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Luis Garzon
2017 REVEL Mt Charleston Marathon
Published: May 2, 2017, 5:55 p.m. 
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Overall Rating
5/5 Stars
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Describe your race day.
The scenery is definitely the best thing about this race. The first 21 miles are totally beautiful. Even when i wanted to quit in mile 16, the views kept me going. To start by a snow-capped mountain and finish by a more desert type nature, was incredible.
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Did you PR?
Yes. I was shooting to qualify for Boston but came up short. Managed to get a PR by 3 minutes, even though I was not totally well trained. I give credit to the fast downhill course for sure.
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How would you describe the course?
It is fast for sure. 21 miles of a gentle downhill helps to run about 20 seconds below your normal pace. The scenery is beyond beautiful and the volunteers and officials did a great job to make this race one of my favorite ones. The elevation is not an issue, as you come down significantly from the start to the finish line. I even felt like I had a second wind around mile 20, since the oxygen was a little richer.
My only suggestion will be to either start the half marathon sooner, maybe around 6:00am so that the fast marathoners do not have to fight over water in the water stations with the slower half marathoners who tend to be walking around the water stations or even stopping next to them; or to make the water stations a lot longer. Currently there are only two tables per station, one for water and one for gatorade, maybe it should be 6 tables long, so fast marathoners do not get the traffic.
For example, a marathoner than finishes in less than 3:15:00, hits a very large traffic of half marathoners starting at mile 20 or so.
Again, a simple starting time adjustment for the half will solve this issue, or making the water stations a bit wider.
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Tell us about your training.
My training cycle was not perfect for this race. Lost about 10 weeks due to a car accident in December. So I had to substitute by doing aqua-jogging for 5 weeks, and my real training was only 9 weeks on the road. I wanted to train a lot more running downhill, but only managed to do two 10-mile runs.
Since my foot was injured, I did a lot of bike riding uphill to prepare my quads for the pounding. I believe I did around 60 miles on the bike each week.
For my next Revel race, i will do at least 8 downhill runs. My quads were not dead during the rae, but they are totally shot now, even 3 days after the race.
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What advice would you give future runners?
Do not overdress. Even if the race starts in the 30's, the sun is up and it will be 20-40 degrees hotter by the time you make it to mile 18. I ran in short and a short-sleeved shirt. Wore hats and a ear cover, which I removed around mile 3.
Train your quads, and trsut your training. If you feel like going fast, do go fast. The course allows for a fast pace. Even if you are not used to altitude, the low temperatures and the fact that you are gaining oxygen with each step that you take, should make it a no issue; even for sea level runners.
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What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?
The typical Vegas strip fun. But I did make an effort to drive to the South Rim (5 hours away from Vegas) to see the Grand Canyon. Even took a helicopter ride to see this beautiful sight.
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