Oh Boy!! There are two things in September that I get excited about (one more than the other). My Birthday and The Revel Big Cottonwood Marathon and Half! This year was particularly special as not only was this my 7th time running the marathon (which makes me a legacy at this race), I was pacing (I usually race this one), and it was the first race of the Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics Club Exclusive Events! This was something I had been working with Revel and the Maniac/ Fanatic leadership for months and it was going to be amazing!
Revel rolled out the red carpet for us, giving our members a VIP experience! On top of all the other great stuff Revel gives out (nice t-shirt, beautiful medal, free photos,etc.), they made us EXTRA custom medals, t-shirts, luggage tags, personalized bibs with our club numbers on them, branded results cards and a large VIP tent at the finish with lots of treats in it!!
To make it easier to get our members all the swag at once, I spent hours putting together bags for each member.
Revel said they would supply the food for our VIP tent, but didn't have anyone to go buy it all, so Thursday night, I went to Costco and loaded up with cookies, chips, granola bars, fruit chews, and real fruit.
I took Friday off work so I could help at the expo handing out wristbands (for the VIP tent) and the novelty bibs (so members could wear them on their backs on race day). I also needed to drop off all the food at the tent and make it to the dinner I set up at Terra Mia at 5:30PM. The day was packed!
Then at 7:30PM, I found out that there would be nobody there to set up our expo booth. I wanted to cry. I didn't plan on being at the expo all day. There is no way I could be there until 8:00PM and I certainly didn't want to be there alone, but there was nothing I could do so I rushed over to the party store, bought some wristbands and a tablecloth and made the best of it. I got a hold of two other Maniac/Fanatic Ambassadors who were coming to the race and they offered to help me at the expo. They were lifesavers!
When I got to the expo, I had a box of club info cards and enticed people over to the booth with candy! LOL! Since I was pacing, I was supposed to take a shift at the Run Your Race Pacer's booth, but I couldn't since I had to run my booth, so my friend and founder of RYR Pacers, Jorge Garcia moved his booth next to ours so I could do both!
Jorge and I ready to go!
My Angels! Randy Brinkley and Robert Manon helping me at the booth.
Fellow Revel Ambassador and Maniac Othman stopped by!
It's not a Revel party until Clark shows up with his cape.
Cute Fanatic Patti Brown stopped by.
At 5:00PM. I had to get over to the dinner and then get to the finish line to get the food to the tent! Robert (after driving 10 hours from L.A.) offered to stay until 8:00PM to hand out wristbands to those getting to the expo later.
We went to a small Italian place called Terra Mia. The owner is from Tuscany and makes some really great food. It was all delicious and the best part was, everything came out fast!
Maniacs and Fanatics at dinner.
After dinner, two other Maniacs helped me get all the swag bags and all the food to the finish tent. That was a huge help! I then went back to the expo, thanked Robert and took the banners back to the finish line to hang them in the tent. By 9:00PM I was exhausted but done. The only thing left to do was to get home, prepare for my race and get a little sleep. I was in bed at 10:30PM.
We had to be on the bus to the start between 4:00-5:00AM so I had to be up at 3:00AM! I was still tired, but I rolled out of bed and got ready. Revel has all the logistics down so getting parking right where the buses pick you up, was super easy.
We got to the start, but it looked a little different. Apparently, Revel was not able to get the big field we usually sit in while we wait for the start, so we were all packed in one side of the road. It wasn't the best, but it was OK.
The race started at 6:45AM so at 6:30AM we gathered the Maniacs and the pacers for photos, I dropped my bag, found my co-pacer Chris and we were off!
Maniacs at the start.
The RYR Marathon Pace Team.
Our company sponsored runners to run Big Cottonwood. Most people opted for the half, but there were a few that went big!
Robert, Galen, Bill and I at the start. (Photo Credit- Robert Manon)
Good friends, John and Galen! (Photo Credit- John Bozung)
The weather when we started was perfect. It is usually cold, which I enjoyed at that time, but couldn't help but think if it was not that cold at 10,000 feet, how warm will it be when we roll out of the canyon?
We had a nice group with us! This was Cameron's first marathon!
4:25 group right on pace!
As we were running down the canyon, we caught sight of this beautiful rainbow!
We had a nice group of runners with us almost the whole time. There was a mix between 1st timers and seasoned marathoners (two of them were in the 100 marathon club)! We were keeping on pace and having fun!
