SALT LAKE CITY — Introductions are probably not necessary for the Deseret News’ newly hired race director, but let’s do it anyway. His name is Corbin Talley. He’s a familiar figure in Utah running circles and has been for about 25 years, as a high school and collegiate runner, road racer, ultra runner and high school and collegiate coach.
Ever since Talley won the mile run in his gym class at Oquirrh Hills Middle School, he’s been immersed in the sport in all its variations. Even his wife, the former Stefanie Hansen, was a collegiate runner who went on to win the St. George Marathon.
“I like being involved in the sport and the running community,” he says. “I like just going to races for the atmosphere and the energy and people.”
Talley has a tough act to follow. He is replacing outgoing race director Bob Wood, a legendary figure behind the Utah running scene for about 50 years and one who is widely praised for improving the quality of the races, which include the marathon, half-marathon, 10K and 5K events.
Talley certainly will bring a runner’s perspective to the job. He made his marathon debut in the 2003 Deseret News race and finished third; he ran the race three more times, finishing fourth in 2004. This summer he entered the Deseret News half-marathon for the second time and finished 11th, at the age of 42. He also has competed in the DN 10K, which means, with the exception of the 5,000, he has competed in three of the four races that are held annually on July 24.
“I love the Deseret News races,” he says. “Running those last two miles down the parade route without fail is very inspiring and motivational. Like most runners at that stage of the race, I’m not crazy about the smell of bacon, but the energy of the crowd outweighs that.”
Talley was a two-time state champion at Bingham High and a six-time all-conference performer at Weber State, narrowly missing All-America honors in the steeplechase. He has personal best times of 4:06 for the mile, 14:15 for 5,000 meters, 30:17 for 10,000 meters and 2:21:31 for the marathon. He was the Utah road-racing circuit champion in 2003 and 2005 and qualified for the 2004 Olympic Marathon Trials.
After graduating from Weber State, he was hired as an English teacher and track/cross-country coach at Davis High. He served as head coach for 14 years and collected 23 5A state championships. In 2017, Weber State hired him as the men’s head coach for track and cross-country.
After clearing the way with NCAA compliance and his bosses at Weber State, Talley will continue to coach the Wildcats while overseeing the Deseret News races. It’s a big job, managing thousands of runners (there were about 3,000 this year), hundreds of volunteers, the course and a long list of other duties. He says he will rely on former Weber State runners Mark Jolley and Kurt Black, who have helped Wood run the race.
Talley has experience organizing running events. For a decade he oversaw the Davis Invitational, which rivals the BYU Invitational each year as the best high school track and field meet in the state. It required months of preparation and hundreds of volunteers to put on an event for 1,500-2,000 athletes.
“It will take my extra time, but I still won’t be as busy as I was at Davis,” he says, noting that as a high school coach and teacher he was charged with 200 cross-country runners and 400 track and field athletes while also teaching six English classes. “It was nonstop,” he says. “I worked from 6:30 (a.m.) to 7:30 (p.m.), then went home to do more work.”
He’s already reached out to Wood for advice about leading the Deseret News races. He also hopes his personal experiences as a runner in the event will help him understand what runners want — “the T-shirts they like, finisher medals, the packet pickup, the starting-line procedure, scheduling of buses to get to the starting line, aid station management.”
His broad knowledge of the sport will likely help him, as well. Talley is, or has been, involved in just about every aspect of running that there is and still runs 50-70 miles a week, mostly on trails. If there’s a form of running he hasn’t tried, no one knows what it is. In 2009, he ran the Wasatch Front 100-Mile Endurance Run. Later this fall Talley plans to run from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to the South Rim and back.
When runners toe the line for the start of the 51st Deseret News Marathon next summer, he will be well acquainted with what they will experience.