Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon Race Recap

I ran the Mt Charleston Limited Edition Marathon on Nov 13, 2020, with my wife, Susan. This was a Revel Race that was put on especially for the COVID-19 pandemic. The race is held on Mt. Charleston outside Las Vegas Nevada

Marathon Number 20 in the books – Unexpected BIG PR

The race was limited to 262 people and split into 50 person groups. Everyone had to wear a face mask up to the start. You can take it off after you cross the start line. This was very well organized and we felt VERY safe. We all had a group that we started with, we had our temp taken as we board our bus and no one could sit next to each other. At the start, we were assigned a spot that was 6 feet apart and we all went over the start line one at a time. It was smooth and fast.

I went into this marathon after just running the Surf the Murph 50k 3 weeks before. I was not holding up a lot of hopes for a speedy race. I thought that if I could run faster than 4:10 it would make my day. In fact, I had decided just finishing would make me happy. I looked at the peak pace plan and decided I would try to run a 8:37 pace from mile 7-21. This would give me a good cushion to be able to finish in 3:59. (This plan has you running a slow mile 1-6 and mile 22-26 than you goal pace to give you a cushion).

The race started at 7600 feet and the only thing I could think of is being in Mexico City and sucking air! My legs were tired and I was breathing hard. I thought “Oh this is going to be painful”

We did some short up hills in the first couple of miles then it was literally DOWNHILL until Mile 21. I started looking at my watch and I was getting 8 min miles but I felt great. My HR was less than 130 and I figured I wouldn’t look at my watch, but rather I would manage my HR the entire time. Soon I was ticking away with sub 8 miles and still I felt great.

Mile 21 flattened out and my pace flattened out. I think I made it to mile 21 at 2:50 (Fastest ever) My legs were cramping like crazy and it really HURT. OMG… my legs hurt. I knew it would just be a gut fest to finish. I shuffled but still I was shuffling at a 9 minute pace.

I did not have any thoughts of a BQ and it didn’t dawn on me that I would be close until they gave me my time. I missed a BQ by 2 and half minutes

What did I do different (Besides running downhill)?
I ate more before the race started
I took all my nutrition in my hydration pack (Tailwind)
The weather was in my favor (Cool and Dry)

My official time was 3:37:30 which is a PR by 17:30 minutes