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Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.3 
Organization 2.7 
Spectators 2.8
Number of comments: 736 [displaying comments 351 to 361]
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J. V. from The Great State of Texas
(12/10/2008)
"Great location, okay race" (about: 2008)
50+ previous marathons
| 2 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Well, they made this a flat race... and sort of average because of this. You get to run down the Strip, with the fireworks shooting, the electronic signs flashing the race, just great! But after that, it is just a drab desert marathon like Phoenix or any other. Being a switchover year, they did not spend any money (this will be an Elite race next year). Good idea on the medal, but having it cheaply done ruined it for me. The shirt was cotton, but not white! No ads on the shirt either! Some complained, as there was no date on the shirt... maybe they missed that one too, being cheap and getting ready to hand over the race to a new operator. More rest stops than anybody could possibly stop at! Great weather for once: no wind, no sun, and mild temps!!! Finish line was okay at best. No food when I finished, but people in front of me, and people behind me got food. It seems that they brought the food in waves; I just was in the dead spot with nothing. Got my picture taken with a showgirl! How cool is that?! Starts at a hotel, so we got to use real plumbing from the hotel. Sweet! They let 100's of Elvis runners and showgirls start up front... so that may have hampered the quicker runners, but this is Vegas, baby! You are there for the fun. or you should be for this race. The race had a nice expo. It is a good sized race, so it ran fairly smoothly. Not many spectators, but I don't really care much about that either. | |
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F. s. from Boston
(12/10/2008)
"What a blast!" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran this as my first marathon. I thought it was great. I ran as Elvis along with about 170 others. The expo was fine, packet pick up easy, and the pre-race pasta party was just ok - not a great value by any stretch. Race morning was easy, breezy. Plenty of porta-potties. Plenty of staff. The start was fantastic: shuffling feet, fireworks, a pack of running Elvises, and plenty of space for spectators along the course so it was easy to find my wife for a kiss on the way by. The sun was rising, and the crowd consisted of friends and family and sleepy gamblers who'd been up all night (as well as the post-bar crowd trying to find their beds). The first six miles passed way too quickly. The bulk of the run was through residential areas, and the locals were sparse, but someone was always there cheering us on. Out in back, there was a stretch where the Strip hotels were visible on the left and desert with beautiful snow-capped mountains on the right. It was great. The finish was smooth. Some additional food besides fruit and water would have been nice. I was craving a beer and some food that wasn't chemically engineered and safety pinned inside my shorts. In any event, it's worth doing - and it's a Rock 'n' Roll race next year, so it can only get bigger and better. | |
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d. d. from niagara falls, ny
(12/9/2008)
"needs work... but a fast course" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Let me start with noting that I have never complained about how a race is organized due to the amount of work I know goes into a race but.... I don't mind cotton t-shirts, but the logo was what you would find on a 5/$20 shirt at a convenience store. The medal should have had that logo, but instead it looked like a 5K award medal. No info on baggage, and the fence blocking people from getting to the start line from the casino was not necessary. Limited Gatorade on the course and one stop was unmanned. Combined finish for the last few miles was awful; I didn't even see the last 2 water stops because of the congestion. Finished in the top 50, and they were out of blankets. Asked for a garbage bag and a lady told me she didn't have any when a guy right behind her had a box. Food? Hard cookies and a banana - not what I expected from Vegas. The course is fast but should finish on the Strip like the start. (The start was awesome.) Oh, and the mile markers I did see had to be off, since my effort hardly changed, yet according to the markers I fluctuated by up to 2 minutes. These are some of the same comments that I read from last year, and I thought they would get it right. Rock 'n' Roll takes over next year, so I hope it will change. People I did come across on the course were great. | |
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C. W. from Chuck in Cincinnati
(12/9/2008)
