Race Report: 2023 Red Rock Canyon Marathon
22 Jan 2023 fitness
Summary
- What: Red Rock Canyon Marathon
- When: Saturday, January 21, 2023
- Where: Las Vegas, NV
- Distance: Run 26.2M
- Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8429851182
- Finish time: 3:51:13
Discussion
I get restless when I’m not working towards something, so I signed up for this race to keep me busy (and fit) during the otherwise quiet months of December and January. It definitely surpassed my expectations.
First and foremost, the course was stunning. The pictures below don’t do it justice, but have a look anyways. Second, the race itself was surprisingly well run for such a small event: reliable email communication leading up to race day, on-time shuttles, smooth packet pickup, well-stocked aid stations. A+ for logistics.
I’m also really happy with my performance in this race. I ended up finishing in 9th place overall out of 97 finishers - way better than I expected. I also finished under my goal time of four hours, which allowed me to catch the early shuttle back to the hotel and shower before my flight later that day. The course was really challenging thanks to the elevation changes throughout, but I appreciated the variety of running that the ascents and descents elicited. It was fun to bound downhill for almost four miles straight, and it was rewarding to reach the top of a steep climb.
I feel like I owe most of my success to my new shoes, which gave me a ton of extra pep during the race and saved my joints from the impact of the descents. Normally my knees and ankles ache after a flat, long run, but they felt completely fine - if not better than usual - after this race. On top of that, despite the shoes not being “broken in,” they were extremely comfortable and didn’t give me any blisters.
Speaking of, “Don’t try anything new on race day,” the race was also the first time I tried to consume gels whilst wearing Invisalign trays. It was difficult (to consume them and avoid getting any on the trays), but doable, thankfully. I also wore new shorts that ended up being more comfortable than my usual pair. Man, I got lucky.
Aside: the night before the race, I only got four hours of sleep. Nerves, excitement, blah. For breakfast, I had a banana, a granola bar, and a leftover breadstick. During the race, I had stomach cramps, and I’m not sure if it was the lack of sleep or the breakfast. Need to experiment…
Anyways, congrats to my bus buddy, Sky, for finishing his first marathon. You’re a badass dude and I hope we get to meet again later in life. And thanks to Lav, my other bus buddy, for the electrolyte powder. It came in super handy later that day.
Lessons learned:
- Make sure to leave enough time to stretch before the race
- Put electrolytes in the race bag for after the race
