Rock N Roll Marathon Las Vegas

Rock N Roll Marathon Series Las Vegas

The Rock N Roll Marathon Series is exponentially gaining popularity. The Las Vegas Rock N Roll Marathon and Half Marathon is an exciting race that thousands of runners are lucky enough to participate in. First of all let me say that Vegas never stops running and the world famous Las Vegas Strip never skips a beat. It runs like clock work it is always filled at night with people passing out propaganda. Every other block someone is trying to find out how long you will be in town for so they can lure you into a club or show. This was the first time I have ever seen the Vegas Strip completely shut down or at least the actual street. That is what was so spectacular about the experience, imagine running down Las Vegas Blvd and looking around and being in the center of all the action. Then all of a sudden I realized that every runner participating was the action. We were the center of attraction in a city that people come from all around the world to see. One other key feature that makes it so special is that both the marathon and the half marathon are run at night, making it the largest at night running event.

Getting To The Race

The race has thousands and thousands of people running and the entire strip has no car accessibility so you have to leave your room early. If you can stay at the hotel where the race is going to end at then you will be loving your life at the end of the race. We had a shuttle driver drop us off like a block and a half from the race and it still took us about thirty to thirty five minutes to walk to the start. Everyone was amped up and was losing patience so the crowd environment got a little hostile and people started to jump into any corral or walk thru bushes to get to where they needed to be. We jumped in to a corral that was six corrals to soon because we came to a complete stop at one point. If you are at the far end of the strip you need to leave your room at least ninety minutes before the race will start and two hours before if you want to check any gear.

The Course

The half marathon course started down the Las Vegas Strip and was pretty much a straight line. It did veer off for a few miles and then it loops you back on to the strip and is another straight line all the way to the finish. The streets of Las Vegas are in pretty decent shape and the course is well lit even the back streets of the ghetto you run thru. They seemed to have cleared people out of that area because I only saw a handful of people in the bad areas I ran thru, so no need to pack any weapons.

How To Prepare

• Hydrate- Don't over hydrate their are plenty of water stops throughout the course.
• Stretch Early- The corrals are packed, so stretch in your hotel room as much as possible.
• Make sure you are comfortable in your clothes.
• Don't bring any lights. The goodie bag had a headlamp in it and the course has enough light that you don't need it.
• Be patient- It was cold before the race and very cold after. You will have hundreds of people in front and behind you and you will be stuck in a slow moving crowd.

Follow all of these tips and you will have an amazing experience running the Las Vegas Rock N Roll Marathon.