"LV Marathon suggestions" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This is the view from an average Joe marathon runner, out-of-towner, and first-timer to Las Vegas. I've done 15 marathons now, covering 12 states, and D.C. The suggestions given are for: If I did it again, what would I do different, and what to expect? Expect to get to the Mandalay Bay real early. How early? I don't know. The road on the Strip and behind the Strip closes early for the race, so it is very difficult to get to the start if you are not at the host hotel. We left Caesar's Palace (about a mile to the tram) at 4:35 for the start line, hoping the race organizers allowed only the DEUCE buses to run from the Strip hotels. Race organizers: -10 points. We stayed indoors until 30 minutes before race time. I'd say 6,000 people funneled from a 4 car lane-wide walkway through an opening for a one car lane. Organizers: -10 points. You pass plenty of port-o-lets on the way to the start. Organizers +10 points. But then 6,000 people funneled down to another 10-foot opening. Organizers: -20 points (people were climbing over a 6-foot chain link fence). We finally got to the start with 3 minutes left. The start was nice with the fireworks (organizers +10 points). We were about halfway back in the pack. Marathoners, you'll have to bite your lip, and go with the flow until the half marathon turns off, because you are stuck. For 6 miles. I suggest taking a 16 oz. bottle of water for the first 6 miles, because the first 3 water stops were very short, on one side of the street, and severely under manned. Organizers: -10 points. Port-o-let spacing was great. Organizers +20 points. The course? I kind of liked it. If you looked closely, it was plain. If you looked at the mountains, it was pretty. The last 2 miles, just close your eyes (blah). Fan support? I don't have them when I train, so I don't need them during the race. So if one person claps and says, "Good job," they get a 5! Finish: Nice, but they were out of blankets because the half marathon vultures took them all. But I expected that. Weather? I don't talk about that, because you get what you get. This year was overcast and high 40's or low 50's. My finish time: 4:00:11. So pretty much the marathon was average. The Vegas Strip was fun. See you in another state!!! | |
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S. w. from Chicago
(12/9/2008)
"Incredibly disappointing" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 Where is the city pride/enthusiasm? It was so bizarre to run down the strip and only ONE hotel had a sign up wishing runners good luck. A route through incredibly desolate and depressed areas and then winding along a service road behind the hotels and next to a highway? No thanks. This marathon seems like an afterthought and a nuisance in this city. | |
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Kathleen Stutz from Pittsburgh, PA
(12/9/2008)
"Probably not the best year to choose to run Vegas." (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 It's been well publicized that this marathon has had many financial problems and this was Devine's very last year as the marathon organizer. Corners appeared to be cut everywhere for this marathon: cotton race t-shirt, thin medal, no bands or entertainment along the course route, one lone first aid station, and no gel/energy snack stations along the course route. There were also no starting corrals, so the start and Strip (first 5 - 6 miles) were VERY congested. The food at the end of the course left something to be desired and consisted of vanilla sandwich cookies, raisins, and bottled water (just what I want to eat after running a marathon, haha). The majority of the runners do the half. The half and full split right in downtown Las Vegas. When the half split off I was running approximately a 10 minute/mile pace (around the 7 or 8 mile mark), and there were very few other runners surrounding me. As far as crowd support at this point, I saw many characters that weren't intentionally out to support the marathoners such as the intravenous drug user on the side of the road, some scary "Jesus Saves" evangelists, and just in general people that would make you want to run faster if you saw them on a training run. The good news is that police were stationed pretty well throughout the entire course (at most major intersections). Once I moved into the suburbs of Las Vegas, I felt a lot more safe and secure, but the scenery is very dull. The course is indeed flat and fast with very little wind to contend with (at least in 2008). I may give this marathon another shot in a few years once it becomes part of the Rock 'n' Roll series, but I really think that most runners use this as an excuse to visit Las Vegas and hope to roll out of bed in time for the half-marathon. | |
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J. W. from Flint, MI
(12/9/2008)
"Race was ok; wouldn't run it again" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 The expo was decent, but it didn't have many shoe reps. The shirt sucks: gray, 100% cotton, and it didn't even have race date on it. Maybe left-overs from last year? The race start was good and well organized, and the fireworks were cool. Running down the Strip was cool, but once you got off the Strip, the course was boring (though flat, at least). The last few miles "behind" the Strip had ZERO crowd support. The last 3-4 water stops ran out of water/cups or both, at least for those of us 4-hour marathoners. Post-race food?? There was NONE for post-4-hour runners; only water, Gatorade and milk were left. My wife ran the 1/2 and said that there was food AND Mylar blankets. Overall, the race was just OK; I wouldn't run it again, though. | |
