City of St. George considers leasing St. George Marathon to group for race management
By David Cordero
For 43 years, the City of St. George has owned and operated its annual St. George Marathon, which has helped transform the city into a nationally known area for outdoor recreation and tourism while inspiring many to strive to achieve their fitness goals.
While the marathon will continue to be owned by the city for the foreseeable future, the city is exploring the possibility of allowing local or national event producers the opportunity to produce the event. A Request for Proposal has been created to identify independent contractors that are willing and able to partner with St. George to produce and manage the city-owned event, assisted by the city’s special events staff and community volunteers.
“We intend to preserve the integrity and quality of the St. George Marathon while continuing to elevate the status of the race,” said Michelle Graves, deputy director of arts and events for the city of St. George. “The growth of our city has challenged us to question if the city should continue to solely operate this large event, and to evaluate the effectiveness of privatizing various aspects for the benefit of our running public. This RFP allows us to research and evaluate potential contractors that could possibly help us in that regard.”
A qualifier for the Boston Marathon, the St. George Marathon is hosted annually on the first Saturday in October. It brings an important dimension to the overall vitality of the city, fostering civic pride while increasing the city’s profile in the West. It’s also well known for its legion of volunteers who give a warm, personal touch to the event.
Showered in accolades, the St. George Marathon was rated by Runner’s World as one of the four “Marathons to Build a Vacation Around” in the World and included in Runner’s World “10 Most Scenic and Fastest Marathons” and “Top 20 Marathons in the USA.”
“Regardless of what our research determines, the St. George Marathon will remain a community event,” Graves added. “We look forward to what the future brings.”
The RFP can be found here.
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