Rockies Marathon - Race Reviews

This is a massive downhill marathon (4700-ft vertical drop) and marketed as a fast course. It is beautiful, interesting and unique but difficult. Don't expect to BQ unless you are very trained at downhill and acclimated to altitude. Starting at 10,500 feet slows you down even for folks (like me) who live at a mile-high elevation. The first half is much steeper and takes a toll. Many runners hit walls around mile 17-18. My pace slowed by over 75 seconds/mile at that point yet I passed more runners and moved up in the standings despite slowing down. Organization is great. The shuttles to the start were painfully early but I don't see any other way to do it. Runner goodies were above average (blankets and gloves at the start, nice medal, free pics and videos). There are no spectators allowed for most of the course as it is a narrow mountain road, but it is GORGEOUS and there were some elk who looked up as I passed even if no people. All in all a great experience - just remember that there is NO SUCH THING as an easy marathon and you won't be disappointed!

Great race to qualify for Boston. Course is point to point and love the option for race day packet pick up. 6am start is superb!!!

I really liked this race. The organization was terrific. All went off without a flaw. The buses, the course, the communication was all great. This is my first downhill race and it hurt. I think the hills would have been manageable but what really hurt was the steep slope from side to side. At many times one foot was a good 6 inches or more higher or lower than the other. This takes a toll over 26.2 miles. I am not being negative but I must say it is not a good race for those who want or need spectators. They are pretty much non existent. Friends and/or family can not see you on the course until almost the half way point due to road closures. This was a bit of a bummer. The heat during the weekend was quite bad. We caught a break on Sunday but it was still hot. I wonder if the race organizers might consider starting an hour or even half hour earlier. The buses get you to the start but it is a long wait. It could have been very cold at the start and hot at the end. A shorter wait at the top and an earlier cooler finish could be had be an earlier start time. I am glad to have knock off Colorado in my quest for 50 states. This was a great race!

First, this is a beautiful venue and course! I think the buses worked out well to the start but you need to be prepared for a 2:00am wake up so you can get on a bus. I got to the parking area on the early end of things and had no problem parking and getting on one of the first buses. It was cool (about 50 and breezy) at the start and there was nowhere to sit but on the ground. The race gives out cotton gloves and mylar wraps in your goody bag at packet pickup to keep you warm which is ok but not great. The first 11 miles was cool and really beautiful but then you get on a four lane highway for a couple miles that has a few 100 to 200 foot elevation gain rolling UPHILLS which just about stopped me after the constant downhill. (I did train for downhill running on pavement with a few 13+ mile downhill runs on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.) The altitude affected me more so than I thought, to where any level section felt like uphill, and short uphills felt like serious mountain climbing! The race website elevation profile is a bit misleading, and I should have read more of the comments about the rolling hills in the 12 to 14 mile area. Also, from about mile 15 to around 20 or 21 there is a great deal of flat road with no shade, and by now it had gotten HOT...like around 80, too hot to run hard on the flat. So... BQ did not happen for me, I have been much closer to BQ on flat courses at near sea level. The altitude is no joke!

This was my third year signing up to run the Revel of the Rockies. Last year, there was a problem with the buses. This year more than made up for it! Loved it!! Thank you for a great run Revel!!

Incredible course, though the Evergreen hills are very long and rugged, so four or so miles of real difficulty in middle of race. Way too few porta-potties at start, led to many visits by many runners into the woods, at least where they wouldn't fall off a cliff. (Wish they could have buses with restrooms to help ease the start.) Great volunteers. Not many spectators, but I don't mind that. Overall, a course that should be done. Hydrate for a week (hot), take salt tablets, and be ready to be sore. Beautiful course.

Awesome fast course, quad buster but great/fast course if you prepare for it.

Was my first marathon run ever. Beautiful views of the mountains. Enjoy meeting new runnners and learning of their experiences and lessons.

I plan on running this marathon again

Great start line with awesome pre- and post race amenities!

