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Jen Francis
2017 REVEL Mt Charleston Marathon
Published: May 1, 2017, 5:06 p.m. 
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Overall Rating
4/5 Stars
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Describe your race day.
Amazing! Thank you for having the lodge open so we could stay warm, seeing friends at the start, getting photos, I felt so good for such a long time. Seeing some friends who were working at an aid station, a few friends on the course... really though, aside from my PR and BQ, the best part of this race for me was seeing my friend PR and BQ! She is my Boujee... we are #bettertogether
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Did you PR?
Yes! I PR'd by almost 7 minutes, I have not PR'd since Boston 2014... I got a PR and BQ - 3:16:57
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How would you describe the course?
The course is beautiful, almost all downhill. The beginning starts uphill but then very quickly starts descent. There is another small uphill at mile 4 and again around mile 12. The road twists and turns a bit, and running tangents ends up making you run on camber sections of road a lot, but it's not bad if you're used to it. The WIND actually caused more problems than anything. After around mile 18, the downhill isn't as noticeable, and after the right turn at 21 it feels flat. The out n back portion was significantly rough this year on almost all the runners because we were running into the wind after the turnaround. Also, the finish.... it would be nicer to be able to run straight into it vs having to run around and back into it. Very hard to judge time/distance to the finish the way it was set up. Aside from that, I love this course, I'm legacy and will continue to run it!
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Tell us about your training.
Training....this race is an excellent PR and BQ course but you have to train downhill... or your body just has to like it. I'm a mileage junkie, so I typically run lots of miles. I also added track to work on speed. I'm an official pacer so I pace a lot of races, my long runs are generally pacing marathons. I also live in an area in the desert where it's always windy.... running in the wind helped me deal with the wind when it came. My training advice is ALWAYS to put in the miles. If you want to just run a marathon, do whatever you want. If you want to run a GOOD marathon and ENJOY yourself during it? Train well. Long runs are number one. Consistent runs are number two. 3-4 days a week, every week. One day of speed, whatever you prefer, track intervals or tempo.
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What advice would you give future runners?
Book your travel early... if you have friends in Vegas, that's the best option. Train for downhill, and be aware of the camber of the road... it's tilted, we run on the right side. It's roughly 28-35 on top of the mountain at the start, the inaugural year it was snowing. However, it warms up quickly when you're running. Bring toss clothes, mylar blanket, hand warmers, gloves. Anything you can use to stay warm before the start and the first few miles. Shoes - wear something that you won't hit your toes constantly on the downhill... usually I say wear shoes half a size bigger if you don't already. If you're used to carrying your water, you may want to carry a handheld - the aid stations are roughly 2 miles apart.
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What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?
My friend and I traveled from SoCal.... before the race we met up with other friends for dinner... after the race we enjoyed the casino, had some drinks, buffets, played slots, bingo. AND spent several hours in the hot tub recovering after the marathon lol!
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