Devil After Dark Marathon Review

I love night races, so when I saw Devil After Dark in the Nevada desert, I was intrigued. It was in the 90s when I got there, and it was very, very cold when I finished. There were only about 24 people running the marathon, so if you like small races, this is certainly one of those. The staff was wonderful, and I have to compliment each and every one of them. There were even several dogs to pet.

That said, this was a pretty scary race to run. There are a bunch of hills, but heck, we get those in a ton of races. As it started to get dark, we were asked to call out our bib number so they knew where we all were. When I say "dark," I mean it. The only lights were campfires in the distance and a couple of lights at the aid stations. 

As we ran, there was a giant pro-Trump truck with flags saying "F*** your feelings" and other less appropriate things. There were people hanging out of it, pointing rifles, harassing us. I mean, man, we're just running here! That, of course, has nothing to do with the race, but it's deserted enough out there that I was actually afraid. That wasn't the only time, either. I saw several rattlesnakes as I ran (someone waiting for the racers just missed being bitten). There were random men sitting in cars parked along the road with all the lights off. I was joking that I'd either die by breaking an ankle (there really were no lights, and there were a lot of large rocks) and being bitten by a snake, alien abduction (LOL, this is Nevada), or being kidnapped by someone in those cars.

The dramatic temperature change was rough, though that's to be expected in a Nevada desert race. Honestly, I did like the challenge of it. I was just kind of afraid for my safety for lots of reasons. I did end up placing first in my age group, for which I got a very cool water bottle. I didn't believe it was possible (or that I was the only person in my age group, though there were five) since I barely saw any of the other runners. I'm not saying to skip this one at all. I'm so glad I did it, truly! I just wish I'd known what it was like before I signed up.