Is St.George(UT) Marathon Okay for Olympic Trials?

Yes the St. George marathon is an olympic trials qualifier. There are very few runners under 2:20. The course can be fast if you train for the long downhills. The first 12 miles are rolling, but there is a moderate net drop. The next 7 miles can be an uncomfortable downhill grade if you are not used to it, or if you have knee or quad problems. There is a slight uphill at 19 followed by 3-4 more miles of gradual downhill and the last few miles are flat.

Hopefully a sub-2:20 guy will post on whether it is wise to run such a course to go for that time. I came from San Diego and did not have any problem with the altitude. The air was very dry, which in my opinion makes it easier to breathe. However, the year I did it, the temperature warmed up quickly to 80 degrees F after 2 hours of racing.

Hope this helps

is vegas legal for oly trials times?

I remember that St. George was a qualifier for the 1992 Oly Trials, and a number of guys ran sub-2:20 (which was the only qualifying time back then) at St. George to squeeze into the Trials. (Personally, I don't view it as a legitimate marathon, but I guess that's a different topic.) I would train for it with a lot of downhill running to get the quads conditioned for the eccentric contractions. I probably wouldn't worry much about the altitude.

Boston, given it's net downhill, should also not be considered a "real" marathon.

BillyRog

yeah, but Boston doesn't have a net elevation loss of over 2000 ft.

that seems like such a crazy dropoff from start to finish. i guess it's just like any other marathon, you just have to prepare for it a little different.

thanks for the info, i figured since it was certified it should be okay. I noticed that the USATF site has the 2:18 guy listed. Congrats to him, apologize for not remembering the name.

Tucson is about the same 2200ft+ drop. In 1998 my friend ran 2:21 to get in and at Boston and Chicago with the same training ran 2:27 both times. Do long runs down hill.

uphills, too. it doesn't look like much, but that monster from 7.25 - 8 took a mighty toll on my quads. i was past 10 before they loosened up again ...

Yes, LV is legit for Oly Trials qualifying.

Yes, St. George is a legit Olympic qualifier. Another down hill course that is legit is the Steamtown Marathon in PA with almost a 1000 ft drop and you don't have to worry about altitude problems. This year had 2 B qualifiers there.

St. George is the single most used course to get qualifiers for Boston. Notice that the winner is age 37.

1 APODACA, FILOMENO M LAS CRUCOS NM 88001 2 02:16:25 02:16:25 37 M 5:12.2 1 1

2 MOORE, CURTIS RIVERTON UT 84065 1 02:18:48 02:18:48 25 M 5:17.7 2 1

3 LANDER, JAMES E MCKEAN PA 16426 7 02:22:24 02:22:24 23 M 5:25.9 3 1

4 STROHMAN, WAYNE LENEXA KS 66219 4 02:23:01 02:23:01 31 M 5:27.3 4 1

5 PLISKA, KEN MARBLEHEAD MA 1945 16 02:23:11 02:23:10 37 M 5:27.7 5 2

6 HENLEY, JERRY D ALPINE UT 84004 8 02:23:20 02:23:20 43 M 5:28.1 6 1

7 HARMER, MATTHEW SLC UT 84109 28 02:23:30 02:23:30 30 M 5:28.5 7 2

8 HALFE-RTY, DAVID TOPEKA KS 66606 9 02:24:59 02:24:58 34 M 5:31.8 8 3

9 JONES, TIMOTHY D LOVELAND CO 80537-4443 10 02:25:02 02:25:02 41 M 5:32.0 9 2

10 PETTINGILL, TREVOR W SLC UT 84102 21 02:26:38 02:26:38 26 M 5:35.6 10 2

Also note that 6th place Jerry Henley is 43. Running 2:23:30 at 43 is pretty good.