Utah
Participants run for charity during Utah Valley Marathon – The Daily Universe
The Utah Valley Marathon invited thousands of runners to run various distances throughout Utah Valley on Saturday, June 1.
Runners participated in full marathons, half marathons, 10k races and 5k races. Children also participated in a 1k race.
The 26.2-mile marathon began at 6 a.m. Saturday morning in Wallsburg, southeast of the Deer Creek Reservoir, according to the Utah Valley Marathon website. Runners traveled mostly downhill along the Provo River through Provo Canyon and Bridal Veil Falls. The race ended on University Avenue near the Utah County Courthouse Grounds in downtown Provo.
The first-place runner of the full marathon finished the race in just under 2 hours and 20 minutes, according to Utah Valley Marathon. Most runners completed the marathon in three and a half to five hours.
Utah Valley Marathon said this race has one of the fastest average finish times in the world.
The emcee at the marathon said many of the runners ran to qualify for the Boston Marathon while others ran to achieve their personal fitness goals.
“Each and every one of us can set goals and make magic happen,” the emcee said.
Tanner Pone and Hailey Fink, runners from Scottsdale, Arizona, completed the 26.2-mile marathon together.
“We did a half marathon in Tucson, and then we’re like, ‘The next step is go to Provo and do this marathon,’” Pone said. “We couldn’t be happier.”
Both runners expressed the sights they encountered during the marathon were beautiful.
“This was a great marathon,” Fink said. “We’ve been loving exploring the town of Provo.”
The 13.1-mile half marathon began on the U.S. 189 in Provo Canyon near Sundance, according to Utah Valley Marathon, and followed the same route as the full marathon until reaching the finish line in downtown Provo.
BYU law student Hannah Barnes participated in the half marathon. She said she signed up for two half marathons in the past but did not run either.
“I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and say that I did it,” Barnes said. “It’s just been like a bucket list item for a while. I’m just glad I finished it.”
The 10k began in North Provo and followed University Avenue until the finish line, while the 5k on Friday, May 31 looped through the Riverwoods in North Provo. The 1k race for children looped around a couple blocks of downtown Provo on Saturday.
Runners in the marathon ran for charitable causes, including Charity Vision, Kids on the Move and the Stella H. Oaks Foundation, the emcee at the marathon said.
“Not only do they run for joy, they run for good,” the emcee said.
More information on these charities can be found on the Utah Valley Marathon website.
Utah
Utah T-Mobile customers experience service outage
An apparent service outage has affected T-Mobile customers in Utah.
Customers went on social media Tuesday to note that their service has been disrupted. People posting on X reported outages stretching from St. George to Ogden.
The website TechRadar reported Tuesday that T-Mobile had experienced some 19,500 outages in a less than an hour, according to the online tool Down Detector. Most of the outages — which are affecting both T-Mobile and Mint Mobile customers — were in Utah locations, Down Detector found.
Just after 2 p.m., the company said there was a “brief mechanical issue that impacted connectivity” but it has since been resolved.
“We apologize for the inconvenience,” the company said in a statement.
Click here to read full story from the Salt Lake Tribune
Utah
Mountain Bike Mania: Pedaling Utah Tourism
SALT LAKE CITY — A growing number of Utah high schools have about as many mountain bike racers as football players. That surprising development becomes obvious at the starting line of weekend races.
“We are the largest youth cycling organization in the nation,” said Dallen Atack, board president of the Utah High School Cycling League.
Just 10 years ago, there were 320 riders. Now more than 7,500 students compete.
“I love being out there all the time,” said Morgan High School rider Blair Erickson.
Riders aren’t the only ones who love high school mountain biking.
“They have an incredible impact on our community,” said Maria Twitchell, director of Visit Cedar City, Brian Head Tourism Bureau.
“It bolsters the community because they have to eat and get gas and stay,” said Dennis Jorgensen, mountain bike organizer in Richfield.
Mountain bike races held among the ridges of Richfield, the peaks of Price and the vistas of Vernal bring thousands of visitors who likely wouldn’t otherwise come to these small Utah towns.
“From fast food to sit down, our restaurants are full,” said Price Mayor Michael Kourianos.
In Richfield, traffic and hotel parking lots are filled with cars carrying valuable cargo.
“Any time you drive down main street, you see a van or car with bikes on the back of it, and that didn’t use to be the case,” said Carson DeMille, chairman of the Richfield Trail Committee.