I ran Big Cottonwood in 2014 and was so impressed with Revel that I immediately put Rockies on my calendar for 2015. The race is not all downhill. For those who feel misled - uphills of a couple hundred feet feel, and are, very substantial but when you have overall drops of thousands the scale of elevation chart makes them very hard to see. They are there. The uphills were tough especially on quads that have lost their bounce from all that downhill but it is all part of the race. I wish they wouldn't have had the finish line on an uphill. It makes it hard to stride in even if you have something left and makes for ugly finish line pictures. That seems like it could be changed without too much trouble. It wasn't perfect but a lot of the comments about the course and venue seem a bit nit picky. We don't run marathons because they are easy, they are supposed to be a challenge. The big thing, of course, was the buses. I was early and got on the first bus I got extra waiting time on top of the mountain in the cold and some mixed messages about start times but that is racing. The halfers are the ones who have the real complaint. If they had cancelled my race on race day as they did for the half marathoners I would have been livid. Refunding your race fee is a drop in the bucket and literally the very least they could do. They bill this as a destination race and I am sure some of the halfers travelled to the race as I did. I even came a couple days early to try and adjust a bit to the altitude. If I had taken time off work and paid for plane tickets and multiple nights in a hotel, a rental car to get to a remote place before 5 am and then been told to go home, I don't know what I would have done. People spend a lot of money, effort and time for a race they train for months and taper just for your race, to cancel it the day of is inexcusable. It will definitely make me think twice about signing up for another Revel event.

Another Arizona native here. I didn't experience the same frustrations that other runners did and I feel for them. I ran this race with my sister and we arrived early enough to quickly board a bus. I loved the space blankets and gloves at the start. The course was beautiful. The only time I felt the altitude was when I was climbing hills. And boy were there some hills between miles 11-15. Mile markers were a bit off and the course did seem longer than any other marathon I have done (this was #5). The downhill absolutely destroyed my legs but I expected that. Also the uphill finish was cruel and unusual punishment. Overall, I would do this race again. Most beautiful race and the best weather I have ever experienced for a marathon.

I was really pumped about this race after running Big Cottonwood (also organized by Revel). This is NOT Big Cottonwood, not even close. The description of the course is grossly inaccurate. It is not necessarily a downhill race, but a 'Net' downhill race. The first 11 miles were gorgeous. We ran downhill while the sun was coming up. It was peaceful and serene. After coming out of the canyon, we got onto a busy freeway with lots of idling cars for at least 2 miles (not sure why more people aren't mentioning this-it was awful). We were on the freeway for less than a half-mile before reaching the first of many UPhills. The course appears to run along hwy 74 from Evergreen to Morrison on the webpage but you actually turn off the freeway and go uphill into a neighborhood that has several rolling hills. By the time you emerge from the neighborhood back onto hwy 74, you are already past the beautiful evergreen lake. The last 8 or so miles of the course were beautiful, but it was hot and sunny then. There is no shade at all in the last part of the course. This race really needs to be held in May before it gets too hot. The finish line is uphill, then you have to walk even more uphill to retrieve your bag. The post-race food is disappointing as most of it cost money. The last kick in the pants is the long walk back to the shuttle buses to get back to your car. I love revel but I think they forced this one. It seems like they just wanted to start a race in CO so they threw this together. I will not be returning to revel rockies and I would not recommend this race to anyone.

This was my 5th marathon and my first BQ! Great race, beautiful course. This course was long, my GPS watch clocked it at 26.48 miles. Despite the long course it still gave me a BQ time. There was a lot of negativity about the race organization due to bus issues. Some people were not able to get on the bus to the starting line because of a bus shortage. Overall I would definitely run this marathon again! I plan on doing REVEL Big Cottonwood Half Marathon next month!

