ST. GEORGE — A year ago, Stefani Talley ran the St. George marathon and, well, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. It was her first marathon and as she said, it just hurt.

“I was in pain most of the race,” Talley said. “It was not a lot of fun.”

Talley laughed about that experience Saturday afternoon…just after capturing the 2010 St. George Marathon.

Yep, the Kaysville resident and wife and mother of two won that same marathon that hurt so much a year ago in a time of 2:45.15. And Talley dominated winning the popular race by nearly three minutes.

“I just kept feeling so good,” Talley said. “I sort of kept expecting to feel bad but it just never came.”

Talley and training partner Rosie Lee of Layton took off immediately and at the 14 mile mark, Talley began to pull away from Lee. It was not a plan, just something that happened.

“I hadn’t really expected to take off at that point but I was feeling real good so I just kept going strong,” Talley said.

As she moved through miles 14, 15 and 16, Talley widened her gap and her husband, Davis High cross country and track coach Corbin, was there to offer encouragement. But more importantly, Talley told her how much space she had between herself and the rest of the runners.

“I saw Corbin and he was able to tell me where the other runners were,” she said. “And I still felt great so I just kept going, but I was still sort of waiting for that point of feeling lousy to hit.”

That lousy feeling never came. In fact at mile 20 Talley got a shot of just the opposite.

“I hit the 20th mile and I felt great,” Talley said. “Then I kept getting stretches where things were going real well. I felt so good throughout the race.”

The fact that Talley felt so good is even more unusual considering this was the hottest race time start in more than 30 years.

Talley used a strategy of chasing down male runners as a way to keep herself motivated as she continued to put distance between the rest of the women. That kept her competitive even though she continued to lead.

“I would see a guy running and just push myself to get to him and then try to go by,” Stefani said. “Then the last three miles the crowd was amazing. They are excited and cheer and that really helps.”

Talley crossed the finish line and said, “It’s great to break tape.” Tape, of course, being the finish line. This victory comes just months after she won the Ogden marathon.

For her St. George victory, Talley earned an all expense trip to Japan to compete in a race there in November.

“I don’t think it has sunk in that I won yet,” she said. “Corbin is telling anyone who will listen. He is so funny.”

And everyone in St. George and now in Davis County is listening.

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