Fast Running Blog

The Prestige Half Marathon (http://www.prestigehalfmarathon.com) is the worlds first half marathon that requires runners to meet time standards based upon age & gender. The standards are tougher than the Boston Marathon Qualifications standards in the younger half of age divisions.  The prize money payout is one of the largest in the country for a half marathon.  The prize money payout for men & women is:
1st: $3,000
2nd: $1,500
3rd: $750
4th: $350
5th: $250

Masters Men/Women Payout is:
1st: $600
2nd: $400
3rd: $300
4th: $200
5th: $150

Total Prize purse of $15,000.  With this being the first year there should be a good opportunity for some locally talented runners to win some decent prize money.

I like the concept and really like the way you organize your races but $120 seems like a lot for a half marathon.

The race is only $19 than Ragnar Relay which costs $100 per runner, and in my opinion they provide very little for runners on the route.  I know that most half marathons cost less than this, but this is not your regular half marathon experience.  This is an exclusive half marathon that has big bragging rights associated with it.  The race won't break even the first year with the police, barricades, marketing, etc.  The entry fees are very reasonable for how expensive it will be to pull this off.  We have a very low cost with Utah Valley Half Marathon, because it is sharing expenses with the marathon that already pays for the fixed costs.  This is a stand alone half marathon that will be a half marathon experience you could not have anywhere else.

Hope you get lots of fast runners, Hyrum- your prize money looks great.  I do have to voice one observation, though.  The first time I ran Boston, I saw some people at the starting line who I had a real hard time believing could run a BQ (i.e. most BQ runners are relatively skinny, wear certain clothes, etc).  I later learned that many of the Boston runners get in through the charity entries, something I had never heard of before.  I will admit that the Boston prestige immediately disappeared for me with that knowledge.

So, if you are advertising this as the "first half marathon that requires all runners to meet time standards"... why allow charity runners?  To me, the word "all" means 100%, not "most of them, plus a few charity runners".  Go all out and really make it exclusive!  ;D  I would never pay $120 for a regular half (esp. when TOU 1/2 is $40).  But for a truly exclusive, very stacked race?  Just maybe.

I can see your point of "all"  I have removed that word from my initial post.  I have heard of people having frustration with Boston for their Charity spots as well.  However, it hasn't stopped that race from selling out last year in less than 8 hours.  Also, I seriously doubt we will have many unqualified athletes in the charity spots.  For one thing we have limited Huntsman Cancer Foundation to 200 spots, and secondly people who claim those spots have to raise a minimum of $1,000 for the charity.  I doubt strongly that there will be a full 200 people that will be willing to do that on this first year.  That is a great fund-raising source for a very important charity. This race is more about people being able to come celebrate their great accomplishments with people of similar talent.  I hope that we can still do a lot of good for a great cause while we have fun with this race, even if that means there is a handfull of unqualified athletes at the event.

It's a good idea Hyrum, and I look forward to it. The U.S. is flooded with half marathons right now (the most popular and fastest-growing running event), so it's nice to see attempts to make something a little different.

By the way, there is no half marathon in the Olympics, although the World Championships have it. Not sure if there is a qualifying time though.

Paul thanks for the clarification with the Olympics.  I should have known that.  The half marathon is so prominent in our society that it seems like that should be part of the Olympics.  We have decided to listen to your pricing concern.  We have elected to drop the pricing by $40.  The early pricing is now $79.  Hopefully this will be a more manageable entry fee for runners.  With the exclusivity we need to still be able to cover the costs, and provide a great experience.  Thanks for all of your feedback.  Running Times has already written an article about our new half marathon.  You can read it at: http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=22349

Hyrum, I'm curious about two things, if you don't mind answering. Will this race be subsidized by the UV HM until it makes a profit? Also, I'm curious why you chose a downhill course?

