Sights And Results From The St. George Marathon (Gallery)

The St. George Marathon and Half-Marathon took place Saturday and St. George turned out in full support.

Runners and fans came out in force for the event early Saturday, with the streets of St. George lined as the athletes completed their distance goals.

Here are some facts and figures from Saturday's race:

JJ Santana from Las Vegas won this year's race. He finished with a time of 2:16:38. Connor Weaver from Lewisville, Tex., was second at 2:18:30. Clinton Rhoton from St. George was third at 2:19:47.
Santana's time was less than two minutes off of the all-time St. George Marathon record of 2:14:44 set in 2017 by Aaron Fletcher.
Sylvia Bedford from South Jordan finished as the top female competitor, completing the 26.2-mile course in in 2:36:53. Nicole Lyons from Meridian, Ida., was second at 2:38:24 and Kassi Harmon of Provo was third at 2:43:11.
Bedford's time was off the course record of 2:32:45 set in 2021 by Kodi Kleven.
The St. George Marathon starts in Central at 5,240-feet of elevation and descends a total of 2,560 feet, ending at Worthen Park, elevation 2,680.
Kale Sharp won the half-marathon with a time of 1:05:18. The top female competitor was Ellie Stevens, ending with a time of 1:13:39.
It's estimated that marathoners and their families spent around $4 million this week in Washington County.
There were a little more than 5,000 runners for the full marathon Saturday, 53 percent of those being male and 47 percent female. About 2,500 runners raced in the half-marathon.
The festivities also included a 5K Friday night and runners that participated in the 5K and one of the races on Saturday received a "Desert Dual" medal.
Friday also featured a kids race and Saturday showcased the Mayor's Walk with St. George Mayor Michele Randall.
The first two hours of the race featured for the more than 40th time live radio coverage. It was on ESPN 97.7 FM.
There were participants in the race from 18 countries and 49 of the 50 US states.
Santana and Bedford each won all-expense paid trips for two to St. George's "sister marathon" in Igibawa, Japan.
St. George is a "qualifying race" for the Boston Marathon. The qualifications vary by age, but basically all of the top 20 in both men's and women's competition qualified for the Boston race.
For more information on the St. George Marathon, go to https://www.stgeorgemarathon.com/.