I am now going to make a PSA. If you use the port-a-potty and crap on the seat, CLEAN IT UP!! I am talking to YOU old man that came out of the port-a-potty before me! That is all I am saying.
Now back to our scheduled race report! We had a nice rain shower up in the canyon which really cooled us off, but it was short-lived. As we made our way out of the canyon we could feel the heat the second the sun came from behind the clouds.
Almost out of the canyon.
When we dumped out of the canyon about mile 18, we started our approach to Wasatch Boulevard (aka The Boulevard of Broken Dreams). This is that hardest part of the marathon course and where you find out toot sweet if you ran smart down the canyon.
The first part is still downhill, but then you start the 2-mile climb out. If you looked at it on an elevation chart, you would think it was nothing, but with so much downhill, your legs are trashed and the slightest uphill feels like Mount Everest. Pair that with the hot sun beating on you, and it is miserable. This 4 miles is where your BQ and PR is in danger if you didn't save your legs enough to get through it.
That last climb out of Wasatch Boulevard was killing me! It was so hot and my legs were trashed and I had to walk for 30 seconds until I came out. I had lost everyone on Wasatch Boulevard and was now pacing myself.
The last 3 miles are downhill again, which is good as you can use gravity to help move you along, but it's not that much of a help at that point. I ran up next to two guys who were clearly fast runners, but one of them got chewed up and spit out on Wastach and was hanging on for dear life. His friend looked better and was staying with his friend. He saw I was alone and said: "Pacers should not be running alone!) He ditched his friend and ran with me for about 2 1/2 miles. About a 1/4 mile from the finish he said "thanks for running with me" and took off to finish strong! I was 30 seconds under pace and slowed down a little in when he took off and finished right where I wanted to be, 4:24:35!
Finishing with a smile on my face!
So happy to be done!
Races that give us VIP treatment have all said the same thing. They will give us a VIP tent, but they cannot pull race volunteers to staff it, which means we have to find volunteers to works the tent. This has always been tough when we are out of town, but I didn't think I would have a problem until I realized everyone I was going to ask to help was actually running! In my desperation, I called my friend Rob and begged him to help me for two hours until some of the Half Fanatics showed up. He and his girlfriend Rebecca came over and helped. I expected them to be long gone by the time I got there, but they were still there! I felt bad that they felt they had to stay longer than what I asked them to do, but I really appreciated it!
I went to the medical tent and washed my hands and took over until the end of the race. Randy stayed with me and helped me pack up and load all the bags that were not picked up into my car and clean up around the tent so the Revel staff didn't have to do that. I wanted to leave the tent in the same condition they gave it to us in.
Robert and I at the tent!
We got one last photo of us in front of our tent before I took the banners down.
I was exhausted, but so happy that everything went well. I heard nothing but positive things from our members!
One thing I learn every year when I listen to people after the race is that this is a tough course. Yes, there is a lot of downhill, but if you don't train at higher elevations, it's hard to breathe. If you don't train on long stretches of downhill, your legs are shredded. Most people who have run this marathon will say the same thing, this is not an easy BQ or PR. This course is fast, but only if you run it smart. Pacing forces you to run it smart, but I saw a lot of really fast people saying how they thought their BQ was a given when they saw the elevation chart but had the wheels fall off when they came out of the canyon.
No matter how you run this race there is no denying that this is one of the most beautiful courses around. Revel does a great job and this race is so worth running! I have run the marathon 7 times and I will be back next year!
HUGE THANK YOU to Revel for all they did for us and a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that gave of their time to help me. I would have been lost without you and a HUGE THANK YOU to Holly and Jorge Garcia for asking me to pace. One of my favorite things to hear as a pacer is when you pass someone and they yell: "Oh no! I didn't want to see you!" and I tell them: "Well you better stay with me then!" 😂
If you are a Marathon Maniac or Half Fanatic and missed out on the VIP treatment at Big Cottonwood, don't worry! Revel has once again partnered with us for another Club Exclusive Event! On June 29th, 2019 at Revel Mt. Hood, you will have your chance! Click the Revel Mt. Hood link to join our team and save some money to boot!
If you would like to join our Big Cottonwood team, click the Big Cottonwood link!
If you would like to join our Big Cottonwood team, click the Big Cottonwood link!
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