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Rachel West
2017 REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon
Published: Sept. 10, 2017, 12:32 p.m. 
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Overall Rating
5/5 Stars
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Describe your race day.
Amazing experience. I was able to run 13 mi straight at a steady pace. After mi 13 my knees started locking which got me worried, so I literally band marched mi 14. Mi 15 I began jogging but shortly ran into the next aid station. I was in the bathroom for at least 5 min. When I came out the station was packing up. I realize that I was now far behind, maybe even the very last one. I just lightly jogged until I had passed a great shirt lady and a purple shirt lady. I managed to stay 2-3 mins ahead of the purple shirt lady. I hadn't seen a single person in front of me. Still worried that I was so far behind I began asking volunteers and cops if I was going the right way and how long ago they saw the person in front of me. The answer was almost always the same. A little over 5 mins ago. When almost reaching mi 20 where they marathoners break from the half marathoners course, I began seeing all the runners going the opposite direction. When I was able to see the u-turn part o could see running making the u-turn. It gave me hope. Hoowever, when I made the u-turn those running were again out of sight. From there I never saw a runner in front of me. I did see the purple shirt lady behind me most of the time. After mi 22 I stopped seeing mi markers and the aid stations were all packed up. I called my dad and asked him to keep talking to me because listen to music wasn't helping anymore. He stayed on the phone and used a GPS app to tell me how far I needed to go. He was my new mi marker. In the background I could here the announcer. At 1pm the finish line had announced there goodbye, yet I was very impressed the a few people still stayed and even encouraged me over my dads phone. Within the last mile I saw cops still kind of holding off traffic for runners. I crossed th last street before the finish line when my dad began to run with me. I finished! I was one of the last to finish, but it was never about getting an asking time. It was about doing it for someone else, my dad. My dad was my inspiration. We were going to run the half together but he recently got into a car accident a was injured bad enough that running was not an option anymore. I decided I would run it for him so I did the marathon instead of the half marathon.
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Did you PR?
Yes, this was my first marathon ever. I don't know exactly what it was, but I know it was just under 7 hrs.
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How would you describe the course?
The course was beautiful and a marathon.
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Tell us about your training.
Well, my training wasn't real training. I did run a lot this year for this marathon, but this year has had challenges that didn't allow me to do a decent training. I will say because of my challenges it motivated me more to finish.
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What advice would you give future runners?
Find a very special purpose to motivate you to finish, and then properly train so your not bed ridden after because your legs are so stiff. Eat a lot before and after running. Don't run with a jacket unless you know its going to rain most of the day. Bring a very very small container to hold water (not a water bottle)a light weighing pouch and 1-2 protein bars just in case.
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What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?
I didn't do much. The day before I went to work. After work prepared for the marathon. Woke up at 2:30am got ready. My parents picked me up to caught the bus to the start line. I sat next to a nice guy who said he has a goal of running a marathon in every state (awesome). Got to marathon starting line. Ran a marathon. I finished marathon! Got home and half mostly stayed on the couched because my legs have been so stiff. There was a dance party that night I was invited to, but I would have lasted a second. I live in Utah so it wasn't an exciting trip, but this whole experience was an exciting one for me.
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