Vegas Marathon

[runnerbee]

For all of you that have done the Vegas marathon, would you recommend it?
Is anyone going this year?

[Irongirl]

you're a year too late!!

A whole lot of us did it last year!

Personally, I liked the actual race - good course, good weather, good support (spectators/volunteers).....I wasn't a huge fan of Vegas though - LOTS of walking required (bad for the day before, difficult the day after!) and not the cheapest place around.

But, actual race - I did like.

[scrumhalfgirl]

If you search the race reports from last December, you'll find lots of reviews. Personally, I really liked it - flat course, evenly spaced aid stations, the most porta-potties I've ever seen. Some interesting parts (the strip! the desert!) and some not-so-much (the walmart! the police cars in a shady neighbourhood!), but overall, I had a great time running the race. There were some issues with course markings at the half/full split last year, so that's important to watch out for. I've also heard that the race organizers owe $$ to the city from last year still, which is a bit sketchy.

[dgrant]

As someone who jogged the half marathon as a fun run last year (was in the general area anyway)...

I found the organization generally pretty good. The expo's bigger/better than most, the start was okay, the aid stations were fine. I just didn't find it very "Vegas-y". The first short stretch along the Strip is cool, but fairly quickly you turn onto commercial and industrial roads and it might as well be any rundown town on Earth.

Fun place to visit, can't say I'd call it a fun place to run.

[dwayne_runs_far]

I agree with dgrant - nothing exceptional about the race itself. If it wasn't for the fact that there were 20 or so of us meeting there, I doubt I would have gone. The socializing with the other maniacs is what made it fun.

It was a PB course for me and a couple others though, even though it wasn't the prettiest place to run.

Dwayne

[roadrunner]

I thought were people in costumes. Elvi. I thought there was a wedding stop on the route. ie not an everyday kind of marathon. I am hanging around for a few days after the race to check out the ummm scenery. There will be Maniacs there again this year. My posse is at the Excalibur. There is at least 7 or 8 of us so far from Winnipeg.

[HCcD]

Yep, was there last year, and ran a PB as well ... pretty flat course, I tell ya .... Hopefully, they will have fixed the issues at the cut-off point for the 1/2 and Full Marathon runners ...

Due to the Race Organizer's financial issues, they lost their main sponsor Zappos.com this year, so it will be interesting to see how the Organizers continue to forge on ...

And, there are water / and gatorade/water aid stations every other mile, so you can kinda prepare to race it by doing mile repeats

If you arrive early, during the week, you can also sign up for the Santa Run, on the Saturday morning before, and get a free 3-5 piece Santa Suit to wear during the 5K

[Mid_Packer]

You might want to check out the thread

Las Vegas Marathon - circling the drain

in General Running Discussion.

I tried to post a link but the system says I'm still on probation

Dave

[ultraslacker]

You might want to check out the thread

Las Vegas Marathon - circling the drain

in General Running Discussion.

I tried to post a link but the system says I'm still on probation :lol:

Dave

you should be good to go now--that was your 5th post! :)

[HCcD]

You might want to check out the thread

Las Vegas Marathon - circling the drain

in General Running Discussion.

I tried to post a link but the system says I'm still on probation

Dave

Yeah, your membership cheque has not cleared yet ...

[KBO]

I thought the race was OK. The run down in the strip first thing was fun but after that the scenery was pretty dull. Believe me, I saw some of it twice. You may want to watch for the half/full split carefully. Last year was kinda 'miss-able' as their signage for the split never went up.

Yes Ed, there were running Elvi and people getting married but all that is pretty much over by the 5 mile mark. There were a few bands along the way. None of that would make me want to run it again. From mile 5 onward it was the same as any other race. The last mile was run behind the strip was I thought was kind of yucky.

There is alot of downhill in the last three to four miles. I do think it is a good course for a shot at a PB.

What made it fun for me was the huge group of friends there that weekend.

[endurox]

I agree with KBO, the last couple of miles did me in, like I wasn't already done in early than this but nonetheless to have to dodge around the half marathon walkers and run behind the main street in some construction zone in the bowels of Las Vegas add insult to injury. Just sayin'! Didn't like the course. The weather was gorgeous, and the RM group was great, those were the highlights.

[turd ferguson]

The thread is here

viewtopic.php?t=26251

I did the race solely for the company of Maniacs. I think it would have been a good PB course. I wouldn't go down by myself to do it but it would be a fun race with friends, or as part of a family holiday.

[NewFinnLoper]

It was an ok race...by far the best part were the first 5 or 6 miles running up the strip...

If there weren't a plethora of Maniacs there my views would be very different...They 'made' the race and the experience for me...

roadrunner is running it this year...

[runnerbee]

Thanks for your replies.
I was looking for a marathon that my husband would think about going with me. He seems to think it’s silly to want to do destination marathons.
We were hoping to go to Vegas this winter and I thought maybe I could kill two birds with one stone. I’m still on the fence about doing it,
I was going to do Kelowna but I have been sick with a chest cold the last two weeks (did not get my runs in),my daughter that was going with me has to move that weekend and I don’t know if I want to go by myself(my husband said no to going with me) So I don’t know what to do.

[NewFinnLoper]

Thanks for your replies.
I was looking for a marathon that my husband would think about going with me. He seems to think it’s silly to want to do destination marathons.

I LOVE destination marathons...It gives me a chance to see more of the destination city than I otherwise would on a visit...(even though Vegas wasn't the most scenic city I've run in)

Vegas is a great destination marathon for spouses because there is a ton of stuff non-marathon-related to do...I think you would both have fun both before and after the marathon...lots of cool desert tours and site-seeing "the strip" in Vegas is too much fun.

[dgrant]

We were hoping to go to Vegas this winter and I thought maybe I could kill two birds with one stone.

With that as a criterion, I would still very much consider Vegas. I wouldn't call the event a great "destination race" in and of itself, but it's still a race in a great destination. I would do that race again, as long as I was just looking at it as one of several "things to do" on the trip.

[runnerbee]

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