I have written many times about the St. George Marathon and what a great experience it was! It was an incredibly well-run event that totally exceeded my expectations. I highly encourage all marathoners to take a stab at running it!
They do use a lottery system, however. I wrote about when the lottery was going to open and when the lottery was going to close. Well, the results are in and will be posted tonight at 5PM (MDT) here.
There are somethings that you can do before the results are posted if you had entered.
Buy/Redeem Your Airline Tickets
If you will be departing from a US airport, you get 24 hours to cancel your ticket risk free. This means that you should try now to see what deals are available, especially if you plan on flying into St. George, because people will start buying tickets once they know they are in.
If you do not end up getting in, you can go ahead and cancel your reservation right away (make sure you do it before the 24 hours is up!). BUT, if you did make it in, you now have your seat while everyone else is searching for a good deal. Trust me, the seats fill up fast after the lottery results!
Book Your Hotel
I have mentioned before that the best hotel (with proximity to the expo/dinner) is the Hilton Garden Inn. While they do not currently show any rooms available (but had until recently), other hotels in the area do have availability. Grab them now! You can even get some as award nights! Since hotels have very generous cancellation policies (for the most part, unless it is Advance Purchase rates), you can reserve now and cancel if you find you were not accepted. You will be very happy later if you go ahead and reserve now before the flood of runners start booking later tonight/tomorrow.
Good Luck, Runners!
Hopefully, all of you that entered the lottery get in! If not, there is always next year! If you did get in, have a great time training and remember to train for the downhills. They can help you with a fast time if you are prepared for them!
