Executive Summary:  Awesome course, mediocre music, really really crowded.

On November 15, 2015, I ran the Rock ‘n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada. I’m in the middle of training for the Los Angeles Marathon. I did not specifically train for this race or taper. This would be nothing more than a hard/fast training run with 23,000 of my best friends through the neon canyon that is the Las Vegas Strip.

The Course
The course for this race is Las Vegas Boulevard, Also known as “the Strip”. The race starts by running southbound down the strip for a mile, to the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign and then turns north, past the neon lights of the casinos to downtown Las Vegas, down Fremont Street and then south down Las Vegas Boulevard to the finish line in front of Cesar’s Palace.

The Pre-Race Show
At 3:00 pm, I assembled in a vacant field across the street from the Luxor Hotel at the southernmost end of the Las Vegas Strip. Because this is the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon, they had a “headlining act” named Kid Rock. He’s never done a Tiny Desk Concert on NPR, so I’ve never heard of him or his band. After standing roughly a third of a mile from the stage (to make the noise level bearable) listening to his music, I’d determined that I hadn’t heard any of his songs. Ok to be fair, my wife has heard of Kid Rock. He was married to Pam Anderson for 45 minutes several years ago. Maybe I’m the one living in a cave.

At around 4:00 pm and as the band was winding down, I checked my jacket in my gear check bag and headed out to the corral. When I registered for the race, I told Competitor that I planned to run a two hour half. I was placed in corral 16, and to be sure I didn’t forget my corral assignment, the first two digits of my bib number was 16. As I stood in the coral I noticed that most people hadn’t figured this out. The just walked straight to the front. Competitor did not police the corrals.

The First Five Miles
At 4:30 pm and as the sun was setting, the air horn went off for the first corral. Competitor released a corral a minute. I lined up at the front of corral 16. The air horn went off and I started running. Thirty seconds later, I ran into the back of the slow people of corral 15. Running through a field of slow people is both good and bad. Mentally, it’s wonderful. As I pass people, I tell myself, “I’m faster than you! I’m faster than you! And I’m faster than you!” Physically it’s a challenge. I’m bobbing and weaving to get around the horde.

At the first mile marker, I hit the turn around and head north on Las Vegas Boulevard. There before me is the neon electric glory of the Las Vegas Strip. Running up the strip at duck is an awesome sight. It is a wonder to behold. I understand that it takes a race with 23,000 entrants paying $160 a head to pull a permit to close Las Vegas Boulevard. I just wish the 23,000 people had started in their proper corral or would have the courtesy run my pace.

Also at the first mile marker I encounter my first bit of on course entertainment.  Because this is the Rock 'n Roll Marathon, they got rock bands to line the course.  Some of the bands were pretty good.  There was a Kiss cover band who either licensed the logo or hasn't received the cease and desist letter yet (or maybe it was Kiss who can say?)  I'm sure some of the bands sound better in their garage.

I run right down the center of the first two water stops. This is an opportunity to pass people by the score. I grab a cup of water from the lonely volunteer standing at the last table.  At around the Mile Four marker, I ask a runner next to me, “When is this going to thin out?” He says, “The finish line”.

Mile 1 – 9:23
Mile 2 – 8:52
Mile 3 – 8:51
Mile 4 – 9:00
Mile 5 – 8:39

Miles Six to Ten
As I passed the Stratosphere Hotel, I ran into a time vortex. I went back in time about 50 years. This is where Vegas gets interesting. I leave the glitz and glamour behind for what Vegas used to be. The 30 story high rise hotels are replaced with three story motels that rent rooms by the hour. High end retail like Gucci or Armani has been replaced with quickie wedding chapels and pawn shops including the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop of Pawn Stars fame. The word strip changes from a noun into a verb.

An icy wind starts to blow from the southwest and it starts to rain big drops of water. But because I’m in the desert, the road does not stay wet. The water evaporates off the road and me very quickly.

Around mile 7, the course turns off Las Vegas Boulevard and onto a poorly lit side street. I slow my pace to those around me. Passing people in the dark is rather tough. You’d think for $160 a head, Competitor could have rented a few portable lights back here. This leg took me past some high density housing units where the semi-sober residents were cheering the runners on.

Mile 9 turns onto Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, and I start passing people again. At mile 10, we turn back onto Las Vegas Boulevard and into the face of the icy wind. I fix my gaze on the Stratosphere hotel off in the distance.

Mile 6 – 8:57
Mile 7 – 8:56
Mile 8 –9:22
Mile 9 – 9:10
Mile 10 – 9:36

Miles Eleven to the Finish
After passing the Stratosphere Hotel and knowing that it is beyond the finish line, I lock onto the Roman columns on the top of Cesar’s Palace and keep on running. As I run the last mile, the Men’s Full Marathon winner runs past me like I’m standing still.  He's in his own sequestered lane. On pace to run a 2:20 marathon, that guy was a sight to behold.

Now firmly back in the neon canyon, I realize that between all the lights and the cheering people, I can neither see nor hear the finish line. When I crossed it, I wasn’t quite sure I’d finished. All the other racers around me were walking, so it seemed like the thing to do. I was then handed a finishers medal, a bottle of water, a bottle of Gatorade, two bananas, a bag of runner chow, a Mylar sheet, and a bottle of Michelob Ultra “beer”. I needed a shopping cart for all the stuff. I found my wife, my bag with my jacket, put the jacket on, and then walked back to my hotel.

Mile 11 – 9:28
Mile 12 –9:29
Mile 13 –9:20
Finish – 2:01:11

I’m not sure if I’d do this race again. Running up and down the Las Vegas Strip at night was wonderful. It is awfully expensive. If I do run this again, now I know that I should ignore my corral assignment too.

Congratulations on your HM!  Running in LV sounds cool, but not with 23,000 people and an icy wind.  I did RnR Va Beach one time and decided one of those was enough.

Congrats.  If you didn't like the traffic in this race, never come to NYC to run a race.  They are all huge and super congested =(

Congrats.  If you didn't like the traffic in this race, never come to NYC to run a race.  They are all huge and super congested =(

Except people there at the NYCM are seeded better.  At least my experience there has been great (although maybe this year it was worse so I'm glad I missed it?)

An entertaining RR as always, Rick!  Sounds like a fun race....at least the course part of it.  It sounds like your RnR experience is pretty par for the course, and actually went better than what I hear from some people.

Nice job runnin'!

Nice job! You've never heard of Kid Rock? Yes you are living in a cave. I assumed your wife rolled her eyes at you when you told her.

It sounds like a fun event to just go for a jog. Sounds like a terrible event to race. If your goal was really 2:00, pretty good to finish reasonably close to that. As mentioned often, I guess this kind of mayhem is typical of RnR races. They do one in Seattle as well. I've kind of wondered about it, but it's in June which is generally not the best time of the year to run a marathon. Although IIRC, Damaris is doing it next year, whatever weather we have will feel chilly to her.

Nice RR. Sounds like you paid lots of money for the crowds, just walk on the Strip any time after noon. Ugh.

Yea, the part of town after the Stratosphere is interesting. We did not hang out for long at the chapel after our wedding.