An excited Cytiva Top of Utah Marathon runner crosses the line in 2022.
LOGAN—Hundreds of extra people will be in downtown Logan this weekend for the Cytiva Top of Utah Marathon. This the 25th year of the Top of Utah, although the course has changed. This year’s race will be held Saturday, Sept. 16, starting at 7:10 a.m.
The Start and Finish line will be on Historic Center Street adjacent to Anderson’s Seed and Garden Center, located at 69 West Center. Anderson’s also serves as the race headquarters.
“Right now, we have 495 runners registered and we are still getting registrations,” said Gary Saxton, executive director of the Downtown Alliance. “We should be over the 500-participant range by race time.
There is an organizing committee, support and aid station committees all set and ready to make the race an enjoyable experience for participants.
The planning has been in the works since the 2022 Top of Utah Marathon finished last year.
“Everything is just being pulled together right now,” he said Wednesday. “We had planned to have some music in the plaza as part of our program. But the Plaza is not done yet.”
The Cytiva Top of Utah Marathon has been selected as the USATF-Utah Marathon Championship Race for 2023. The Utah division of the United States of America Track and Field selects one marathon each year to be the official championship race.
The course runs through College Ward, Young Ward, and Mendon before returning the Center Street in Logan. There are 18 age divisions and $5600 in prize money available to the top finishers.
The Downtown Logan location also includes a 20K, 10K Trail Race, and The Family Place 5K Charity Run.
“When we took over the marathon in 2019 we decided to add some other races for people who didn’t want to run a full marathon,” Saxton said. “If the marathon is not your cup of tea we added these smaller races if maybe a partner still wanted to run.”
The Top of Utah Marathon is the flattest marathon course in Utah, where runners can enjoy a nearly closed course with little or no traffic and a race grade at or near 0.
Saxton wants to invite everyone to come enjoy the races then head over to the Gardner’s Market and enjoy the morning with family and friends in downtown Logan.
When the Downtown Alliance took over the marathon in 2019, the Top of Utah Marathon transitioned from the Blacksmith Fork Canyon, Hardware Ranch start to Merlin Olsen Park finish to the new Downtown Logan start and finish.
For more information visit www.topofutahmarathon.com.