Kevin Kirk Battles for the Win at the 2025 St. George UT Half Marathon

On Saturday, October 4, 2025. St George Half Marathon Runners started at 7:00 am. Registration was capped at 3,000 for Half Marathon runners.

Yerington’s Hometown Marathoner Kevin Kirk writes a superb minute-to-minute narrative of his run:

Pre-race:

The morning went from pretty chill to frantic in an instant. I woke up and fed Coopy, left the Airbnb with 15 minutes to get to the bus. I get to the convention center and start panicking as I don’t see any buses or any people. Hurry and look up where the actual bus pickup zone is speed as fast as I can. I park illegally, and sprint to the bus. The bus line was still so long so instantly stopped panicking.

Race:

I originally was signed up for the full. About a month ago I made the decision to drop to the half. I bounced back and forth on if this was the right decision, but ultimately knew deep down it was. My main focus this fall is CIM and knowing how marathons have made me felt in the past I was at ease with my decision.

The race itself went out faster than I expected. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but if you are racing in Utah you know someone is going to show up. There were three of us until around 3 miles. Checked my watch for the first time and saw 13:16. I honestly felt pretty good despite the hot pace and decided to just keep squeezing. At this point it was just Santi and I in a single file, but I swore I was hearing 3 sets of footsteps so I kept taking little peaks back to see who all was there.

The hilliest mile is mile 6 and I started to feel the fatigue of the downhills for sure. A had a baby gag under the overpass and Santi pulled up next to me till we crested the hill. I knew it was going to be a battle all the way to the finish. My plan all along was to put in a surge no matter what at mile 8. Right before that I heard Santi gag on his gel and knew if I was going to create separation it needed to be right then.

Threw down a 4:27 and just tried to squeeze. The lead vehicle had a clock and so I was paying attention to when the aid stations cheered for me and then for Santi and basing my gap off of them.

Coming into town I had 15 seconds. With a mile to go I had 20 seconds and at this point told myself if I run 4:50 Santi has to catch me with a 4:30. Started gagging with like 100 meters to go but saw the clock turn to 60 minutes and was lowkey shook.

Threw up the crown emote for King Coop. Crossed the line in 1:00:21 and reclaimed my fastest half on Utah soil and broke my own course record by 3ish minutes. Then threw up for about 15 seconds right after the line. Love this race, love this community.

2025 Kevin Kirk: 1:00:21 at @stgeorgemarathon half, got the course and Utah soil records!

FIRST OVERALL

Kevin Kirk-Half Marathon

1:03:14

2022

Really really proud of this one. It really wouldn’t happen without everyone in my corner. @billiehatchkirk I’m just trying to make you and Coop proud! @isaacew @runeliteprogram so grateful for your support! @thefeedme @amacxsportsnutrition @ketone thanks for always fueling me!

Congrats to everyone that ran this weekend!