The marathon begins on Guardsman Pass and runs straight downhill among the canyon cliffs. After exiting the pass the route proceeds around the Brighton Loop at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon followed by gorgeous views of Big Cottonwood Creek for nearly 15 miles to the mouth of the canyon. Runners enjoy an average 5% grade during this stretch. Make sure you train appropriately for this downhill section as downhill running works your muscles differently than flat or uphill.
After exiting the canyon the marathon course will go under Wasatch Boulevard and continue through Cottonwood Heights over to the Old Mill Corporate Center. Runners will proceed under I-215 and enter the city of Holladay through Knudsen Park.
Runners will get to enjoy the beautiful streets of Holladay while running on Holladay Blvd, Arbor Lane, and Highland Drive. Following this loop, runners will enter the city of Murray and finish at Cottonwood High School.
The steep downhill grade can be very hard on the quadriceps - especially for those who have not trained for downhills.
If your quads and lungs survive, the course can be fast.
*Weather data is from the finish line. Temperatures will be much cooler (20-30° F cooler) at the start and gets warmer as runners travel down the mountain.
The REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon was the 43rd largest marathon in the U.S. last year and was the 59th largest in 2022.
This year 11.3% of finishers qualified for the Boston Marathon and 21.3% of runners qualified for Boston in 2023.
This gives the REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon the 48th highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in the U.S. last year and the 128th highest percentage so far in 2024.
Its Course Score of 103.76 ranks it as the 12th fastest marathon course in the U.S. and the 2nd fastest course in Utah.
The typical race time temperature and humidity levels are within the ideal range for optimal marathon performance. This, coupled with the Course Score, gives the REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon a PR Score of 103.76. This PR Score ranks it as the 9th fastest marathon in the U.S. and the 2nd fastest in Utah.
Learn more about PR Scores and Course Scores on the FAQ page.
REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon Elevation Chart
Max Elevation: 9625 feet (2934m) Min Elevation: 4377 feet (1334m)
Hotel & VRBO Accommodations for the REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon
View available accomodations around the REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon Finish Line and Course. Book your Reservation now before the best places are sold out.
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How Fast Can You Go?
If you ran the REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon in 5:04:00, what would your time in other marathons be?
See how your race times would compare on other marathon courses with our time conversion tool.
CS's review of 2024 REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon.
5 /
5 Stars
Review
Revel puts on a great event. Top notch communication, race swag, expo, bus organization etc. I would highly recommend the race. I trained consistently for a 3:20 at sea level and in Arkansas humidity and met my goal in 3:19:46. I did not notice altitude having an effect. Great weather in the canyon but gets hot/flat with some inclines in the last 10K.
Race Tips
Build a time cushion in from miles 5-18 and let gravity help you. You will need every ounce of the time cushion for the last 10K
Emily Gray's review of 2024 REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon.
4 /
5 Stars
Review
The start is cold, dress warm but use that drop bag and shed at the start. Yes mile 4 is hard, don't let it get to you. 1-18 is amazing, stunning, fun, honestly spiritual. The last 6 miles of city running will test you.
Stay close to start so you don't have to worry about traffic in the morning!
CED's review of 2019 REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon.
2 /
5 Stars
Review
The scenery is outstanding. The organization is great. No crowds until after Mile 18. The drop is severe for this mountain stretch, and your quads will take a beating.
Race Tips
Must hill train, unless you really think you are built for the mile descent. it was about 40 degrees at the start, but in the 70s at the finish. I wore a sleeveless top. Good choice. BANK TIME! See below.
Please pay attention to this: I had an easy BQ by 5 minutes up until Mile 18. The "out and back" at that point is abysmal. It will seem uphill both ways for you. I lost several minutes as it's uphill and much hotter than when you start at 10k feet. YOU MUST BANK TIME ON THE FIRST 18. GOT IT? Yes, your quads will hurt, but just do it. You may not walk well for a few days, but you do want to BQ, right? Then bank about 10 minutes so you can put up with the last 8 miles. Good luck! We liked the Residence Inn.
SM's review of 2018 REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon.
5 /
5 Stars
Review
Everything, great organization, beautiful course, fast course, weekly facebook live free coaching tips, everything as expected, no race day surprise.
Race Tips
Follow weekly facebook live coaching (free) by Revel coach, Paul Carmona. It helps to strategize your pacing. Everything else is taken care of by Revel, race day bussing, parking, on course hydration, after race nutrition/recovery.
Get any hotel nearby the race day parking/bussing area. May need to drive to the parking area the day before to get familiar. Also a lot of food options/restaurants there as your training needs. On race day get there by 4:30 to give yourself enough time for port-a-john at the starting area.
Andy R's review of 2017 REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon.
5 /
5 Stars
Review
This was not my first choice for my initial BQ attempt but really glad it worked out! Fast course, Size was perfect, plenty of aid stations, good local cheering!
Race Tips
When I heard about the dramatic downhill of this course I got scared. My advice- drive the course the day before. This totally calmed me down. Yes, it sure has a lot of downhill but only a few sections were really steep. I planned on going out just under my BQ pace but found that very hard. I was told to shorten my stride and have quicker step turnover. This was the best advice ever!! My avg pace for the first 19 miles was 30 seconds faster then planned and without the "long stride pounding" on the downhill my quads held up ok. Yes- Be prepared for the change in the out and back, it definitely was the hardest part of the course. All in all- I got my BQ by 8 min and PR'd by 23 min!!
Since this was a last min decision to run this course I just grabbed the cheapest, closest hotel to the start. Due to the size of the race I was able to get parking no problem and only walked 5 min to the busses. ALSO- I was planning on running in Idaho the same day but the fires made smoke so bad that running seemed unhealthy. Really grateful that this race still had entries the morning before so I could "road trip" down and make my BQ dream a reality. THANK YOU REVEL!!
4.4 Stars from 16 Reviews
