Michael Lee

2018 REVEL Mt Hood Marathon
Published: July 30, 2018, 5:02 p.m.
  1. Overall Rating

    5/5 Stars

  2. Describe your race day.

    Early start gave us perfect temperatures in the low 50's for the first 16 miles or so. Was amazing how the moon lit up Mt Hood. Stunning. First 5 miles on Timberline access road was neat with streams and old growth timber close by. Road surface from start to finish very smooth asphalt with surprisingly little angle or side hill so no issues with IT band from uneven surface. Really enjoyed the course. Never felt boring even while running without headphones. We ran in the shade most of race with only miles 22 to 25 in full sun. Very happy with this race and thought it was very well organized.

  3. Did you PR?

    Did not PR, but I did BQ!!! Time I had to beat for my age was 3:30 and I ended up running my 2nd fastest marathon ever with a 3:11 finish. So happy to be going back to Boston! Should note that I missed my PR by only 1 minute and that PR was 8 years ago when I was much younger and 10 pounds lighter. Running 3:11 at Mt Hood was amazing accomplishment. Highly recommend this race if you need to BQ or want a fast PR.

  4. How would you describe the course?

    First 14 miles average 6% grade. There are a few steeper pitches, but none are as steep as you have at Big Cottonwood Canyon. I think max grade was 9% within the first mile or so. Miles 15 to 20 still felt most of time like you were running downhill with closer to a 2 or 3% average grade. There are a few short uphill stretches at miles 5, 16.5, 20 and 22.5, but they are so short (1/4 mile or less) that you can maintain speed knowing any increase in HR will drop as soon as you crest the top of hill and get to coast again on more downhill. The last 3 miles is mostly flat with some slight uphill grades. If you prepare mentally for the last 6.2 miles being rolling hills you will be fine. My average pace was same at the end as it was during the first 10 miles of steeper downhill.

  5. Tell us about your training.

    I'm fortunate to live in Park City so we have lots of hills and I did a lot of my training on single track running up and down long steep hills with runs that had 3,000' or more of elevation gain and similar for loss. I also ran the first 18 miles of the Big Cottonwood Marathon course that is 4,000' elevation drop over 18 miles with steeper pitches than Mt Hood. If you are training for Mt Hood, you need to do at least 2 long training runs on hills that are 10+ miles long of sustained downhill and a 6% or greater grade. I felt very prepared when I got to the finish line and it paid of with a BQ!

  6. What advice would you give future runners?

    Run hills the 2 months prior. Up and down. Cannot emphasize this enough. You need to do long training runs on steeper grades so your quads are used to it and you learn how to run most efficiently on downhills. Travel wise, staying in downtown Portland worked out great for me. Amazing food options and Uber's are cheap for transportation around town or to the airport. I paid for the bus that took racers from downtown to race start and it was great.

  7. What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?

    Before the race we went to Sugarpine Diner in Troutdale, which is at the beginning of historic highway to Multnomah Falls and Columbia River Gorge. Amazing sandwiches, soft serve ice cream, etc. A shake out run/hike followed by lunch at Sugarpine Diner was perfect pre-race prep for me. Look it up on Yelp. After the race I took a shower, grabbed burger at The Nines Hotel, then met friends at the Oregon Brewers Festival. Was an Oktoberfest-like beer tasting event in Portland's waterfront park in downtown. Super fun and convenient.

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