REVEL Big Cottonwood Presented by Albion

Paul Zajac

2015 REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon
Published: Sept. 15, 2015, 8:03 a.m.

Overall Rating

4/5 Stars
Describe your race day.

This race will be a real lasting memory. I stuck with the 3:10 pacers as long as I could. I felt like they were friends by the end. They were great. When I fell off the pace at mile 22 they waited at the line for me to finish. That really meant a lot to me.
Did you PR?

I did. Fourteen years after my last PR I razored down the time by... 3 seconds!!! Ecstatic about this. I qualified for Boston by over 12 minutes.
How would you describe the course?

Fantastic until mile 19. The out and back took any remaining juice out of my legs and I was just spending minutes from the bank like I'd won the lottery.
Tell us about your training.

Since I'm older and am trying to avoid injury (and because I like it) I do a lot of cross training. I run 3-4 times a week. I do yoga at least once a week. I use leg focused work out videos, and core strength videos.
What advice would you give future runners?

Run fast at the beginning. I suspect one's legs are going to be fried for the out and back no matter how fast or slow you go down the hills. Take advantage of the reduced cardio portion of the downhill and train your legs beforehand.
What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?

We stayed in Park City and enjoyed what it had to offer.