5/5 Stars

Unforgettable experience! I'm from Iowa, so training for a downhill like that and the change in elevation was a huge challenge and my legs are still feeling it, but overall the scenery was so beautiful and everything about the course was so well organized I didn't have a complaint. My favorite memory from the race would be the last mile when I made a running friend and we helped distract each other for that last leg then raced each other to the finish :)

Yes!! I PR'ed by 11 minutes and also, I qualified for Boston with almost 5 minutes to spare!

The elevation change is huge and there are some very steep downhills that are fun to go fast down at first, but near mile 15 my calves were screaming for me to stop and run uphill instead. The beautiful scenery is a great distraction when you remember to look around and enjoy the view. For the out & back, you run into the sun on the uphill then when we turned around I didn't feel the wind anymore. That whole section was difficult for me, but once you get back on the main stretch, the sun is at your back and the wind is coming towards you again to cool off, which made as a great finish for me.

After my first marathon, I stopped following a schedule. I think that you really need to listen to your body and do it when you're ready physically and mentally. I did a lot of hill training and ran in the middle of the day when it was the most humid to try and adapt for the elevation change (600 ft in Iowa to 9,000 ft at the start) and I think that really helped because I didn't feel like the elevation affected my performance like I thought it would. I didn't do as many longs runs as I should have over the weekends, but I ran more 6-10 mile runs throughout the week. I did a 20 mile run two weeks before then 13 a week and a half before and felt like that worked well for me. I started writing my runs down on a big calendar and that really helped me follow through better. I will definitely be doing that for Boston and planning out my runs much further in advance.

It is very very chilly at the start! Bring baggy sweatpants and a warm sweatshirt that you can wear up until the start. They are very organized with their drop bag system so you can get your stuff very easily after the race. I ran with a sweatshirt for the first few miles then dropped it near an aid station, but a lot of runners start in shorts and a tank. The course is going to work your calves and quads like crazy so make sure they are trained and ready to go for race day!

Prior to the race, we visited Park City one night and downtown Salt Lake City all day before the race. There are lots of things to see and do that aren't too far from Cottonwood Heights. The massage and compression boots offered after the race were super nice, but unfortunately I didn't get to try them because I got in line too late. After the marathon, we traveled down to Moab to visit Arches National Park ,which was spectacular, and I highly recommend for any out-of-staters to make the trip!

5/5 Stars

The top was a little crowded and I felt like I had no room to warm up and move so I was really stiff when starting.

Yes. My last marathon was 4:08 and I did 3:53. I was shooting for boston I missed it by 8 minutes.

Great until mile 18 and then not prepared for the 5 out and back.

I have been training for 30 weeks. I took some of Hal higdon training sheet and then worked up to where I needed to be to start at the last 25 weeks. I did take off 4 weeks in May for Thyroid surgery.

Be ready to go up hill at mile 18, so train past 50 miles a week to get the endurance.

Just stayed in the finish area until I could walk, haha I thought there would be more at the end, booths, expo, etc...

5/5 Stars

Nothing really prepared me for waiting in the cool weather being from the New Orleans area where it is almost completely flat and currently still hot/humid. Cold temperatures rarely bother me when I am moving around, but holding still for an hour even in the manageable 40s was difficult, I needed to also bring a blanket and some windbreakers. Once we got going though, I warmed up easily and no issues.

No PR, but as long as weather and conditions are tolerable, I'm typically satisfied with a sub 1:40 time in a half-marathon distance, which I achieved (1:37:55). Was pretty content with this one esp. since I am not used to thin air/altitude and downhill racing.

Absolutely beautiful. I enjoy the scenery where I live, but I like to travel every now and then to hills and mountains. I was not prepared for how steep some of the declines were though, if I went too fast in some spots I felt like I was going to trip over myself.

No real defined training method for this. It's currently still humid where I live and few hills, so any hill training is hard to simulate. Basically through all summer I tried sticking to a schedule of running 5 days a week of about a 5-7 mile distance, and I biked once a week. I've also run plenty of full marathons so as long as I maintained some form of distance training, I knew I would probably be all right.

Try to bring your own blanket or extra layers if possible. Gear check is simple and I'd over-prepare with extra clothing while waiting in the mountains. Just shed all the extra layers BEFORE starting and check everything in right before race time.

Traveled from my hometown of Mandeville, about a 30-35 minute drive north of New Orleans. I really enjoyed Ensign Peak in SLC and Antelope Island and the Great Salt Lake when I was in the area as well.

5/5 Stars

30-ish degrees at start, cold/cool downhill course, excellent volunteers, outstanding finish area and volunteers.

No PR, yes for BQ (8 REVEL marathons, 7 BQs).

Tough but manageable mile 3 to 4 around the ski resort, nice downhill all the way to canyon exit, challenging out-and-back (but manageable with proper course strategy and planning), and very welcome downhill the last 2 miles.

I trained with REVEL Online Coaching!

Consider training that is specific to DOWNHILL racing. REVEL Online Coaching provides exactly that.

Rested! Came from Austin, TX.

4/5 Stars

Great race organization. Parking and busses were convenient and on time. Gloves, hats, and blankets in race packets were perfect to stay warm while waiting for start. Plenty of portapoties. Gorgeous scenery.

