REVEL Big Bear

Bernie Tan

2018 REVEL Big Bear Marathon
Published: Oct. 15, 2018, 10:09 a.m.

Overall Rating

5/5 Stars
Describe your race day.

Race day weather was perfect. I'm glad the rain stopped the day before, and the Santa Ana winds didn't come blowing through till the day after. Our gang stayed in Redlands so getting to shuttles @ 4AM wasn't too difficult.
Did you PR?

No PR... but BQ'ed again. Thanks to the downhills! Big toenail is black and blue though...
How would you describe the course?

Course was beautiful from miles 0-22.... : ). I thought the last few miles would also have significant downhills, but I was wrong... the last 2 miles were quite a struggle, but good thing I banked some time already. Was kind of worried about the vehicle traffic as I saw some negative comments on Facebook by residents along the course.
Tell us about your training.

I trained mostly on downhills and flats. Got my mileage up to 40 per week for 2-3 weeks, which probably helped a lot with endurance. Long run training pace was about 1:30 minutes slower than actual race pace, but did a few tempo runs too.
What advice would you give future runners?

Just run easy on the first 22... it's easy to roll down that mountain. Don't push yourself till the last 4.2, as that's when you'll need it.
What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?

Eat, eat, eat. Drink. drink. : )