Deseret News Marathon course & pace calculator
Run on Pioneer Day from Mountain Dell Golf Course over Little Mountain and down Emigration Canyon to Liberty Park, finishing 445 m lower than it starts. After a gentle climb to the 1,900 m high point around 14 km, the canyon road falls for nearly 30 km before the last flat kilometres across the east side of the city.
- Climb
- 372 m
- Descent
- 818 m
- Low – high
- 1293 m – 1900 m
- Terrain at 3:00
- +1:04
- Typical start
- 23°C
- Sub-3 needs
- 2:55:59 flat
Course time calculator
Type h:mm:ss or use the step buttons.
23°C at your start → 26°C at the finish · dew point 10°C
Heat is scored with shade WBGT from temperature and humidity, starting to cost time above about 15°C (59°F) WBGT. Slower runners lose more because they are out longer. Wind, sun and rain are not modelled.
Certified distance only. Switch on to count the metres lost to corners, crowds and aid stations.
Same effort all the way: slower up the climbs, faster down the descents.
- Flat course
- 2:55:59
- Terrain
- +1:02
- Weather
- +2:58
- Deseret News finish
- 3:00:00
Average 4:16 /km on course · 4:10 /km flat
Elevation profile
372 m up, 818 m down. Hover or tap the chart for the grade and your clock time at any point.
- Climb 2%+
- Climb 0.8–2%
- Flat
- Descent 0.8–2%
- Descent 2%+
- 1Mountain Dell Golf Course, Emigration Canyon · 0.0 km
- 2Liberty Park finish · 42.2 km
Course splits for 3:00:00
Even-effort splits with the selected weather. Climbing and descent are per split, from the smoothed profile.
| Split | Pace | Split time | Clock | Up / down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 3:59 | 3:59 | 3:59 | +0 m / −53 m |
| 2 km | 4:25 | 4:25 | 8:24 | +22 m / −15 m |
| 3 km | 5:25 | 5:25 | 13:49 | +68 m / −0 m |
| 4 km | 4:57 | 4:57 | 18:46 | +43 m / −0 m |
| 5 km | 4:18 | 4:18 | 23:04 | +11 m / −12 m |
| 6 km | 4:17 | 4:17 | 27:21 | +7 m / −5 m |
| 7 km | 4:32 | 4:32 | 31:53 | +19 m / −1 m |
| 8 km | 4:28 | 4:28 | 36:21 | +17 m / −0 m |
| 9 km | 4:06 | 4:06 | 40:27 | +0 m / −21 m |
| 10 km | 4:09 | 4:09 | 44:35 | +1 m / −16 m |
| 11 km | 4:24 | 4:24 | 48:59 | +14 m / −6 m |
| 12 km | 4:26 | 4:26 | 53:25 | +16 m / −5 m |
| 13 km | 4:43 | 4:43 | 58:08 | +30 m / −0 m |
| 14 km | 4:52 | 4:52 | 1:03:00 | +40 m / −1 m |
| 15 km | 4:00 | 4:00 | 1:07:00 | +0 m / −47 m |
| 16 km | 4:00 | 4:00 | 1:11:00 | +0 m / −45 m |
| 17 km | 3:59 | 3:59 | 1:14:59 | +0 m / −49 m |
| 18 km | 4:01 | 4:01 | 1:19:00 | +0 m / −37 m |
| 19 km | 4:04 | 4:04 | 1:23:04 | +0 m / −27 m |
| 20 km | 4:02 | 4:02 | 1:27:07 | +0 m / −35 m |
| 21 km | 4:06 | 4:06 | 1:31:13 | +0 m / −20 m |
| 22 km | 4:04 | 4:04 | 1:35:17 | +0 m / −29 m |
| 23 km | 4:05 | 4:05 | 1:39:22 | +0 m / −26 m |
| 24 km | 4:06 | 4:06 | 1:43:29 | +0 m / −20 m |
| 25 km | 4:05 | 4:05 | 1:47:33 | +0 m / −28 m |
| 26 km | 4:05 | 4:05 | 1:51:38 | +0 m / −27 m |
| 27 km | 4:06 | 4:06 | 1:55:44 | +0 m / −23 m |
| 28 km | 4:03 | 4:03 | 1:59:47 | +0 m / −36 m |
| 29 km | 4:09 | 4:09 | 2:03:56 | +2 m / −18 m |
| 30 km | 4:20 | 4:20 | 2:08:17 | +7 m / −2 m |
| 31 km | 4:50 | 4:50 | 2:13:07 | +37 m / −0 m |
| 32 km | 4:10 | 4:10 | 2:17:17 | +5 m / −23 m |
| 33 km | 4:03 | 4:03 | 2:21:21 | +0 m / −36 m |
| 34 km | 4:03 | 4:03 | 2:25:24 | +0 m / −37 m |
| 35 km | 4:26 | 4:26 | 2:29:50 | +16 m / −8 m |
