IT'S RACE WEEK and we are literally days away from the start of the 50th Anniversary of the St. George Marathon!

To get you motivated and ready to take on the course, Colleen sits down with Elite Runner and 2024 St. George Marathon Champion Michael Ottesen.

Michael tells us what it's like to run at the front of the pack and why St. George keeps him coming back.

Michael also dives into the mindset and the strategy that can help EVERY runner conquer the challenges of this course and run strong to the finish!

Get all your St. George Marathon race week details HERE.

It's Race Week in St. George and the city is buzzing! Race Director Michelle Graves sits down with Colleen to talk through all the activities of Marathon Weekend. She has tips for participants and a spectators to make your St. George Marathon experience "LIKE NO OTHER!"

Find Expo and Event Details HERE.

We are in the final countdown to race day for the 50th Anniversary Edition of the St. George Marathon!

But what if you don't want to run 26.2 miles?

What if you want to cheer on athletes from the best seats in the house?

What if we told you there is a way to get to experience the finish line without all that sweat (....okay....maybe a little sweat!).

Join Mayor Jimmy Hughes on Saturday, October 3rd for The Mayor's Walk. A $25 registration fee gets you a t-shirt, a 1 mile walk with the Mayor and breakfast from The Biscuit Bus.....plus you will be the first to cross the finish line and snag front row seats in the grandstands!

Register for the Mayor's Walk HERE or at the Expo on Friday, October 2nd.

Think back to when you were 11 years old.

What were you doing? Who were you spending your time with? And could you have imagined how the things you loved then might still be shaping your life decades later?

In 1988, 11-year-old Jeff Ferguson was standing on the start line of the St. George Marathon, preparing to run 26.2 miles alongside his dad.

Those first marathon miles would become the beginning of something much bigger.

Jeff kept coming back.

Year after year, finish line after finish line, until at just 22 years old he became one of the youngest runners ever inducted into the St. George Marathon Legacy Club.

But this story isn't really about how young Jeff was when he started—or even how many finish lines he's crossed since.

It's about the way one experience, shared between a father and son, can become part of the fabric of a life.

Thirty-eight years after that 11-year-old boy first stepped onto the course, Jeff is still running.

And in 2026, he'll be back once again—this time to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the St. George Marathon.

Some finish lines mark the end of a journey.

Others become a place you return to for a lifetime.

Twenty-four years ago, Sam Despain graduated from the Police Academy and accepted a job as an officer with St. George City.

But before he ever pinned on the badge, he laced up his running shoes.

Just two weeks before being sworn in, Sam lined up for his first St. George Marathon alongside his good friend and Pine Valley neighbor, Jeff Gardner.

He hasn’t missed one since.

In 2026, Lt. Despain will toe the line for his 24th consecutive St. George Marathon—24 years of serving this community and 24 years of running its roads.

Over those miles, his connection to St. George has become about more than the city he serves and protects. It’s about the people he runs beside, the neighborhoods he passes through, and the streets he’s come to know one stride at a time.

For Lt. Sam Despain, the St. George Marathon isn’t simply a race through his city.

It’s a run through the community he has dedicated his life to serving.

In 1977, Blair Bentley was one of only 42 people who toed the line of the original St. George Marathon (.....then the Pioneer Marathon). He was a 16 year old, cross-country kid from Parowan, Utah. This race would be his second marathon.

On the invitation from his cross-country coach, he and his friends would, sort of train and find their way to the finish at Bluff Street Park. Blair would take home the top spot in his age group.

It seems like the St. George Marathon has been #likenoother since that first race in 1977. Blair thinks he knows why. Join us as we roll it back to 1977 and see what you think.

Learn ore about the St. George Marathon HERE.

Have your own St. George Marathon story to share? DM @voiceofcolleen on FB or IG

To look at Ashley Paulson today you see a veteran ultra-endurance athlete.

She makes a 100 miles almost look easy and SO FUN as her signature pink hair floats behind while she breaks barriers and world records.

But it wasn't so long ago that Ashley was running down the St. George Marathon course singing songs to her sister and running just over a 4 hour time.

The world of endurance sport is a journey, one that if you stick with might take you farther than you ever thought possible.

Learn more about the St. George Marathon HERE.

Have a story about the Marathon. DM @voiceofcolleen in FB or Instagram.

When you talk about endurance sport in Southern Utah, there are just some people who will always come to mind - Tom & Liz Dansie always top the list.

From local St. George Races, to cycling events, to the St. George IRONMAN, the Dansie's have toed the line for what seems like every race in Southern Utah all while raising a family and navigating careers.

2026 will be no different!

Learn more about the St. George Marathon

Do you have your own St. George Marathon story? DM @voiceofcolleen