I ran the Revel Big Cottonwood half marathon on Saturday, September 8th, 2018 with my bf. We flew from Florida on that Friday. I had received my race packet in the mail a week before the race. I selected this option before know what day I was going to fly in and just in case I missed the expo. I paid extra to get a long sleeve shirt in an XS and it fits wells and looks good.. The race packet also included a pair of gloves, safety blanket, a revel hat and my race bib. My bf decided to race last minute so we actually did go to the expo on Friday to pick up his race packet. The expo was from 10am-8pm. When picking up his race packet at the expo, he actually received a few extra things that are not included when receiving it by mail. He had a box of pancake mix and some other treats that he ended up giving away because we’re vegan and the snacks weren’t. Guess I wasn’t missing out on anything. The expo had revel backdrops to take photos with, and Revel apparel for sale, hydration packs, shoes, sunglasses and also last minute race fuels like Gu’s, chews and gels.

We stayed at one of the host hotels, which included airport transportation, expo transportation, and transportation to the start line. This was important to us as we did not rent a car. Race morning 3 buses showed up at 4AM and were told to load in between 4-430am. The first bus was a coach bus and the 2 remaining buses were school buses. We came out closer to 4:30am so we were on the school bus. It took about 25 minutes to get to the start line of Big cottonwood Canyon so we just sat wrapped in our Mylar blanket with our gloves on until the 630am start. There were plenty of porta-potties to use pre race and lines weren’t that long because there were so many. It was such a chili morning, I was so happy that I decided to wear sweat pants over my shorts.

About 15 minutes before start, there was a last call for bag drops. I took off my sweat pants and put them into my drop bag and placed it onto the truck that would meet us at the finish line. Not until I took off my sweat pants was it hard not to shiver. It was about 54 degrees F that morning. I wish I had brought some hot coffee or tea along with me. We then lined up in the different paces. The half marathon had 6 pacers. We lined up with the 2:20 pacer as this was my first downhill race and I didn’t know what to expect. The first 7 miles are nice and downhill but there was a small uphill around mile 9ish for about 2 miles and that was the hardest part. The last mile was pretty downhill though. The whole course is so beautiful, the scenery took my breath away alone.

There were photographers and there were sometimes a sign in some areas to let you know that a photographer was upcoming which was pretty cool. The course wasn’t crowded ever which was nice. There were so many spectators about a mile out that had some very clever signs that were funny and enough to get your spirits back up. There was hydration tables about every 2 miles supplied with PowerAde and water. I would get both. There was one table about 9 miles in that had energy gus. There was also a popsicle stop near the end. After crossing the finish line I was handed a cold ice towel, my medal and a banana and then I sat by the fence to wait for my bf to cross the finish line so that we could go into the finish “party” together. The medals were huge and beautiful, I love the blue and the charm hanging on it.

We went to take some pictures with the revel backdrop and grab our drop bag. Bringing our flip-flops in our drop bag was such a good idea as I could not wait to take off my sneakers and slide on my comfortable flip-flops. We both wanted to relax with a beer so we waited for the Beer Garden to open. We both had showed our I.D’s at the expo in exchange for a wristband so we would not have to carry our I.D’s with us on race day. We got our free beers and sat on the grass and chatted with other finishers and just hung out for a while. After the free beer, beers were then $5. There were also free pizza tickets but we gave ours away. The hotel shuttle picked us up from the finish line.

There was so much positive energy at this event, we had such a great time. Race day photos were uploaded the day after the race. I heard some people got there’s via Facebook but I am not on Facebook yet so I downloaded mine from the site. The race was well organized and I can’t find any true flaws. I shall return.