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C. S. from Cincinnati, OH
(12/9/2008)
"LV geared towards 1/2 not full" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 First the positives: -I liked the expo. There were many vendors and some good deals. -The course was not outstanding, but running down the strip was pretty cool. -There were porta-potties about every 1/4 mile. -Fast runners were allowed to start in the front to avoid the crowd. Negatives: -I finished in 3 hours and they were already out of Mylar blankets. -The last couple miles the marathon runners were running with the halfers. They should have been separated. I was going for a PR, but I was running through a crowd of people walking a 3+ hour half. It was nearly as crowded as the start of most races. -No separation of food/water for 1/2 and full finishers. I got food, but most of it was gone when my wife finished. -No separate line for marathoners to get a massage. Cramping marathoners standing in line as halfers are getting massages. -Finish was chaotic. I was staggering around with no water, medal or blanket and no idea where to go. No one assisted me. -One water stop had no volunteers. One had no volunteers or water, and another one had 2 volunteers. -The start was very chaotic. I followed the mob without knowing where to go. A map of the start area would have been great. I accidentally wandered into the entrance of my corral minutes before the start. -My Garmin showed that the course was 26.44. Long course or swerving among the halfers? -The late finishers were running a different unmarked course on the busy sidewalk on the Strip without water. I can understand that the roads needed to be opened up, but those runners deserved to have water, course markings, and a safer route. Couldn't one lane be kept closed for them? -No free beer. Suggestions: -A shuttle to the start would be great. Since one side of the strip is closed down, buses could shuttle people to the start. -Keep the marathoners and halfers separate after the courses merge. -Keep the marathoners separate until after the food line. -More support for the slower marathoners. | |
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K. M. from Missouri
(12/9/2008)
"Not worth the money" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 This was my second year running this race and I am happy to see that the race is being sold. I was very disappointed in what we got for the money. It was a short-sleeve cotton t-shirt that did not have the date on it. I think the post-race supplies were ridiculous. I could not find much to refuel with and I finished in about 3:15, so maybe I just missed everything except a banana. The expo was good. There were not many useful items in the goody bag. Last year we received a nylon bag with the race logo and date and a nice technical shirt; this year we received no more than one would get at small local 5K. Again, I thought the course was great and the spectators were outstanding. Thank you to them all. I think the mile markers and aid stations should be spaced out a little. It can sometimes be challenging to take water, drink it, and check splits at the same time. The course was good. The weather was perfect. Again, I am disappointed in the some of the things about the race, but, overall, the race alone was a good experience and I would probably do it again. | |
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M. P. from SoCal
(12/9/2008)
"Devine bows out in style" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 A marathon is in trouble when the pre-race buzz is how much better it will be next year under new race management. That was the case with the 2008 Las Vegas Marathon. After a strong debut in 2005, the size of their marathon field has been shrinking every year since. Expectations are so low that returning runners wonder what bad thing is going to happen next. To my surprise, things went relatively smoothly this year. As usual the start was a mess. They need a wider start line; it's too congested now. There also needs to be smoother entry into the corrals. Running the Strip is the best part of the course. After that, the rest of the run is almost anti-climatic. The half marathon split was obvious this year, almost a comical over-reaction to last year's mess up. A few water stations were understaffed, but most had enough volunteers and were well supplied. There seemed to be more spectators this year. Even though this will become a Rock 'n' Roll marathon next year, bad management has stripped this race of its special quality. There is no energy or excitement surrounding this event. I've run this race for the last time. |
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