Las Vegas Marathon

Sunday was this year's Las Vegas Rock N' Roll Marathon. What a great experience it was.

Unlike last year when I ran the full marathon, I opted for the 1/2 this time around, which was a wise decision. I originally intended to run the full again, but due to time constraints, I simply wasn't able to commit to the training necessary for a 26.2 mile run. I came in 10 minutes under my goal time for the half, so I was thrilled with my results.

The race itself was just fantastic. There were some significant changes to the structure of the event, most of which I believe were for the better.

The start time was pushed forward from 6 am to 7 am. Marathon-length races start early because they last so long, which causes a number of issues to arise. One is temperature. Another is the practical issue of keeping roads closed, and Las Vegas Blvd is a big one to keep closed.

Still, I think it was a wise decision to start the race later. Last year's race happened to fall on a record cold day, but even at normal December temperatures, that extra hour makes a huge difference to the runners. I applaud the city of Las Vegas for allowing the strip to stay closed to vehicle traffic later into the day. It's better for the race, and ultimately I'd argue better for the city as well.

Other than the time, the course was modified as well. The full marathoners were given more running on the strip itself. Last year, the full marathon branched off around 10.5 miles. This time it was around 12.5 miles. There's two sides to that. Travelers were probably disappointed last year to veer off so much further north.

At the same time, sticking together with the halfers can be a little disheartening. The half marathoners were kicking it up for their home stretch, while the fullers were only halfway there.

We actually ran on Fremont St this year, though very conspicuously not down the Fremont Street Experience. Instead we ran the block east of it, right up to the giant pint, then turned back down Las Vegas Blvd.

I'm not quite sure why the race wouldn't go through Fremont St proper. It's already closed to vehicles and would be killer exposure for the downtown casinos. Having that many people, many of whom are tourists who don't even know about downtown, run through the area would be advertising you can't buy. It's even set up already for concerts.

I've heard some people say it's the uneven footing down there, but that doesn't quite do it for me. Maybe next year we'll actually run through it.

For those who don't know, the race also hosts a group wedding. I believe there were about 50 couples who took part this year. They run a couple miles in, have a 3 minute ceremony, then either complete the race or peace out. Amy pointed out, and I concurred, that there seemed to be far more brides running than grooms. Maybe the brides were just more obvious (most wore white running outfits with a mini-veil), maybe the couples ran at their own paces, maybe the dudes were just lazy bums who couldn't make it the full distance. Not sure.

I was fortunate through the timing of my corral's start and my pace to run by in that 3 minute window during the ceremony. It was quite exciting.

I just love big races like this, where you get so many people coming together with a common purpose. Maybe it hit me harder after the recent and bitter round of elections. After so much Angle/Reid back and forth, having 25,000 people come out just because they wanted to run together was refreshing. I'm not sure what the message in all that is, but I think there is one in there somewhere.

The mutual support is just astounding. When the marathon frontrunners came passing by going the other way, everybody around me cheered them on.

Around mile 4 or 5, a woman in front of me tried tossing a used Gu packet into the trash, but missed. Now, a brief aside: marathon courses are littered with cups, athletic supplement packaging, plastic bags, discarded outer layers of clothing, and so on. It is standard practice when you're done with something to just throw it away. As long as one doesn't do so on the race course itself, that is totally acceptable behavior, and the race organizers ensure the course is cleaned up afterward.

This woman though, she held onto her trash long enough to find a garbage can, which is on its own going above and beyond what is expected of her. When she saw that she'd missed, she actually turned around and went backwards so she could pick it up and discard it properly. Afterward I held onto my own litter as well. That's another situation where, though I can't quite put my finger on it, I'm confident there's some kind of message.

The support from the crowd was awesome as well. Many onlookers came up with signs that would have done a derby-bout proud. A few that stick out in my mind are "Your feet hurt because of all the ass you're kicking," "You have great stamina, call me," and "Run like Tiger's wife is chasing you."

There's a lot of weirdness that goes on when you get so many people together, too. In the corral waiting to start, I overheard a woman nearby sharing her pre-race rituals. She said that for the week before the race, she wears her race outfit for her training runs. That makes enough sense, I suppose. She wants to get used to that particular outfit and work out any kinks it might have.

What was weird, though, was what she said next. It went along the lines of, "I don't wash it for that week, either. I don't need to, it doesn't get dirty. I just let it air dry."

Frankly that seems pretty gross to me, but if it helps her get through the race, then hell, more power to her.

The ending of the race was pretty rad also. The Rock N' Roll crew knows how to take care of its runners. Most noteworthy was the amount of bananas. It was truly beyond words. There were maybe a dozen tables piled several feet high with bananas, and more bananas stored underneath and behind. There must have been 40,000 bananas.

They also had bottled water, Cytomax energy drinks (which, please please please, replace next year with Gatorade or Powerade!), bagels, Gogurt, Snickers Marathon Bars (mmm, mmm, mmm, delicioso), and foil to wrap up in. All the freebies made it a veritable hoarder's wet dream.

Plus, Zappos, the main sponsor of the race, was distributing free copies of their CEO's recently published book. Very cool.

I'm looking forward to a little recovery period before I get running again. This time around I'll be training with a running partner, my dog Hoss. Right now he gets pretty winded after 2 mile runs, but I'm thinking 7 dog years should be plenty to get my buddy into shape for a 1/2 marathon. Oh, we're thinking about dressing him in a dog Elvis costume too.