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| - "Running the Las Vegas Strip? You kidding me? I'm in." This year was a year of firsts for me. Running on a freeway. Running on a Military Base. Running a full marathon. Heck, let's add running up and down the Las Vegas Strip. My friend didn't have to convince me too hard to join in on a fun filled weekend in Las Vegas and do a run.
December 6, 2009 - The inaugural run for this event. Let's go more into the details of this course.
~*~ Health & Fitness Expo ~*~
Located in the BACK...I mean THE BACK of Mandalay Bay, you might as well have run a marathon to walk back there. They set up a virtual video of the course as you enter the lobby like area before the expo area. The expo was bigger than I had anticipated. It had all the usual vendors (Halo, Fleet Feet, etc.). One thing you should definitely do is go on Friday. The place was easily maneuverable and you get more of the goodies. We came on Saturday for my other friend and it was packed. The freebies were all gone and it was just not a feel good atmosphere. Good thing was that there were other events going around (Cowboy retailers I think cause all you can see were a bunch of folks in cowboy boots and hats walking your way), so you could venture and find other things. Just remember to get your wristband for your free beer at the end and get a bracelet from PF Changs to get free food at their stand post race.
~*~ Starting Line ~*~
The starting line was at the edge of the strip at Mandalay Bay. One thing that I didn't like was that there were no food or water stands. Good thing there were potty stations cause my friend would've died. They released Corrals 1-20 in waves so by the time we started it was half an hour into the race already. The Blues Brothers were playing on top of the start line. It was fitting =)
~*~ Course ~*~
Completely flat. You basically run from Mandalay Bay to the Las Vegas sign, then run up the Strip past Stratosphere and you keep going for a mile or so and turn back to run to Mandalay. That's it. Well that's it for the Half Marathon. At one point the Marathoners diverge to a different route outside the strip to gain the rest of their mileage.
~*~ Post Run ~*~
The usual was given out: Water, raisins, oranges, bananas, Froze bars, Cytomax. Not enough icing stations (if there were any). We didn't stay for the concert, but I'm sure it's like the other ones. Plenty of port o potties.
~*~ Bands ~*~
With the exception of the Blues Brothers, I don't even recollect many bands on this course. But I guess that's something I have against many of the Rock 'n' Roll races I've run. There are spots where you're thinking..."Isn't there supposed to be a band playing?"
Closing Comments:
Just a reminder...it's cold. REALLY REALLY cold (probably 30s). We came about an hour earlier than we anticipated to run and we were shivering. There were no heat lamps so we tried to scoot over to other people to get their body heat...unfortunately they kept scooting away from us. I swear we showered and smelled all flowery. Next time I'm buying some cheap gloves and blanket so I can discard it when we start running.
The beginning of the race was packed. It was like trying to maneuver through a school of fish. You knew those people were not in the right corrals. I lost a lot of good time just going up and down from the street to curb to pass these people. Past mile 2-3 it was easier.
The another quip I do have with this course is not enough volunteers so the water and Cytomax stations weren't well manned or supplied. Past Mile 9 you're lucky to even get anything. If you live in Las Vegas, please volunteer!!! We do appreciate the help.
Overall a good solid flat run. I would highly suggest doing this for your first half since if you have a huge party (like us), for those who aren't running, there are plenty of activities around. Also for those who are running, there are plenty of activities around ;) Next time need to try what my friend did and go clubbing the night before, get an hour of sleep and run the half....actually never mind, I like sleep. That's what the AFTER run party's for. We went to XS that night since we got free passes in our running goodies bag. It's great to be a finisher ;)
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