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Christophe Stewart
2015 REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon
Published: Sept. 14, 2015, 11:12 a.m. 
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Overall Rating
5/5 Stars
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Describe your race day.
Very exciting. This was my first Marathon and it was a really big deal for me. Lots of people running. I didn't know what a pacer was, but soon found some of them and thought... "That is a really great idea!". The water stations were very well organized, and the people were very helpful. The sun coming up over the mountains was beautiful, the run down the canyon felt great. I was not ready for the last 6 miles and it almost killed me, but I made it through. The finish line was a very welcome sight!
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Did you PR?
It was my first Marathon so yes. My goal was to maintain 6 miles/hour, or a 10 minute/mile and I nailed it. Going down the canyon I thought I was doing much better as I was running with the 4:00 hour marathon pacer, but when I got to Wasatch Blvd and had to start going up hill I could not keep that pace. I probably should have paced with the 4:25 pacer and conserved some energy for those last 6 miles. As it is I have a personal record I want to beat next year! :)
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How would you describe the course?
The first 18 miles is beautiful. I loved running down the canyon. It is also very deceptive, I didn't realize what a toll all of that downhill was taking on my legs, but I quickly became aware when I got to Wasatch Blvd and had to start walking and jogging. The last 6 miles was much more difficult than I had anticipated. The sun,the less pretty scenery, the uphill on Wasatch Blvd, and being the end of the race made it my least favorite part.
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Tell us about your training.
I had a great group of friends and we did really well getting our long runs in. The longest we did was 20 miles, and we did that 2 weeks before race day. We found a number of really good routes and had a blast running together. My pace during training varied greatly depending on who I was training with. 5-6 mph when running with my wife, and 6-7 when running with my brother. I was aiming for the middle though so I didn't think it would be an issue. Looking back I should have tried to keep my pace more consistent, and I could have done better on my shorter mid week runs.
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What advice would you give future runners?
Chafing hurts, the first aid stations have Vaseline if you need it. I didn't know this, but my wife asked and got some and it helped her. I had pre-greased, but could have used some re-greasing at 20 miles or so.
Also, There were some cold people at the starting line. I think they thought the thermal blankets would work better than they did. I wore some pajama bottoms, and a cotton jacket. Both went into the bag before the race, and when I started running I was fine. I kind of like the cold though.
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What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?
Having family waiting for me at the end was great. We are all from Salt Lake City, so no one had to travel too far.
A couple of suggestions:
My family was confused by the text messages that were arriving about 30 minutes to an hour late. My sister-in-law said that the GPS tracking on the website seemed quite a bit more accurate. Also, I was hoping to get a massage, but they had packed up and left before I got around to looking for them.
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