If you want to run 26.4 or 13.2 miles, you can sign up for the St. George Marathon. That is a lot of running.

The Month of October

The race is the first weekend of October, and it is a busy place.  Been here twice during the Marathon. Last year, we attended the St. George LDS temple open house. That is where my kids talked about running the half marathon in 2024.

The Marathon

It started at 3:30 AM on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2024. I took my kids to the drop-off spot. This is where they picked up all the race stuff. I had to turn around and get their bags full of stuff.

They did get on the bus and were transported up to the starting line for the half Marathon.  They told me that they would be finished at about noon.

However, we tracked them on the St. George app, and they were having a good time. So we decided to go to the finish line and wait for them. Good thing we did. They were 3 hours ahead of the time they said they would be.

Here I am at 4 AM

Finish Line

We arrived and found a parking spot four blocks from the finish line. I parked and walked to the finish line. My wife found a place before the finish line. I found a spot after the finish line to grab them coming across the line.

They had drinks, food, and snacks for the runners at the finish line.

They had this for the half and the full marathon.

They even offered cold baths for the runners.

They got the following.

Training

You would think training for the half marathon would be a grueling year-long adventure of running and training. It should have been.

They did run a few times in the heat of the summer of 2024. They did go to the gym and such. But I didn’t think they were prepared to run 13. 2 miles. But they did. Yes, it did take them 3 hours to do it. But they did it, and that is what matters.

They ran together to support each other.

Thoughts 

I didn’t run it and have no plans to run one. I can’t complain about the time it took them. I would have been taken to the hospital if I had run it. But they committed, stuck with it, and did it.

My oldest would play a round of disk golf later in the day. However, he sat down and decided that disk golfing wouldn’t happen.  Yes, they were sore, and they could barely walk. But it was worthwhile.