Matthew Lysne's Staging Area

I really loved this race. Out of the 11 I’ve now completed, I would put this at or near the top for a combination of reasons: the gentle course, excellent logistics before and during the race, the nice weather, the very solid aid stations, and the surprisingly enormous crowd support on the course (they say 200,000+ and I actually wouldn’t doubt that, it was at least 100,000 by my internal counter.) The only ‘knock’ I’ll give is for the folks who like swag, the medal was bland, the T-shirt was bland, and the goodie-bag was…a bag. (The expo was quite nice though). If there’s one thing though that blew me away was the City of Houston. I had never been to the city, and I really enjoyed my stay in the downtown area, and I thought that the course selection did a nice job in showing off some nice neighborhoods and parts of the city. (I would not call it a beautiful run though, it was definitely an urban run with a fair amount of running through sprawl.) I loved Houston and look forward to returning. (I’d run this race again in a heartbeat but need to factor in that I’m running in other states as well.)

I really did not know what to expect when I signed up for this race out of the blue–I signed up for the Wyoming and Utah legs of the Bear Lake Trifecta. I had never been to Utah. I signed up because I like running in different states and because it was there. It is a 50-stater draw, which I didn’t really realize what that meant, but I liked it, and the vibe of the runners (very friendly, not competitive, and very supportive.)

This race ended up being my favorite of the 8ish marathons I have run thus far. It is a very small-town race, with a small field of 50 runners. The marathon itself is an out-and-back run in a beautiful area on quiet farming roads (traffic safety could be an issue in theory, but there’s not a lot of cars–most are traveling in support). The race is at altitude, I think in the 6,000-foot range, but I didn’t experience much in terms of extra fatigue or suffering (and I came from sea level the night before). The race is fairly flat but with some legitimate rollers that make you remember it’s Wyoming–it is not a PR or BQ course to say the least. Especially when weather is factored in, with it being fully exposed to the sun (we had 70-80 degree temperatures by the end.)

The setup was, in my opinion, a brilliant idea, as the out-and-back allowed for setting up aid stations that would serve both directions, and also cut (in half) the number of volunteers necessary to man the tables. (Keep in mind the City of Cokeville has 500 people per the city sign). The aid station support was the best I’ve ever seen in any race, with a huge spread of options at *most* tables (and some variety along the way too)–water, gatorade, gels, pretzels, chips, fruit snacks, bananas, etc.

In terms of spectators, there are basically cows, with one exception. Don’t expect many or any locals except perhaps at the start and finish. However, I found that the spectator support was surprisingly good–and that came from the friends/family who drove along and supported their runner, and from the aid station crews. Over the race, there were 5-10 or so cars stopping at various points along the race, and you could get to know those supporters. I liked that kind of intimacy and had a lot of conversations with those supporters at the finish line. (I ended up toward the front of the pack, finishing eighth with a 4:26 time, so I mention that the spectator support could seem a lot less if you were running a fair bit slower, since there will be fewer support).

Again, I was really impressed with this race. I came in with uncertain expectations and expected that I probably wouldn’t like it or that it would be “meh.” My expectations were totally wrong–I loved the race (and the race the following day.)