I share the thoughts of those who commented previously. Here are a few of my own to add: 1. The website made it seem like that aerobically it would not be a problem because the course was all downhill. That is not correct. When I was at my pace for the first eight miles, I was breathing like I was in an all out 5K. 2. Uphills not mentioned on website. I could not run at all uphill. I was sucking wind walking. 3. The second half of the course has a severe camber to the right, as there is a creek alongside. The course would have been so much easier if we ran in the left lane with the right land open to traffic, instead of the reverse. I basically walked the second half. If it had been more level, I could have at least continued to jog. 4. The first mile and the finish (from 26 on) were both long. I understand they wanted to finish at the town park and the only staging area is the one spot on the pass road with a fairly large clearing, but they could have had us walk the four tenths of a mile down the road for the start to shorten up to the correct distance. 5. Finally, I agree that the staging area for the start needs something. Some tents and tarps on the gravel. I was doing this as a 50 stater, so in that respect, I am not too bothered, but I did train running a lot of downhill repeats, hoping for a much better time, so a disappointment.

Great fast course, several pretty big uphills but a good course nonetheless. Me, my wife, her best friend, her husband and son all ran this race, we all got 26.6 - 26.7 miles. This was my 30th marathon and I have never once seen a race that had over 23.3, this cost my friend his BQ as he paced for a 8:00 average and hit that but do to the long course he missed the BQ by 10 seconds a mile or so.

The snafu with the bussing situation in 2015 has been widely publicized. The race director has promised to refund the half marathoners, who were told the race was cancelled initially with no explanation about the lack of busses, but I'm not sure how that's going to work. The bus problem was apparent to full marathoners who had to wait in line for 40 minutes for the 4 AM busses, and those waiting at a host hotel for a bus that never materialized. This is what happens when a race director/organization are part of a corporate entity out to make money. The cost for the full was on par with most big city events, but this race does not have the leadership or infrastructure to be a big city destination race. They should have capped the event but obviously money was a factor. The website overpromised everything. The 'PR course' was tougher on my lower body than the Boston Marathon course (yes, I'm from Phoenix but I did try to train for downhills), and the advertised perks fell shortthe gloves and space blanket were so poor quality they were worthless. The start line area was a mess. Medical aid on the course was a jokethe station at mile 19 was completely unnmanned, possibly because the volunteer had to help a runner at mile 21 who was in dire straits due to dehydration. The only positives I can state are the course was scenic, the weather was nice, and the volunteers were outstanding. Also a nice big medal, if you're into that kind of thing. They get 5 stars, the race itself gets 0.

Lets start with the good. The website is awesome and packed with info. The finish medal is very nice. The official race shirt is a clean design and they offered options when registering so you could go short or long sleeve, as well as singlet I think. The course was absolutely beautiful. Being a small race, my family could get right up to the finish line to see me cross. They enjoyed the PA announcer reading off everyones names as they crossed the line too. Apparently there are going to be free digital pics and videos made available to all participants. I havent seen them yet but its only a few days after the race. Now for the bad. At the expo, they didnt have the shirt design in the size I ordered when I registered. To their credit they did offer me one of their retail shirts of equivalent value. The people staffing the Race Info desk at the expo didnt even know how many people had registered for the race. The shuttle busses that take you from Morrison to the start line boarded between 3:30 and 4:15, which meant a 2:45 alarm clock for me. I made it on the second bus which got me to the start line at 4:20am. There was really no place to sit, as the start line was just a gravel access road to an old ski area. The race was scheduled to begin at 6am but an announcement was made at 5:30 that the start would be pushed back to 6:20 due to bus issues. So everybody was on that schedule for bathroom use, peeling off warmups, stretching, dropping off drop bags, etc. Then at 6am they announced the start would be at 6:10 and this made for mass chaos as everyone had to accelerate their preparation. Overall waking up so early and sitting in gravel for 110 minutes and then being thrust into a mess of a start was the worst part of the race for me. The 5000 of descent was absolutely a quad shredder. The finish area was full of some really banged up people. And if you decide to run this race be aware that there are some significant uphill portions in the middle of the race. One more caution- it is impossible to run the tangents because only one lane of traffic was closed for us. As a result everyone that I talked to afterwards that were wearing GPS watches measured at least 26.5 miles. Also, if you rely on your phone when racing for either live tracking or some sort of app be aware that there were only a few spots along the course that had service.

