Top Of Utah Marathon celebrates 15 years

Sign posted at the mouth of Blacksmith Fork Canyon, SR 101.

<strong>LOGAN –</strong> The 15th annual “Top of Utah Marathon” will be held Saturday, September 21st. The marathon starts at 7 a.m. Race Director Todd Hugie said 1200 runners will participate in this year’s race which extends from Hardware Ranch in Blacksmith Fork Canyon to Merlin Olsen Park in Logan.

Blacksmith Fork Canyon, SR101, will be closed to motorists for four hours, from 6 to 10 a.m. Hugie said there will also be some congestion in downtown Logan, especially on the Island.

“Most of it is going to be down on the Island, from where we come from River Heights,” said Hugie. “We come down and hit 300 South. So I think most of the congestion will be in Logan, especially down on the Island because of the construction they are doing at the park.”

Motorists are being asked to use the north and south dugways, to travel in and out of the Island area. (For a  map of the race and to find alternate travel routes, <a href=”http://www.loganutah.org/Home/DOC/2013Race3.pdf” target=”_blank”>click here</a>.)

The marathon is organized by the “Cache Sun N’ Snow Runners.” Hugie was president of the organization when the first marathon was held. He said there are several reasons why this marathon has become so popular over the past 15 years.

“We wanted a course that was going to be really fast,” said Hugie. “So we wanted a down-hill course and something that was really scenic. Another requirement was we wanted it to be a Boston (Marathon) qualifier. So those were kind of the goals that we had to build our race around.”

The marathon closes at 1 p.m. but Hugie said they expect runners will continue until around 3.

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