After running a slow marathon in Modesto, I saw the Revel Mount Charleston Marathon was on the calendar.  I always wanted to do a super downhill marathon and this one has a lot of downhill elevation.  Over 5000 feet of descent.  It was windy and cold in Las Vegas the day before.  Even saw some snow flurries after the race expo and driving to the drop off and finish line area.  Wow.  My alarm did not go off because I set it for PM.  Oops.  As I jumped up and got ready, I could make it to the bus right in the middle of the wide time slot.  Whew, but no time to waste.  Good thing I had everything staged and ready.  Nice bus, nice comfortable bus ride, nice organized start area.  But the cold and the fresh snow was keeping me and everyone else quiet and calm.  My throwaway layers were nice and warm, especially my $10 winter snow gloves.  It was a good call, my hands were toasty

Dumped my sweat pants before getting in the start crowd.  Dumped the gloves at the start line as I jogged by.  Uphill BTW.  But the road turns and now we are going downhill.  Yahoo!  It is getting light and the view of the mountains and horizon are very nice.  It's was a great day.  Windy and cool.  But very nice and did I say windy?  The mile marker signs were very tall and hinged at the top.  They were horizontal and the wind was mostly a cross wind.  Some times annoying, but not really bad.  After running in the open, we turn and run into a residential area.  This felt flat to up after all those downhill miles.  Mile markers were sparse after 20 miles but my watch was accurate.  The last miles went by fast and next thing I knew I crossed, hit my watch and was done.  3:43.  A great result that will get me into next year's Boston with a nice cushion.  I need 3:50 for my age and I will have seven minutes to beat any cut off.  Yes, a great result.  I feel great!

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