P.S. I'm surprised to find that my times are (barely) considered prestigious. You just boosted my self esteem. :)

Steve,  those are some good questions & I don't mind answering.  We keep a separate budget for UVHM, and Prestige Half Marathon.  I will give a "loan" from UVHM if necessary, but I am trying to have Prestige become self sufficient in a couple years if possible.  I chose a downhill course for two reasons:

1.  It is what I enjoy running, and if you look at downhill races compared to non-downhill in Utah, the downhill races are almost always larger.
2.  Downhill is usually what you end up with when you start in a canyon, and I think canyon races are the most scenic.

Have you given any thought to turning this into some kind of championship race? For example, Utah half marathon championship. Or western states half marathon championship. U.S. downhill half marathon championship, etc. You could call it that without USATF sanctioning, I would guess. I probably wouldn't turn out to watch a race with a bunch of people trying to scramble for a payday (unless it had the world's elite), but I might if it was to determine a "champion." However, I'm not sure if having spectators is your goal as much as pleasing the elite runners and raising money for charity. I won't go off about my opinion on downhill races, but one challenge with those is that spectators can't watch the race. So again, I guess it all depends on the race's goals.

The Prestige Half Marathon has more difficult qualifying times than the Boston Marathon, but it is not only for the "elite".  I guess it depends on how you define elite, but I estimate that about 8-9 percent of all marathon/half marathon runners are capable of meeting our standards.  That is exclusive, but you don't have to be able to run a 2:30 marathon to run this race.  We try to be enticing to the "elite" with large prize money, but this race is about more than just the elite.  I wanted to create a race that is something new, and a challenge for many people.  There are a lot of people that are right around those BQ times.  I think it is time that we push people a little harder.  I also believe that half marathons are more fun than full marathons.  I have run close to 30 full marathons including Boston (so I have nothing against full marathons), but I thought it would be fun for people to have a goal to shoot for in the half marathon distance like they have in the full.  The race has generated some excitement from across the country from the Running Times article, and it should prove to be a fun and "prestigious" experience.

Hyrum,

Your description says the race will finish at Liberty Park, but the map shows Memory Grove Park.  Which is correct?

--Mark

Sorry about that confussion.  As we were going through the permiting process we had to make some adjustments.  The Map is correct.  I thought we had changed everything, so it helps when people point stuff out to us that we miss.  Thank you. 

Hyrum, you may know already but this HM is not getting very good comments in the RWOL forums (specifically the Marathon Race Training group http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/training/marathon-race-training/exclusivity-hot-trend/.0).  Quite frankly I think some of these comments are warranted.  If UVM is any indication I think this HM is going to be excellent.  However, the main issues with your target audience are:

1. The name is silly.  Whoever adviced you on this name gave you bad advice.
2. Even if you can justify the price with cost data, the price is horribly high for a first year race.
3. Allowing entry through charity spots is not popular with your target audience

I recommend that you at least address items 1 and 2.  But, who knows, maybe you have a vision to overcome those obstacles.  I wish you the best.  As for me, I can qualify for the race but I would never pay that much for an HM.  I also recommend that you post on RWOL, since even the Gansett Marathon RD is badmouthing the Prestige HM.

Thanks for the heads up on the forum at RWOL.  There were many doubters when we started the Utah Valley Marathon.  In fact we only had 120 in the full our first year.  The name, the pricing, and other issues may not sit well with people.  I even saw a post on that forum you sent me to that said they would not travel that far for a half.  Honestly there are going to be a lot of doubters just as there were our first year with UVM.  I am not trying to say that some of the concerns are without merit, but if I took to every doubter with UVM that race wouldn't even exist right now.  People don't quite know what to make of the race right now, because there isn't really anything like it out there.  Boston is similar, but there is no half marathon like this out there.  People complain about almost all the same things that they are complaining about with Prestige (other than the name), except people still run Boston.  I don't expect the field to be huge the first year, but I am confident that those who come out the first year will have an experience worth far more than the $99.  I hope to take an "if you build it they will come" aproach.  It may take time, but I think this race can become one of the biggest running events in the western united states.  It is interesting that many people wish I had easier standards, but that forum you sent me to thinks I should have tougher standards.  The point is that even if there is negative conversation going in many different directions the concept merits conversation.

