Huff to Bluff Marathon Miles 15.25 – Mile 22 I wanted to give you a heads up on what to expect on the second half of the marathon course since the elevation maps we have created don’t really capture the look and feel of this section. Put most briefly, you will find rolling hills between miles 15 to 22. None are particularly steep (easy for me to say on race day as I wait for you in Bluff) but hills are hills, particularly in a marathon. The great news is once you reach mile 22, it really is all downhill to the finish (in the good sense of “downhill” – I mean, hey, you’ve trained for this and you’re ready!) In all, you will climb about 160 feet between mile 15.25 and mile 18.25 in 4 or so separate “rollers.” You will then drop about 75 feet between 18.25 and 19.25. From there, you’ll have 3 rollers before you reach mile 22. These hills range between 20 – 45 feet over a distance of .5 mile to 1 mile each. Here are a few pictures and some data to help you prepare. The course gives before it takes: At mile 14.25 you will begin your descent of White Mesa Hill. In just over a mile, you will DROP 315 feet (from 5220 feet to 4905 feet). The climbing beings: At mile 15.3 you will climb 95 feet over .80 miles -­‐the steepest you’ll encounter. The good news is you just ran a quick mile coming down White Mesa Hill. After leveling out briefly, at mile 16.2 you begin another climb of 35 feet over the next .75 miles. Mile 16.85 gives you another hill to conquer. Chew it up! You’re feeling it! Mile 17.5. You will climb 28 feet over the next .75 mile. So says my Garmin 305 anyway. At mile 18.25 you get a mile that is mostly downhill. However, you can see the next hill coming up on the right. The course is just tying to psych you out. Enjoy the downhill to the fullest! At mile 19.25 you will begin climbing 70 feet or so over the next 2.75 miles. Miles 22: The descent to the finish line You will drop 460 feet from mile 22 to the finish line with much of this being found at mile 25 when you drop into Cow Canyon just outside of Bluff. I hope these pictures give you a sense for this section of the course. I know hills are a bummer, particularly when we are tired already. We will keep a close eye on the temperature and throw in an extra aid station if needed to make sure you have what you need to stay cool as you take on this section. I don’t think you’ll find these rollers too burdensome, but I wanted to make you aware so that you can be ready to growl ‘em back rather than look nervous and scared. If you do that, they might think they can bite you and get away with it. I have run this course many times and I certainly feel the hills but my splits do not usually drop significantly compared to the other sections of the course. I think this is because every mile has a fair amount of downhill mixed in. If you would like to see the chart of this section of the course, you can find it at: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/53782200 Looking forward to seeing you in May. Ryan