What’s become clear in city after city, is that on race weekends, huge open fields have become paydirt:
- $1,000,000 in Price
- $1,800,000 in Cedar City
- $500,000 in Richfield.
So no surprise, small towns all over Utah are racing to build tracks of their own.
Tracks have existed for a number of years in Richfield, Cedar City, Vernal, Price, St George, Manti, Beaver Mountain, Eagle Mountain and Soldier Hollow.
More recently, trails have come online in Mantua, Herriman and Beaver. And new trails have come or are coming to Tooele, Panguitch and Gunnison. Morgan has a track in the works.
The cities of Price and Herriman are working on second tracks.
“It’s pretty competitive. We don’t really talk about it, but on our end, we try to take care of those race directors,” said Lesh Coltharp, director of Tourism and Events for Uintah County.
Ahead of the races, big open fields of dirt turn into mini cities of high school staging tents. There’s a reason these races are more suited to rural Utah than established ski resorts and trail areas.
“We do have specific standards on how long the course needs to be,” said Michelle Lyman, race director for region 2.
They need broad tracks that are 4-6 miles, about 500 feet in elevation, with nothing too steep or too narrow.
But the number one requirement:
“We need to have at least 1,000 parking spaces to hold one of our races,” Atack said.
Many cities combine private, county and BLM lands with donations, county and state grants to build their tracks.
It’s more than just economics that fuels mountain biking mania. Unlike most high school sports, everyone gets to compete. No one sits on the sidelines.
“Nobody rides the bench, is one of our favorite mottos of the league,” Atack said.
These tracks provide a valuable source of recreation and opportunity for kids, especially in small towns.
“I knew that if we could get these kids riding it would change their lives,” said Dennis Jorgensen, of Richfield.
“We’re building athletes. And those athletes turn to lifetime users and recreationists and come back year after year and bring their kids,” added Maria Twitchell, of Cedar City.
In many cities, trail maintenance can also become a part-time, high school job.
Since mountain biking isn’t a high school-sanctioned sport, the need for parent volunteers is great. They require a 1:6 coach-to-student ratio, just to ride on the trails.
“This is a sport where parents can practice and ride right alongside their kids, support them in the day,” Lyman said.
So, while mountain biking is changing the face of high school sports for thousands of families, it is also putting Utah towns on the map for tourism.
“Word of mouth continues to grow, so the impact is much larger than we anticipated,” said Amy Myers, Sevier County tourism director.
“When the community benefits,” Jorgensen said, “We all benefit.”
Utah
Community clothing swaps help families make ends meet in Utah County
OREM, Utah — Stepping up to help each other make ends meet, the Orem community is helping families get things they need this winter through a clothing swap.
Monday evening at Lakeridge Junior High, families picked out items and filled bags with clothes, jackets, shoes, books and more.
“It’s a blessing to be here, to be able to have them get the clothes they need and be able to give back too,” said Alyssa Dixon, a mom of three. “As a single mom, it’s really hard to support and especially for how expensive prices are, with inflation, gas prices, everything going on, it is really hard to do that extra thing of clothes they want and clothes they need.”
All the items are donated by others in the community. The free clothing swap was hosted by the Alpine School District’s outreach team.
“It’s for everybody in the community,” said Alyson Madsen, the community outreach coordinator for the Alpine School District. “Whether you have school-aged kids or not.”
Families brought clothes their kids outgrew or don’t wear anymore, and got to pick up new ones.
“It feels pretty good because you don’t have to pay for it,” said Lia Atondo, an eighth-grader at Lakeridge.
Last year, the swap was only at one school. This year they expanded to more schools because they saw a need and have been collecting donations since September.
“It’s filling a need,” added Madsen. “It’s filling something that ordinarily they couldn’t get on their own for their own family. And it makes me emotional sometimes because it’s just something that we can provide that they can’t for themselves.”
Kids get to pick out their own clothes, which helps them feel more confident, with the opportunity to express their own style. Plus, staying warm in the winter is now one less thing these families need to worry about.
“Going through the battles of life, it’s just super helpful,” added Dixon.
There’s another clothing swap this Friday at Orem Junior High School that’s open to the public. And if you want to help, they need more winter coats. Donations can be dropped off at the school before or during the event from 6-8 p.m.
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