I just want to say to the critics that I was there with Hyrum at the first Utah Valley before and during the event and I saw the amount of work and determination he put forward to make the Utah Valley Marathon successful for that year and the years to come.  I am sure this one will be also.  Frankly the idea of the event having charity runners doesn't bother me or detract in the least from my own personal goals or achievement in the event.  If that bothers people I would say get over yourself and just run your own race.  As far as price goes, few people really understand the cost and the logistics that are involved with putting one together now.  From what one race director told me it can be absolutely unreal..   

So I've been watching this post and wanted to jump in. First off there is a lot about the race that interests me. The date and type of course are perfect for a warm up race before STG in early October. But unless I missed something what makes this race so much different for a guy like me -other than the steep entry fee (more than a lot of marathons)? Lets say I go up and run the race in 1:09:00. A good time; but with a payout like that it will be well out of the prize money. So for my $100 what more than the normal tech tee will I receive for running a sub 1:10 other than being happy with the time and happy to get out of the St. George heat that time of year? I mean having thousands of slower people behind me doesn't bother me in the least. Plus if there are a lot of them then that is how the race can keep the entry fee down and make money. I don't care about the charity thing. But really how much different will this race be from Hobble Creek or TOU half? Other than the really fast guys will make some good money...

After reading the Runners World Blog about the event we have again reduced the pricing.  We already weren't going to break even at $99, so at $79 I am starting to question the concept.  I think this is a fun race idea and like Utah Valley Marathon I think this race might not be big the first year, but with time would become much larger.  Eventually the race could become financially stable even at $79 with a limited field.  My family, friends, and co-workers at Valpak all think I am crazy to even try this with the huge potential loses, but they all said the same things with the Utah Valley Marathon.  The scary thing is this is a much larger risk without an open field.  Police, barricade, expo halls, etc. do not become cheaper weather I have 100 athletes or 5,000 athletes.  It is certain that the race will lose money in the first year, but I hope it doesn't lose so much that the race can't continue into future years. 

Hyrum, I love your excitement and determination to do this race. We need more RD like you. And as you have said and demonstrated with UVM, there is a lot of demand out there for well-run races, especially half marathons. I hope you can keep expanding on your successes.

But I have to agree with Clyde. I think he hit the nail on the head. I kind of like the excitement of running with large crowds. I think I would enjoy that more than placing near the end (and paying extra for that privilege).

I love to run races on a beautiful course and to have adequate accommodations (aid stations, potties, start on time, medical/police support, etc). Maybe I'm different from most runners, but that's about all I need. I'd love to see more good quality, big races that are inexpensive and don't have t-shirts or SWAG or an expo. In my mind, that's the recipe for having one of the biggest races in the western U.S. But then again, I'm not a successful RD like you, so what do I know?

Hyrum, I am definitely a fan of yours.  You go out of your way to listen to runners' feedback and I believe that it will pay big dividends just like it has with UVM.  I think the price point in the first year of the race is important and if the event is of the level of quality of your other events people will come back big time.  By the way, congrats on selling out UVM so early this year.

You guys have all been great, and have given useful advice.  In order to continue to make Utah Valley Marathon great I have decided to turn the Prestige Half Marathon over to Seth Wold.  I am sure that he will do a great job.  One of his new ideas to make the race more successful is similar to some of what I have seen said here.  He will make it an open field, but have qualified athletes pay about $20 less.  Also qualified athletes will have a different corral and earlier start time.

Qualified athletes should also get there very own POP's at the starting line!

I will pass that along to Seth.

Hyrum, I think this is a good idea. The half marathon is way more popular than the full. One problem that I have racing in Utah is that I never know which half to enter as there are so many. Now I have my answer.