The race director hired the ATS bus company to transport the runners to the start of the marathon. A judge told ATS in January that the company could not continue operating until certain things were completed by the company. Most of the busses did not show up to transport the runners to the start of the marathon/half marathon and 1700 runners were left without the opportunity to run the event. The race director had a duty to hire a bus company that was legally allowed to operate. The traffic getting to the parking area was in 'gridlock'. The volunteers were wonderful. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THIS RACE and I have run over 90 marathons.

I ran the 2015 REVEL Rockies Marathon as part of my attempt to run a marathon in all 50 states. It's a truly beautiful course and a unique experience, but I found that running down a steep downhill for 26.2 miles is not nearly as much fun as it sounds. If you're thinking that a downhill course = automatic PR/BQ, well . . . maybe . . . we're all different . . . but I'm a veteran marathoner - this was my 7th marathon of 2015 - and the ceaseless downhill pounding (along with cambered roadway) totally trashed my legs to the point that I had nothing left in last few miles. And my legs are more sore now (2 days after the race) than they were after my very first marathon. But who knows. Maybe the downhill will give you just enough added boost to lead you to that elusive PR. Or, like me, you may never want to run downhill again. Further details below: Logistics: You gotta have a car for this one. The expo and race venue are both a good 45-minute drive from the Denver airport. I stayed in Lakewood and it was an easy 10-minute drive to the shuttle loading area. Speaking of shuttles: There was a huge snafu with the shuttles this year. All runners had to park by a race track in Morrison, CO and take a shuttle bus to the start. The marathoners' shuttles left between 3:30 am - 4:15 am, the half marathoners' a little later. I got there at around 3:40 am and was able to get right on a bus. But apparently only about 1/2 of the buses showed up and things got ugly after that. So many of the half marathoners got stranded in the parking lot that the race organizers ended up cancelling the half marathon. As it was, the marathon start was delayed about 10 minutes while we waited for the last bus to arrive, but as far as I know all of the marathoners made it to the start. I have to believe that the race organizers are going to fix the shuttle situation next year. Expo: The expo was in a gym at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO. Pretty small expo; nothing extraordinary about it. I had no problem getting my race packet. Start area: The race start line was a pretty random spot in the middle of Squaw Pass Rd. The runners all congregated on what appeared to be a scenic overlook on the side of the road. It was quite chilly for mid-July, in the upper 40's when I arrived in the dark. The race staff handed out space blankets and cotton gloves to all runners and there was plenty of Gatorade, water, and coffee. The gear bag check area consisted of a box truck which runners (literally) threw their bags into. (I was a bit concerned about that, but in the finish area all of the gear bags were laid out in orderly, organized rows.) There weren't a lot of porta-potties in the start area, but I had no problem finding an open one when I got there. Later on, however, as more runners arrived, long lines formed. The runners who arrived on the last bus pretty much only had time to throw their bag in the truck before lining up for the start. The course: Yeah, it was gorgeous. Watching the sunrise from the start area was memorable. The race starts at around 10600' elevation and drops a total of around 4600' to the end. It is not straight downhill, however: For the first 11 miles or so it is a steep, constant downhill, but after that it flattens out a bit. Starting around mile 13, as the course passes through Evergreen,CO, there are 4 distinct, long, uphill sections. I actually enjoyed the variety of running uphill. After passing Evergreen the course begins to drop steadily again. It flattens out a bit at points, but gets steeper as you get closer to the end at Morrison. But the last .10 of a mile or so, in downtown Morrison, is UPHILL. Just kind of a kick in the pants at that point. Plus, the 26 mile marker was off, and it seemed to be a good 1/2 mile from there to the end. Everyone (like me) who likes to kick it in over the last .2 miles was in for a painful surprise, as I thought that finish line was never going to appear. Regarding the elevation: I'm a flatlander (from Texas) and had never run at that high an elevation before. I definitely felt it at the beginning. For the first couple of miles or so I was sucking for air and felt a bit light-headed. But it cleared up by around the 5 mile point and I was fine after that. Note: The roadway is HEAVILY CAMBERED in many spots. That may have had as much to do with trashing my legs as the downhill. On-course support: Plenty of water stops staffed with enthusiastic, helpful volunteers. There was both water and Gatorade at all stops, and goo packets were handed out at several of the stops. There was a mixture of paper and plastic cups; the water was in plastic and the Gatorade was in paper. I guess that helped to tell the 2 apart, but I really hate trying to drink from a plastic cup while running. I noticed a few porta-potties at some of the stops along the way, but I wasn't really looking for them. I did see many of the runners taking advantage of the nice wooded areas on both sides of the road. Finish area: After navigating the nasty uphill finishing chute, the race ended at a nice, shaded park. There was plenty of food and drink available (due in part to the absence of the half marathoners). It was a further uphill walk to a parking lot for gear bag retrieval. Then there was a bit of a slog - maybe 1/2 mile - to get on a shuttle bus for a ride back to the parking area. Weather: As mentioned, the weather was great for mid-July. 40's at the start, maybe in the 60's at the end. It was overcast early, but the sun came out later on. There is zero shade in the last half of the course and I worked up quite a sweat in the sun. Race shirt/medal: You had a choice of a long-sleeve or short-sleeve shirt. I went with the short-sleeve. It is a pretty nondescript grey, but it'll work as a training shirt. Very nice medal - big and heavy and all-metal. The medal's a keeper. Overall impression: Well, I'm glad I did it, but I won't do it again. There is definitely a market out there for these downhill screamers, but they're not for me. I know that the race organizers are going to catch all kind of h*ll for the shuttle screw-up, but clearly the shuttle bus company was at fault. Overall I thought everything was very well organized and I wouldn't dissuade anyone from doing this race next year just because of the shuttle fiasco.

