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☰
Big Cottonwood Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Big Cottonwood Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.4 
Organization 4.5 
Spectators 3.8
Number of comments: 155 [displaying comments 131 to 141]
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C. J. from bountiful, Utah
(11/22/2013)
"Fastest course I've ever run!" (about: 2013)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Big Cottonwood Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I Had A Great Experience Running This Race. It Is A Beautiful, Very Downhill Course. I Was Able To PR By 15 Minutes And Win My Age Group! I Look Forward To Running Again Next Year. | |
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C. S. from Sandy utah
(11/22/2013)
"Some of the most fun I could have while running." (about: 2013)
3 previous marathons
| 2 Big Cottonwood Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Gorgeous (and fast) course. The finish line has the best food and felt like a party. This was my second time running big cottonwood and I'm excited to sign up for a third. | |
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E. V. from Utah
(11/22/2013)
"Loved the course. Great race!" (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Big Cottonwood Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 A+ on everything about this race. Made me eager for my next marathon! | |
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N. A. from North Carolina
(11/11/2013)
"Beautiful and very challenging!" (about: 2013)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Big Cottonwood Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I thought the race was well done and well supported. This was my first marathon and my legs were toast by mile 21. I knew coming into the race the downhill would be brutal on my quads(understatement). I thought the support for the race was great, and the volunteers were enthusiastic. I hope to travel from NC again to do it again next year. | |
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J. H. from Los Angeles
(10/29/2013)
"Not the high attitude, but the steep downhills" (about: 2013)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Big Cottonwood Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Course is good but super steep, never ran any hills this steep. It makes ojai unborn baby hills. The attitude wasn't much a factor as I come from L.A. In sea level. As u are up in 10,000 feet with thin air but you gain more oxygen as u run downhill so your lung is actually ok. It is the steep downhills that kill your legs. In ojai my body can do lean forward to gain speed, here, you can't lean forward otherwise you would roll down. U got to put on some brakes on some of the steep hills, did I mention 'steep' again? The course turned flat around mile 18, by then your legs were so beat up from rolling down. Around mile 19, I saw a young male runner was in an emergency oxygen mask in a first aid tent, his fellow runners were all around him, he looked back at me as I ran by him. That scene haunted me. The one thing they can definitely improve is the bag pickup after the race. They just laid everyone's bags which they provided during the packet pickup so they all looked the same. Some name tags were provided but when u have hundred of the same bag laid around, u still need to go thru them one by one. They are supposed to be in alphabetical order but not quite. Took me 40 mins to find my bag. They need to just hire some kids to look off the bags for u. Just guy even yelled out 'I would give u ten bucks if u can find my bag!'.... | |
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l. r. from houston
(10/22/2013)
"super fast course!!!! half marathon" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This was my 23rd half marathon and I PR'd by 12 minutes!! You must train for the steep downhill course though. Expo was small but ok, great tech shirt, gender specific, great medal, post race food was ok, and your pictures are free. I plan to do the full in two years in hopes to qualify for Boston. Absolutley beautiful course, but was focusing on footing, hardly had time to notice the beautiful scenery in the canyon. Ample porta potties and aid stations, not very many spectators at all, none in the canyon, which was nice and peaceful compared to Chicago a week ago. I hope they do not change the downhill course, I believe this is my only hopes of qualifing for Boston | |
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K. G. from Arizona
(9/21/2013)
"Brutal descent" (about: 2013)
50+ previous marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 This is a marathon for runners who do 5 hours or less. Aid stations pulled early, no support for the runners at the back of the pack, no one checking on runners, ? Medical - non existent. Canyon beautiful but unable to enjoy because concentrating on tortuous course. | |
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D. M. from Franklin, ID
(9/20/2013)
