Kevin Courtney
2017 REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon
Published: Sept. 11, 2017, 3:07 p.m. |
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Overall Rating
5/5 Stars
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Describe your race day.
It's an early start to the day (up at 3:30a), but necessary and preferred to start at a reasonable hour. Weather was perfect...low 40s at start, maybe got to 70 at finish. Even past the midway point the temps were still very cool, and for the little bit of the race in the direct sun, it was mostly at your back.
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Did you PR?
YES, BQ
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How would you describe the course?
Beautiful views...i know many folks took issue with the 5 mi 'out and back', but I cannot complain about the first 18 mi being downhill and in the shade...the out and back was not bad, and the uphill was still no worse than what one would expect in any number of marathons. To then go downhill again at end, unless your quads were shot, was obviously another advantage/benefit (see below, to ensure how to not get shot quads).
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Tell us about your training.
I didn't have the time for a full cycle, so trained for 5 weeks. I did an 18 and 20 miler three and two weeks, respectively, before the race, and in each case, ran half of the long run on a treadmill "on blocks", so that it was decline. This is very necessary in my opinion (very long sustained downhill training)...the course is obviously set up to be fast, so if you get in the downhill runs, you can get away with an abbreviated cycle.
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What advice would you give future runners?
see above, long runs on a decline treadmill (for those without access to yuge mountains).
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What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?
Park City, High West Distillery...take the tour, enjoy the drinks and food. The PC downtown area is a great place to walk around, other good options avail.
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