7/19/15 half canceled due to poor management. I am so disappointed, so many reasons, along with everyone else today. You leave thousands stranded at bus lots, who got there early or time, with NO communication. After 1.5 hours of waiting, and to cancel the half. And 2 poor volunteers in charge of telling thousands waiting. No other options, well so we were told, but now I see half marathoners results on the website. We were told we could NOT drive, otherwise I would have. You had no contingency plan, no communication plan, that was the worst part. You can't blame the bus company - it is your race, your responsibility. Race officials at the bus lots from the beginning would have been a huge help. It is like you were all hiding... I was so looking forward to the views, the beauty of Colorado that I love so much. I feel so so so sorry for those who traveled here for a great get away and are left with a sour taste of Colorado now. I feel so so so sorry for those this was their first race. Or those Full Marathoners who didn't even make it to the start to qualify for Boston. After my 10 AWESOME Rock n Roll races last year, travel plans were tight this year, so a local race was welcomed. But I will not be looking to run a Revel race anytime soon. Shame on you for not even getting on social media yet to take ownership.

If you run this marathon, be warned that for 2015, the organization of the buses to the start for both the marathon and half marathon was horrible. For the full marathon, about 100-120 runners could not get a bus to the start and hence did not run. Note these people had waited in line since 4:15am which was the designated time. If at that time the organizers had just told us that they were having problems with the buses, all of us could have arranged our own transportation to the start. For some who had come from out of town, this was a very expensive and frustrating experience. For half marathoners, I can not speak personally about their experience but I can say that at about 6:00am, there were probably 1000-1500 waiting for buses. Most had been waiting the better part of a hour or more. I have run 30 marathons must say this one has been the worst organized.