"Pros and Cons" (about: 2013)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Big Cottonwood Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 There were many good things about this race...nice technical dark colored shirt, decent little expo, very nice finisher's medal, lovely scenery for the first 17 miles, a fair amount of port-a-potties, and of course AWESOME volunteers that make it happen. However, be cautious about all the 'raving reviews' on the Facebook page. Anything that isn't 100% positive is deleted after you post. I know, because I dared to ask a question about the late start (in addition to praising all the good things), and my post was gone the next day. So, I'll share the 'cons' here. First, you are bused up to about 10,000 feet the middle of nowhere in the dark (and this year, threatening rain), and provided no shelter, water, or warmth at all. They did have cotton gloves and space blankets in the race bags, but a tent, and/or heaters or small contained fires, were what was needed. Then, after 2+ hours of waiting there for the start, we had to wait another 30 minutes, apparently due to some kind of bus problem (which nobody has fully explained or apologized for). Thank goodness the rain didn't come until later (but some were still caught in it in the last miles due to the late start). I'm sorry, but that is the one mandatory element for me...start the race on time! Now, as for other disappointing items, I stayed with the 4:05 pacer for the last 6 miles, and finished right behind him and his group. I was shocked to see the clock show almost 4:10. I'm not complaining about that finishing time, as it was good for me, but when I'm running with a pacer I expect him to be on the advertised pace. Since I've run a LOT of marathons, I was also somewhat disappointed in the post race food. The primary sponsor is a food company, so I expected more. All that said, if your legs can stand up to the downhill, you're practically guaranteed a good finishing time. Like I said, there are a lot of positives to this race, but also some definite areas for improvement. | |
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r. b. from Phoenix
(9/19/2013)
"Fast, gorgeous for 18 miles, then slow and tough" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Big Cottonwood Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The first 18 miles of canyon is spectacular scenery and fast, but the 5000' descent takes a huge toll on your legs. Even with all the hill and strength training my group and I did, our legs were toast after miles 18-20, which resulted in slower times and painful last miles. I have never seen so many runners walking the last miles of a marathon. The starting 9800' altitude also was tough the first 5 miles, though perhaps the locals who train there don't feel it as much. This would make a great half marathon. Also, there was no starting line music, road clocks and the half marathon marker. | |
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K. B. from Chicago
(9/18/2013)
"Not quite the PR course you think it is." (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Big Cottonwood Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This marathon hypes itself as being a good BQ or PR course. That might be true, if you live in Denver or somewhere else where you are acclimated to the higher altitude and severe downhill grade. I mean, you run DOWN a canyon - it ain't as easy as it seems! And there aren't a lot of spectators encouraging you along the way. Lack of spectators isn't a big deal to me, but if it is for you - be prepared at the lack of them in the canyon. That being said, it's a well-organized event with beautiful scenery. Based on comments here from last year's event, the expo appears to have improved. The organizers do a good job of catering to the runners. The tee shirts and medal are high quality. If the grade weren't as severe, and if runners didn't start at almost 2 miles up the canyon, someone from the flatlands like myself could possibly obtain a PR. Once I got control of my breathing, settled into a relatively comfortable pace and realized I wouldn't get that coveted PR, I took out my camera and soaked in the scenery. It's awe-inspiring, and I'm glad I ran this marathon just for that alone. This year's race did have a major technical problem when two of the buses could not climb the last 3 miles of the canyon, and the organizers had to cram runners on available buses to get them to the start. However, the race started only 30 minutes late, and the organizers were good with keeping those of us at the start line informed. Our group stayed at one of the hotels recommended on the race website - the Crystal Inn. Wow! Staff there did everything for us but run the marathon! Runners got a free pasta dinner, shuttle service and a bag of breakfast goodies to take on the bus up the canyon. We were very impressed with their service. Bottom line: if you are looking for your BQ or PR - this may not be your race. Although we spoke with quite a few half-marathon participants who DID get that PR - that event starts further down the canyon where the altitude and grade are not as severe. But if you want a well-organized, challenging race with beautiful scenery, sign up today! |
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