RunRace USA › Utah › St. George
The complete, course-first guide
St. George
Saturday, October 3, 2026 · 7:00 a.m.
Pine Valley Mountains near Central, Utah, at roughly 5,240 ft elevation; runners reach it only by the official buses from Vernon Worthen Park
The race in 60 seconds
First run in 1977, St. George has had time to become part of the city's running calendar. The marathon is a true point-to-point: its finish sits about 22.1 miles from the start as the crow flies. The modeled line carries about 644 feet of total climb and ranges from roughly 2678 to 5238 feet above sea level. The elevation profile calls out Veyo Hill so the defining work is visible before race morning. Look for The Advenire Hotel (City View block), St. George Tabernacle, St. George Utah Temple, Dixie Sun Bowl in the flyover, with recognizable forms modeled from architectural records.
Fly the course
The whole course, built from the best available published route trace and an extruded model of St. George. Scrub it, change the camera, or let it play. Nothing here is a video: it is drawing the city live.
Route statusCurrent community course trace cross-checked against the published route. GET https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16967594.json loads: name 'UT - St. George Marathon (SGM) - 26.2 miles', 42,555 m (26.44 mi), 3,212 track points, ~903 m descent. Start 37.4208,-113.6313 (SR-18 at Central) and finish 37.1032,-113.5752 (Vernon Worthen Park) match the 2024 goandrace GPX and the official 2026 finish-area logistics, so it traces the current course.
The route line uses the best published course trace available. Public-domain USGS and USDA aerial photography plus USGS 3DEP elevation are baked into RunRace USA, so the flyover makes no paid map API or third-party runtime requests. Buildings, roads, parks and water use OpenStreetMap, ODbL. This is photographic terrain with modeled architecture, not photogrammetry. Bridge approaches, elevations and facade details are approximations; the organizer's published route remains the reference.
The elevation profile
This Marathon profile covers 26.2 miles, ranges from roughly 2678 to 5238 feet, and contains about 644 feet of modeled climb.
- Veyo Hill, mile 7.29 to 8.4: 216 feet up, about a mile of climbing starting at mile 7, the one real uphill on a net-downhill course.
- , mile 9.26 to 11.03: 114 feet up, 1.2% average.
- , mile 1.45 to 1.82: 36 feet up, 1.9% average.
The route at a glance
Gold is the selected modeled course; route provenance is stated beside the flyover.
Race-week weather, measured
At the start line, September 29-October 7 averaged a low of 51°F and a high of 72°F across 2016-2025. The same window reached 89°F at its warmest and 38°F at its coldest. Measurable rain appeared on about 16% of sampled days. Treat the range, not just the average, as the packing list.
Pace it by effort
The profile and grade strip come from the same route currently loaded in the flyover. Use even pace as a baseline, then protect effort on the highlighted climbs and exposed sections.
| Finish | Even pace | Halfway |
|---|---|---|
| 3:00 | 6:52 /mi | 1:30 |
| 3:30 | 8:01 /mi | 1:45 |
| 4:00 | 9:09 /mi | 2:00 |
| 4:30 | 10:18 /mi | 2:15 |
| 5:00 | 11:27 /mi | 2:30 |
| Published course limit, 7:15 | 16:35 /mi | 3:37 |
Build your race weekend
The course
Live 3D flyover, synchronized elevation, route map, mile-by-mile shape and local landmarks.
Where to stay
22 mapped places to stay, compared by the endpoint that matters.
Expo and logistics
Packet pickup, the published weekend schedule, transit, parking and current entry tiers.
Spectators
Route-aware viewing anchors and a plan that respects the actual course geography.
The weekend
A city guide built around the places modeled beside the course.
Official race site
The organizer's current dates, entry details and late course notices.
Common questions
Is there a lottery for St. George?
Not any more. The race ran a lottery from 2006 through the 2016 edition, then dropped it starting with the 2017 race, so entry today is simply first-come, first-served. For 2026 registration opened April 1 at 6:00 a.m. Mountain time through the Haku platform and stays open until the field fills or August 31, whichever arrives first. If you have read an older blog post telling you to enter a drawing in the winter, that advice is a decade out of date.
How many entries are there, and how fast does it sell out?
The race's own pages disagree, and you should know that before you plan. The registration policies page lists caps of 6,000 marathon, 3,000 half marathon and 500 5K entries, while the registration page lists 5,000 marathon, 2,000 half and 1,000 5K. Neither page states a historical sell-out date. Treat the smaller numbers as the safe assumption and register in the April window rather than gambling on July still being open.
Is there any way to get a guaranteed spot?
Yes, through the Legacy Club. Runners who have completed ten or more St. George marathons are guaranteed an entry as long as they register by May 31, regardless of whether the field has filled. The Legacy discount is also tied to that same May 31 date, and it applies to the marathon only, not to the half or the 5K.
