Sherm Miller wanted a marathon. So, a marathon he got.

The leisure services director for St. George so enjoyed running the Deseret News Marathon in Salt Lake City that he became determined to host a similar race closer to home. On Oct. 3, that race — the St. George Marathon — will celebrate its 50th running.

Plenty has changed since the first event in 1977.

Back then, 42 runners toed the starting line in unincorporated Central, including four women. They dodged traffic while running the 26.2 miles on an open course, and their pace was kept by hand timers who used a brown Volkswagen bus to leapfrog ahead of runners. At the finish line — then at Bluff Street Park — the timers would “catch” each runner, calling out their final time.

Slicing through strong headwinds, Steve Naylor of Centerville won the race by more than nine minutes, according to the marathon website, with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 17 seconds. Shortly after, Californian Barbara Peterson (3:09:13) became the first woman finisher.

Today, the marathon — an official Boston Marathon qualifier — draws more than 7,000 participants. Another several thousand joining in the half marathon, 5-kilometer race, fun run or Mayor’s Walk. They’ll all finish in Vernon Worthen Park and most will be timed with RFID chips imprinted on their race bibs. Plus, for the first time, top finishers will share a $100,000 prize purse.

As Miller envisioned, the St. George Marathon has become not only the city’s largest sporting event by participation, but a major economic and tourism driver. A city spokesperson estimated it generates $10 million annually.

At its core, though, the race remains the same. Marathon runners still start in Central and descend 2,600 feet in elevation into St. George. They still rave about the course’s redrock beauty. Moreover, like Miller, the event leaves many inspired to do more marathons — once their shins stop screaming.

“The amazing thing is, I thought [1977] was my first marathon and my last,” Debbie Zockell, one of the few women to participate in the first St. George Marathon, told The Salt Lake Tribune before lining up at the start yet again in 1996. “But I either lost part of my brain that day or activated a new part. I guess the latter since I’ve run 51 marathons since.”