I didn't pr but it was my 3rd fastest of 11 marathons. Easily qualified with 1/2 hr under my BQ time.

Spectacular scenerey. Plenty of well stocked water stops. The steep grade was much harder than I expected. After about 16 miles the pounding began to be painful on my legs, especially my calves. I didn't notice the high elevation even though I came from Oklahoma 1200 ft.

Living in Oklahoma I wasn't able to train on steep hills so I wasn't prepared for the grade. If I did it again I would do a lot of squats and lunges. If you are going to run this marathon I would only recommend it if you are able to train on a steep grade.

We had a great experience at holiday inn express- clean, free shuttle to busses, sack breakfast with banana, muffin and water. Delicious lunch at porcupine grill. Bring clothes to shed, it was only in the 30s at the top.

We had fun meeting up with friends. We planned to see the sights after, but were so sore we just layed in bed and watched college football!

5/5 Stars

I was in UT for a wedding and decided to do this last minute. Everyone involved was so nice and helpful from the expo to the finish line. Probably the most memorable thing was seeing a moose in a meadow around mile 2. Scenery was beautiful. Glad I did it!

I did PR.

Beautiful scenery. Downhill. Was afraid the elevation would bother me, being from sea level, but I was fine. It didn't bother me at all.

I'm preparing for a Half in Oct but hadn't trained for downhill. My thighs were very sore the next day.

I had planned to wear a long sleeve and capris. After a day in UT, I purchased a throw-away fleece at a local thrift store. I'm glad I did. It was very cold at the top and a long wait. The mylar blanket keeps you surprisingly warm and I wore the gloves for a few miles. I shed the fleece at mile 4 and was fine in my light long sleeve.

I traveled from San Clemente, CA. Visited with family, ate amazing food at Waffle Love after the race. Twice. Visited downtown SLC and attended a wedding reception in Tracy Aviary in Liberty Park. Beautiful!

4/5 Stars

great

no

good

lacked quad workouts

prepare for downhill

hot springs

5/5 Stars

it was perfect!!! beautiful day, perfect temps, and well put together!!

yes! Pr'd by 10 min :) and that was with putting the brakes on most of the race

perfect!

I should've trained for downhill, ran this race last minute

buy warm clothes for the start at a thrift store then just toss them to be donated again!

5/5 Stars

Super scared! I loved that we had gloves ,blanket! Once we started it was so pretty

Yes

AWESOME!

Sign up and run it!

4/5 Stars

My dad drove me to the busses at about 4:30AM. I had gotten an e-mail from the BAA stating that registration for Boston 2017 was opening on Monday and I realized I didn't have a qualifier. So I immediately looked up races on marathonguide.com and discovered this event that finishes about 5 miles from my dad's house. Running Boston is kind of a yearly event for my father and I so I called him up and told him I was driving out from Colorado to run the race and try to BQ. Signed up on Thursday and drove out in Friday. Through the race I just kept thinking about why I was there when things got tough and I was able to meet the qualifying standard - so I'll be going back to Boston for another father and son Boston experience.

No. My PR is 2:52:11 from when I was 34 years old with no children. I'm 41now with a 3 and a 5 year old. I did run the fastest I've ran since my kids were born. I think if I specifically targeted this race and trained appropriately I could probably run 2:45. But like I said in the previous answer, this wasn't planned, I was actually training for Tucson in December so I wasn't even half way through my training program. But I qualified for Boston by over 13 minutes, so the course is definitely fast and I'm contemplating coming back being fully prepared to see what I'm capable of here.

Fast - maybe a bit too steep in spots, particularly if you haven't prepared with a lot of downhill running and strength training - which I didn't and I'm paying for it now! But running down the west side of the mountains is a huge plus because it keeps you out of the sun so you don't get too warm. I live in Colorado at about 6500 feet so I never noticed the elevation except for the uphill at mile three. I could do without the out and back on Wasatch Blvd - if there's a way to get rid of that it would be a plus. Overall, a fast course- but that doesn't mean "easy."

Well, I was anticipating running Tucson in December, so I was only 11 weeks in to training. I like to do a 24 week marathon build up with a lot of long runs including a decent amount of race pace work. I only got in one race pace workout and all my training was done on a flat gravel path. If I were to plan for this event I would do a lot of downhill running at a moderate to fast clip, a lot of strength work in the weight room with my legs, a lot more core work, and probably drop my weekly mileage a bit because aerobic fitness isn't as much of an issue with this course as is strengthening your legs and body to handle the downhill pounding.

Don't equate downhill and fast with "easy." This is not an easy course and it will beat you up if you're not well prepared for the downhills. Also, don't fight the downhill either. I was worried that my legs would give out on me because I wasn't completely trained - so I held back a lot and found that when I sped up and just let the course kind of "pull me along" that my legs felt better. Also, don't over dress. It will be cold at the start, but if you're wearing tights or long sleeves you're going to regret it as you move down the canyon and it warms up. And you'll really regret it on Wasatch Blvd.

Not much. I got in to my dad's house from Denver about 8PM on Friday so I basically ate dinner and went straight to bed. After the race we went to Scheels because I was wondering what the heck it was and that was cool. And we drove up to Alta and Snowbird. To be honest I didn't want to do much after the race because I was spent and could barely walk.