What is the actual time limit?
There are two clocks, not one. You must reach the corner of Snow Canyon Parkway and S.R. 18, which is mile 23.1, by 1:15 p.m., which is six hours and fifteen minutes after the 7:00 a.m. start. The finish line itself closes at 2:15 p.m., a shade over seven hours. That means the hard work is front-loaded: you need roughly a 16:15 per mile average through 23.1 miles, and then you get an hour for the last three.
What happens if I miss the mile 23.1 cutoff?
You are removed from the course and driven to the finish. The race does not let you continue on foot past Snow Canyon Parkway once the cutoff passes, because the roads reopen behind you. Plan your pacing around that checkpoint specifically rather than around the seven-hour finish number, since the finish-line closing time is generous relative to the mile 23 gate.
Do I have to take the bus to the start?
Effectively yes. This is a point-to-point course that starts high in the Pine Valley Mountains near Central and finishes about 2,600 feet lower in St. George, and there is no spectator parking or drop-off arrangement published for the start. Buses load at Vernon Worthen Park, 250 S 400 E, which is also the finish area, so you park once in downtown St. George and get returned to your car on foot at the end.
What time do the buses load?
Check your own confirmation, because the official site gives two different windows. The marathon information page says buses load from 3:45 a.m. to 5:15 a.m., while the course maps page says 3:30 a.m. to 5:20 a.m. Runners are assigned a boarding time within that window. The conservative read is to be at Vernon Worthen Park by 3:45 a.m. and not to rely on the later end of either range.
What if I oversleep and miss the bus?
There is no published contingency, and this is the single most expensive mistake at St. George. The last bus leaves somewhere between 5:15 and 5:20 a.m. depending on which page you read, the start is a long drive up into the mountains, and the roads are closed for the race. Missing the bus means missing the race. Set two alarms and stay within walking distance of the park if you can.
How does gear check work?
You pick up an official drop bag at the expo and stick your bib sticker on the bottom of it. On race morning you hand the bag into the U-Haul truck at the start line by 6:50 a.m., ten minutes before the gun, and it travels down to the finish. Bags can be collected at the finish until 2:00 p.m. After that they move to the St. George Recreation Center, where they can be retrieved Saturday from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Note that the gear-check deadline is earlier than the finish-line cutoff. What does that mean for slow runners?
It means the bag truck at the finish shuts at 2:00 p.m. while the finish line stays open until 2:15 p.m. If you are running near the limit, arrange for someone to collect your bag or plan on the Saturday afternoon Recreation Center window, because you may cross the line after the truck has closed.
Can I have someone pace me, or run with a stroller?
No on both counts. Being paced by anyone who is not a registered participant is prohibited, and the race bans baby strollers, bicycles, roller blades and skates, motorcycles and personal support vehicles from the course. A friend jumping in at mile 20 to carry you home is a rules violation, not a favor.
Can I transfer my bib to a friend if I get injured?
Only through the official process. A transfer costs $25 from April 1 through August 31 and $50 from September 1 to 15, and the policies page also states a September 1 completion deadline, so the September 1-15 pricing and that deadline appear to contradict each other. Handing your bib to someone informally is treated harshly: bibs are non-transferable, and an unauthorized swap disqualifies both runners and earns a two-year ban.
Can I get my money back or roll my entry to next year?
No refunds, with one exception. All entry fees are non-refundable in line with industry practice, and the only carve-out is for active military personnel on deployment who can produce their orders. What you can do instead is defer: $25 before September 1, or $50 from September 1 through race day on October 3. A deferral buys you a complimentary entry the following year and stays valid for two years.
Is this course really as easy as its reputation?
It is fast but it is not flat. The course drops roughly 2,600 feet from about 5,240 feet at the start to about 2,680 feet at Vernon Worthen Park, which makes it a well-known Boston-qualifying option. The catch is Veyo Hill, a climb of about 216 feet between miles 7.28 and 8.4, followed by another 114 feet of gain from mile 9.26 to 11.03. Runners who spend the downhill first six miles banking time usually pay for it on Veyo.
What is the prize and awards setup?
The race carries a $100,000 prize purse for the overall top ten men and top ten women, with plaques for the first three finishers in each age division. There is also a Desert Double bonus medal for runners who complete a qualifying pairing of events. The awards ceremony is listed at 11:00 a.m., which is before many mid-pack runners will have finished.
Register for the 2026 St. George →on Haku
Course geometry provenance is stated beside the player; elevation profiles always use the same route loaded there. City geometry is OpenStreetMap, ODbL. Aerial imagery is from USGS and USDA; other images carry their own source credits. Weather figures use Open-Meteo reanalysis for September 29-October 7 across 2016-2025 at the start line. Schedule, prices and expo hours were checked in 2026-08-26 and are the fields most likely to move: confirm them on www.stgeorgemarathon.com before you book anything. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it fast.