I want to start with a big shout out to my husband for supporting me and encouraging me since day one of deciding to take on another marathon in hopes of qualifying for Boston. As many of you know, marathon training is time consuming and can sometimes interfere with family life. Not only did he not complain when I had to opt out of a few early weekend events because of a long run but he also got up in the wee hours of the morning to get me to the race shuttle, then hang around for hours until I crossed the finish line. Running is hard but being the support crew can be hard too. 🙂

Race morning:

We stayed in Running Springs which is on the other side of the mountain from the race start. It was a good location considering they didn’t allow any drop offs at the start anyway. Everyone needed to take a shuttle from the bottom of the mountain to the start (provided free of charge) then they shuttled you back to your car after the race. My husband drove me to the shuttle, then parked near the finish to wait for me. Shuttles were from 4:00 to 4:45. We left the cabin at 3:40 with plenty of time to get on the (right) shuttle…I got on the half marathon shuttle by accident but thankfully got off just before we drove away. I knew there were two different areas for marathon vs half marathon shuttles but I was so anxious that I completely forgot. 

It was about an hour drive up the mountain to the start (this only added to my anxiety…it was a long way back down the mountain…YIKES!). When I got off the shuttle I went directly to the porta potty line just in case they were crazy long. As it turned out, they had plenty of potties, so lines were pretty short. I chatted with two ladies in front of me who turned out to be ultra-marathoners and one of them has done all the Revel Marathons. I was impressed and a little intimidated. 

Starting line worries:

Standing in my queue between pacers 8:55 and 9:10 (My goal time was 9:05, after the BAA took away 5 minutes. I’m pretty sure Revel pacers were set before that and they didn’t adjust them.) I tried to psych myself up while calming myself down, if that makes any sense. I was running through my head all the tips my coach had given me about the course. The first 2 miles were fast “keep a comfortable pace”, miles 3 -4 had rolling hills “don’t worry if you have to slow to below goal pace, you’ll make it up later”. What did he say about miles 4 – 9? “comfortable fast pace”? “more small hills”? I couldn’t remember. What I could remember was that he said most people will negative split, meaning run the second half of the marathon faster than the first. For the average runner this is not very common.

Running a marathon is all about pace “slow and steady wins the race”(or at least finishes the race), with a little kick at the end (we all hope). Because the Revel Big Bear Marathon loses so much elevation in the second half, there’s a huge chance of running it faster than normal. I was counting on it… providing my legs would hold the pace.

Music vs Audible book?

I opted to listen to a book, The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel. A book about survivors of a pandemic. Audible books are something new I have been trying out and have found it to be distracting on my long runs (and this was the ultimate long run). I had 2 Gu’s and 2 packs of Sports Beans with a plan to take 1 every 5 or 6 miles (water/Powerade stations were every 2 miles, starting at mile 3). The weather was perfect, chilly but not freezing (Zion was freezing!) and I was comfortable in long sleeves, gloves and shorts. I apologize for the lack of pictures, I was nervous and only thinking about my task at hand and all the people counting on me to do well.

Race time: 

The race started as described, fast 2 miles with a hill at mile 3 to 4. I concentrated on holding a comfortable pace and even contemplated walking a little up that freaking hill but I felt if I let myself walk now I wouldn’t be able to let myself walk later. What if a walk break was the difference between qualifying and not qualifying?? Turns out that thought went through my head a few times during the race. It’s what kept me going.

The 3 calls from my husband, checking on me and telling me how good I was doing helped me stay focused.  I kept reminding myself of the friends and family who have been encouraging me throughout my training telling me I could do this, and thought, “It’s 4 hours of my life, I can power through.” At mile 20 my husband called saying that if I held my pace I would beat my BQ time “No problem!”. I was running an 8:40 at the time of the call, so I worried that there was no way I could keep that pace for the next 6 miles. I ran mile 21 at an 8:36. Encouraging words and positive thoughts really do help!

My fastest miles were 10 through 21. 8:24, 8:56, 8:47, 9:36 (Gu/water), 8:36, 8:33, 8:47, 8:52, 8:48, 8:45, 9:05, 8:36. My slowest were mile 3 (hill), 10:29 and mile 26, 10:07 (freaking tired!). I obviously felt my best in the middle miles. I tried to keep a comfortable fast (for me) pace. I wanted to stop to take a picture or two because the view was so beautiful but I knew that stopping for even a minute could make or break my outcome. :-/

The last .2 miles I ran an 8:45 with both my daughters running by my side (until they had to get off the course at the chute) yelling “Go Mom!” and “You Can Do It!”.  I was exhausted and my legs hurt so bad but they pushed me to the end! Then my husband was there at the beginning of the finishers chute yelling and taking pictures. I was overwhelmed. I looked up at the clock and it read 4:04:45 and I almost started crying. “I can’t miss my time by a few seconds!” So I ran faster.

My foggy brain didn’t register that the clock time was the gun time, not my chip time. After I crossed the finish line and got my medal my girls were there telling me I did it! I hugged them and cried. Some lady congratulated me. My husband then got to me and said I made my time. I cried again. I still wasn’t convinced. I needed to see it in writing, so after walking (hobbling) to my car to clean up a little we went to the official time computers and a girl handed me a card with plastic tag and said “Congratulations, you qualified for Boston!”.  My husband hugged me and I cried again. I cried a lot that day. 

This was a HUGE bucket list goal for me. I have wanted to qualify for Boston for so long but never thought it was possible. Revel Races made it possible with their downhill course and online coaching. I completely recommend Revel Races for anyone wanting to BQ, or just enjoy a well organized, scenic race.  

My official time was 4:02:16. I hope it is good enough to get me in Boston for 2020. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Do you have a bucket list race? Have you ever done a downhill race? 

I’m linking up with Debbie, Rachel, Marc, and Lora for The Running Coaches’ Corner. Please visit their blogs and share the love!

Thanks for reading!

Keep Running!

               Denise