remember it being very cold at the start, I have run 11 St. George marathons, and this was the coldest, so that had to help running conditions.  Also, the 96 Olympic trials brought out some great runners.  Additionally, Runners World had an article before the marathon documenting how fast St. George was, the main intention was to qualify for #100 Boston, but it also resulted in Trials competitors putting the marathon in St. George on their radar screen.

How about this new stat.....

Winning Time difference as compared to 2nd place.
For the 33 marathons, on the mens side, the average time difference between 1st place and 2nd place is 2 mins 33 secs.   That difference has come down each decade, with the 70's the biggest difference, the average was 4 mins 27 secs, the 80's, 2m29secs, the 90's 2m24 secs, and the 00's, 2m13secs.  There has only been SIX marathons that had a time difference between #1 and #2 under 60 secs.  The closest race was in 2003, when Trevor Pettingill beat Ken Pliska by a mere 13 seconds.   The largest difference was 1977, when Steve Naylor beat Tom Hensley by 9 mins and 3 secs.

On the womens side, the average time difference between 1st place and 2nd place is much larger, 4 mins 21 secs.   That difference has drastically come down each decade, with the 70's the biggest difference, the average was 15 mins 51 secs, the 80's, 4m33secs, the 90's 2m 2 secs, and the 00's, 3m 1sec.  There has only been SEVEN marathons that had a time difference between #1 and #2 under 60 secs, although all seven have been since 1996, so in the last 14 marathons, 7 under and 7 over 60 secs.  The closest race was in 2002, when 3 time winner, Kayoko Nomura beat Karen Steen by only 4 seconds.   The largest difference was 1978, when Jane Wipf beat the runnerup by 19 mins and 24 secs.

That 95' race looks like one for the record books. Pretty loaded. I thought my 2007 2:25 and 13th place was bad.
Again Great work Mike. This is fun for us STG guys to see.

Hey Clyde

It has been entertaining to look at this race from a different perspective.  You made a comment about it being fun for the STG guys, but as i have looked at these results, the race has been dominated by No. Utah runners.

I now have what I think are the 50 greatest male runners in the history of the St. George Marathon.  I let the city marathon staff know, to see if they have interest, if not, i will start to post the listing.  Interestingly, from the top 50, 32 are from Utah, 6 from California, 2 from Massachusetts and Oregon, and then 1 each from Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Minnesota, Washington, Colorado, and then one from Japan.  With the 32 from Utah, I don't believe any of them are anywhere near So. Utah, 13 are from Salt Lake City, 7 from Provo/Orem, and then the rest of the cities appear to be around the SLC/Provo area.
Mike

Ok, starting tomorrow, I will post the top 50 Male Performers in the St. George marathon.  I will list 5 per day and detail some of the stats that made their involvement in the race impressive.
The listing is loosely based on the following:

1.  Speed - based on rank in the top 1000.
2.  Performance - How many times they finished in the top 10 of the race, and top 5 of the Masters race for each particular year.
3.  Longevity -  The more years that they did well, the increase in their "resume" which will influence the ranking.

Now remember, when the rankings come out, I am not insinuating that a runner ranked ahead of another means that they are a better runner, I am basing it on the overall performance in the St. George Marathon through the years.   If it is was just to be based on talent which is based on speed, the ranking is easy, #1 is whoever ran the marathon the fastest (2:15:16 tie between Criss James and Paul Cummings).  This list will be about the 3 items listed above.
Mike

Mike - would like to host that list on the Fast Running Blog. E-mail it to me to sasha at asksasha dot com. Or if you want I can give you a directory that you can update from time to time on the Fast Running Blog. We can call it Mike's corner or something.

Ok, I will write you an email.
thanks

When it is up and running, put a comment in this thread so we get notification.
Thank you.

Yesterday I met with the St. George Marathon race director Kent Perkins, and he was very interested in the info that I have, so he will be utilizing it in some manner.