| 36 km | 4:17 | 4:17 | 2:34:06 | +5 m / −8 m |
| 37 km | 4:05 | 4:05 | 2:38:12 | +4 m / −34 m |
| 38 km | 4:07 | 4:07 | 2:42:19 | +0 m / −23 m |
| 39 km | 4:08 | 4:08 | 2:46:26 | +0 m / −19 m |
| 40 km | 4:08 | 4:08 | 2:50:34 | +0 m / −21 m |
| 41 km | 4:13 | 4:13 | 2:54:47 | +0 m / −6 m |
| 42 km | 4:22 | 4:22 | 2:59:09 | +7 m / −0 m |
| Finish | 4:24 | 0:51 | 3:00:00 | +2 m / −0 m |
Race-morning weather
Air temperature and relative humidity by hour from the first wave’s 05:30 start, from 105 mornings within three days of the race date since 2011 at SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, UT US. Cool and warm are about the 10th and 90th percentile mornings by heat stress. Median wind 13 km/h.
Fixed on 24 July with a 05:30 start, well before the canyon heats up. Salt Lake City airport reports hourly.
| Local time | Cool | Typical | Warm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05:30 | 19°C · 54% | 23°C · 43% | 24°C · 51% |
| 06:30 | 21°C · 35% | 23°C · 39% | 24°C · 51% |
| 07:30 | 21°C · 47% | 24°C · 46% | 26°C · 40% |
| 08:30 | 24°C · 34% | 26°C · 34% | 28°C · 36% |
| 09:30 | 27°C · 23% | 28°C · 28% | 29°C · 35% |
| 10:30 | 30°C · 16% | 30°C · 28% | 32°C · 24% |
| 11:30 | 28°C · 30% | 31°C · 24% | 34°C · 23% |
| Date | Start | +3 hours | Peak WBGT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-07-24 | 22°C · 30% | 26°C · 25% | 23°C |
| 2024-07-24 | 24°C · 38% | 29°C · 29% | 26°C |
Data & method
- Route: User-supplied track 'Deseret News Marathon 2026 — traced from official course map', traced from the organizer's 2026 course map; point-to-point from Mountain Dell Golf Course in Emigration Canyon to Liberty Park, measures 42.12 km. Measured at 42.12 km and scaled to 42.195 km.
- Elevation: USGS 3DEP 1/3 arc-second (10 m) bare-earth DEM. Sampled every 25–50 m, with bridges set to deck height and smoothed over 200–400 m.
- Weather: hourly observations from NOAA’s Integrated Surface Database (station 72572024127).
- Small climbs on flat courses can be terrain-model noise; they add only seconds to the estimates.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Deseret News Marathon hilly?
The course climbs about 372 m (1221 ft) and descends about 818 m in total, which is gently rolling. At even effort the terrain alone changes a 3:00 flat-course marathon by +1:04 and a 4:00 by +1:25.
What flat-course time do I need to break 3 hours at the Deseret News Marathon?
About 2:55:59 on a flat course, assuming a typical race morning. For a sub-4 you need about 3:52:58. Switch the weather off in the calculator to see the terrain-only figure.
What is the weather usually like at the Deseret News Marathon?
On a typical race morning it is about 23°C (73°F) at the first wave’s start and 26°C (79°F) three hours later, with a dew point near 10°C. That costs a 3-hour runner about 3:08 and a 4-hour runner about 6:04. Figures come from airport observations within three days of the race date since 2011.
How is the course-adjusted time calculated?
The course is cut into 100 m pieces. Each piece is run at your flat-course pace times a grade factor (about +3.3% per 1% uphill and −1.8% per 1% downhill) and a heat factor from shade WBGT at the time you reach it. Adding the pieces gives the course time, and the calculator works backwards from a goal the same way.