REVEL Big Bear Marathon Course Guide

Yes, and this is the single most important thing to know before you use Big Bear for a Boston Qualifying attempt. Starting with the 2027 Boston qualifying cycle, the BAA adds a 10 minute time penalty to submitted marathon times run on courses with 3,000 to 5,999 feet of net downhill, and Big Bear's roughly 5,000 foot drop places it squarely in that bucket. In practice, that means if you want your Big Bear finish time to count toward a 2027 or later Boston application, you need to run about 10 minutes faster than your actual BQ standard to clear the adjustment. Build that penalty into your goal time from day one of training, not as an afterthought.

It is genuinely hard on the legs despite the net downhill making it one of the fastest marathon courses in California, with reported BQ rates around 38 to 40 percent. After Angelus Oaks around mile 9, the final 17 miles average roughly a 4.7 percent downhill grade, a sustained descent of about 4,223 feet. That much continuous downhill running is a serious eccentric load on your quads, and runners who show up without downhill-specific training often find themselves slowing dramatically in the last few miles as their legs simply give out, even though the course is helping them the entire way.

Train the descent specifically in the months before the race: repeated downhill running builds the eccentric quad strength that keeps your stride intact after 17 miles of continuous drop. On race day, resist running the early downhill miles at a pace that feels effortless just because gravity is doing the work; an even, controlled effort protects your quads for the final miles, when accumulated downhill damage, not fitness, is usually what slows people down. REVEL provides official pacers, which is a real asset here since a pacer running smart effort can help you avoid the common mistake of going out too fast simply because the grade lets you.

Both the marathon and half marathon start at 6:00 AM. The course time limit is based on a 15:00 per mile pace, which works out to 6 hours 33 minutes, and the finish line closes at 1:03 PM. Given how much of this course is downhill, that limit is generous relative to the distance, but plan your morning around the pre-dawn bus transfer to the mountain start, which involves a cold wait before the gun.

Registration is open, no lottery and no qualifying time required to enter. That makes Big Bear an accessible race to sign up for, though the point is usually to chase a fast time or a Boston Qualifier once you are in, not simply to finish.

The mountain start in early November runs cold, potentially near or below freezing at the gun given the elevation, and the course warms as you descend toward Redlands. Dress in removable layers for the cold, exposed start and expect meaningfully warmer conditions by the finish, similar in spirit to other high-start, low-finish downhill courses.