Sure, it may look easy, but wrap your head around the mountain.

If running a long course is nearly as much a mental exercise as a physical one, the downhill REVEL marathons will give your brain a workout.

All three races start out with blazing-fast, downhill slopes, which combined with a runner's natural inclination to come out the gate hot, may give rise to exuberance at the start that leads to burnout later on.

Moreover, the three courses are not steady descents. Rockies comes closest, with 2,887 feet of elevation loss in the first half and 1,653 feet in the final half, while Big Cottonwood and Canyon City level off even more. Both include uphill sections, with a gradual but steady ascent for a couple of miles after the midpoint of Canyon City contrasting with the steep downhill during the first half of the race.

Any race is a test of wills, the runner against his or her own physical limitations. That's even more true when fast and comparatively easy downhills give way to tougher terrain.

It's important to study the course as closely as possible either by viewing a map and profile, or by running or driving it in advance if possible, said Mark Minichiello, a Los Angeles-based running coach.

"I stress visualization a lot," he said. "If you're running for a p.r., you want to know what the course looks like. You don't want any surprises."

Jackie Miller Stevens ran REVEL Canyon City despite a tear in her right hip, which kept her from the longest downhill training runs. Instead, she alternated downhill and uphill runs with stairs and weight training for her lower body. A resident of San Gabriel near the course, she nonetheless avoided mountain roads for safety reasons, and did much of her training on a treadmill.

She said the second half of the race was tough both physically and mentally, but she's not about to give up. Having done the race once with a 4:07 finish, she's ready to tackle it again in 2016.

"I want to get the mental part of it out of the way so if it hurts, I'm prepared for it," Stevens said. "I want to beat that damn hill. It's a puzzle, training for that race."

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