Get to the bus line. Wait for 2 hours. At 6 am (race time start) we flag down a bus she agrees to take a load to the start. Get stopped in Evergreen - they're not allowing any traffic up the mountain. UNBELIEVABLE !!! Race entry, flight, hotel, rental car. Not poor organization NO organization. Buses were loaded for the half marathon first. Couldn't get majority of half runners up so they cancelled the half!!!! Absolutely no excuse .

This was my first marathon. After running more than ten halves, I decided to run a full and I'm so happy I chose REVEL Rockies. The race was beautiful!! It was all downhill, very organized, every mile marker had pictures and motivation, and the medals were HUGE. I had so much fun at this race and never 'hit the wall' which is a huge accomplishment for my first full marathon. Such a phenomenal race with great organizers!

Very scenic course. The host hotel was very accommodating and it was easy to get to start line with the race provided shuttle. I recommend altitude and elevation training for the best run experience.

It's a really unique and fun experience to just run (or fly) downhill. I hope this race (and the organizer's other ones) really catch on. It seemed flawless to me, which I wouldn't have expected for an inaugural race. Pros: great organization; this was my 15th marathon, and they arranged a smoother event than many of the more-established races pre-race communications were very good the small race means that there are many age-group winners the runners' race bags include a metallic heat blanket and throwaway gloves aid stations were consistent (~2mi apart, with water and gatorade at every one and GUs/candy at a few of them) great qualifier for Boston (many people had 10+ min PRs) no issues with parking every mile is marked (but bring your own watch if you want your splits) free massages at the end (though many fewer masseuses than at Big Cottonwood, which is another awesome race) your race pictures are included! there was a band and a beer stand for post-race entertainment Cons: small expo (I don't really care about them anyways) no real crowd support, aside from the volunteers faster marathon runners will run among (slower) half-marathoners, but it wasn't much of an issue there is light traffic in the opposite direction (there's a full lane blocked for runners, but the other lane is open to infrequent traffic) post-race food/snacks were ok, but not as good as at Big Cottonwood

This is a fast course but come prepared to absorb the pounding that a 5000 foot elevation change is going to dish out. The starting elevation of 10,000 feet did not seem to be a big issue, but I live at 4000 feet with plenty of steep hills to train on so I am sure that helped. It was very hard to control your pace on the 1st half due to the steep grade. I was 5 minutes too fast at the split and then had to work very hard to hang on for my PR and a BQ. Really glad I ran this race. A good physical test, absolutely beautiful and well organized for a first year. I would recommend this to others, but if you are looking for a PR, make sure you get plenty of steep downhill running in your training plan. I've never seen so many runners hobbling that badly at a finish line..... Me included.

Total downhill, 5000 ft elevation loss. It is a quad buster. Start at 10k ft didn't really bother me coming from sea level. For an inaugural run, organization was stellar - Logistics, web site, execution. Beautiful course and weather, highly recommended. My only gripe is it took forever to exit after the race since the course crossed in front of the parking exit.

Ran Revel Rockies since my wife is chasing the states. Together, we have run over 200 marathons, and this was one of the best...and worst. On the positive side - the organization could not be better. Everything went perfectly - from the expo, through results. Beyond beautiful course. It rivals Big Sur and Logan, Utah, and others, for scenery. On the downside (all personal), I fell apart with the high altitude start. As a flatlander, my body could not adapt. That slowed me down significantly and exposed me to the 85 degree heat at the end. Even though I personally struggled, it is a wonderful race. Congrats to those that coordinated the event.

This went pretty well for an inaugural race. A few miscues: Course time limit added after registration opened, change of venue for packet pick up (unknown if I wasn't notified or if I forgot to look at an email), only gatorade (no water) at some aid stations, no cups at some aid stations. These are just logistic hiccups, though, that I read commonly amongst inaugural races, even when put on by experienced companies. Had a great time regardless.