Impressions of the "new" Salt Lake Marathon

[Michael Laputka]

Color me impressed.  Consider that there was no advertising for this race and nothing but negative press, I came away with my expectations exceeded.  For the first time EVER, the half marathon walkers stayed out of the way of the marathoners in the last two miles.  I don't know if it was by luck or design, but I didn't have to yell at at anyone this year, and that's nice.

I can see this racing growing nicely, well done U.S. Road Sports.

Fritz, did you get you 3K yet?

[allie]

i was also impressed with the new race management. everything seemed to go much more smoothly this year -- the start, the well-stocked and well-managed aid stations, the organization at the finish line, and everything else post-race.

i still had a bit of trouble with the half marathon traffic in liberty park and on state street, but i think that was more my fault because i was weaving about and somewhat delirious by that point.

i loved the new finish line -- the straightaway on south temple was so much better than those final few turns into gateway (which always seemed to be too congested). i also liked that they split the finish chute for the half and full marathoners.

considering all of the details they had to take care of in such a short time frame, as well as all the negative press, i'd say they definitely exceeded expectations and proved to the runners and the community that they can turn this race around and really make it a great event for salt lake city. they said registration was down this year, but i think in the next year or two this race will be really big again. the prize purse for both the full and half is pretty darn enticing.

[Jake Krong]

From the perspective of someone who was just watching on Saturday (but paying close attention to everything going on), I was really impressed. The volunteers were great, no organizational snafus, it ran like a well-oiled machine. Post-race area was a great location. Perfect weather, too