I was not properly trained for this marathon nor was I prepared for the altitude, sun and relentless wind. I did not put on an adequate amount of sun block and I got some serious burns on my back. Race officials warned everyone about this, and I have no one to blame but myself, but know that the sun can really do a number on you.
The wind was also vicious. I just started cramping up at the half-marathon point, so the entire second half was just brutal for me. I finished well after the 6 hour cut-off but race volunteers were with me the whole way encouraging me and offering any help they could give. I could not have asked for a more amazing group of race volunteers. They just went above and beyond. The course is a double loop. When you run back into town, the half marathoners finish in the park and the full marathoners turn around and run the same course in reverse. This was the first time that I had run such a race and it worked out pretty well. I really loved Salida. If you are coming from out of state, you can fly into Colorado Springs and make the 2 hour drive over to Salida. This was my most challenging marathon to date, but thanks to everyone there, I finished it.

Overall - hats off praise to the organizers of this first Salida Marathon. The field was small (say about 60 or so) but with a few tweaks, this should grow to be a very popular marathon.

+s
o Stunning scenery...surrounded by snow-capped 14,000'+ mountains and running through some interesting farm/ranch areas.
o Well run/stocked aid stations run by great local hosts
o Nice medal considering the small # of runners
o Good course - no traffic
o Salida's a cute little town...lots of good local-owned restaurants. We camped for a couple days before above Buena Vista - very nice.

-s
o Some check-in glitches ...when I checked in me and a couple others, they, at the time, weren't on the list. It wasn't a big deal since the organizer was able to find us on her official computer list...but still a bit of a heart-stopper (who brings entry receipts with them?) - irritation. They were very pleasant as they made the needed adjustments.
o 9:00 start...waaaaay too late (sometime between 6:00-7:00 would make more sense). In this geography, the winds are calmest (relatively speaking) in the morning and increase during the day. On this particular day the winds started out strong/very irritating at the start but by the afternoon they had increased considerably. It was a miserable wind (plus blowing dirt and tumbleweeds) to run in.