Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon

Sat, 27 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon starts at 9,500 feet in the Spring Mountains outside Las Vegas and drops nearly 5,000 feet to the desert floor. It was about 35 degrees with snow at the top and close to 80 by the finish once the sun came up.

My dad tried to get me to skip the race. I had been in Vegas doing as one does in Vegas and got about three hours of sleep. I was having none of it.

I got up at 4 AM and made it to the start line.

The first 19 miles went well. Then the heat, the altitude swing, and the previous night’s decisions caught up to me all at once. I hit the wall hard around mile 20 and the last 10K was pure survival.

I finished in 4:01:39. Then I laid on the ground for a while. Then the med tent. Morgan had to wheel me through the hotel lobby in a wheelchair.

A lot of things could have been better about this one. But I finished.

Distance: 26.2 miles Time: 4:01:39 Avg Pace: 9:07/mi Elevation Loss: ~5,000 ft (net downhill) Start Elevation: 9,543 ft Finish Elevation: 4,732 ft Avg HR: 157 bpm

Las-Vegas | Austin Semmel

Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon