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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 621 to 631]
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A. W. from Utah
(12/11/2006)
"Good race, but needs help" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 This was my sixth marathon and fortunately not one I was racing. Overall, the course was fine. The volunteers were great, and the fans that were out were enthusiastic despite having to stand in the cold wind. Some of the organization was "ok," meaning water stations were well supplied and port-a-johns were very accessible and spaced well along the entire course. However, for a race of over 5000 participants you would expect a real attempt to have mile markers. At best, 3 of the mile markers were actually separated by 1 mile. Many were not even close to accurate; I went from a 10:00 split to 4:20 split to an 8:00 split. Plus even when they did have clocks they were not near the marks on the street so you needed a magnifying glass to see. Most of the clocks didn't even have a sign telling you what mile they were for. The biggest snafu was that the 25 mile-mark was labeled as the 24 mile-mark!!! All this being said, I enjoyed the event and if the race organizers get their acts together, I think it could be a good run in the future.... | |
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A. J. from San Diego, CA
(12/11/2006)
"Not at the top of my list" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 I was disappointed with this race! The fireworks and the Blue Man Group at the start were fun... but it was so cold with the wind. The first half was fun as you run down the strip, and the Fremont Street Experience was my favorite part! After leaving the strip, the course is very flat but very, very boring. I was unaware of the huge gusts of wind that Las Vegas experiences and that was horrible - dust flying everywhere! I have run races in Minneapolis, MN and Chicago, IL and these conditions were worse than in those colder-climate cities. I also have to comment that hardly anyone knows that there is a marathon going on - none of the hotels even had maps for spectators, and the expo did not even have a spectator booth, which caused there to be hardly any spectators!! Also, at the finish there was no food, no finisher shirts and no family meeting area. I was happy to find the people I came with! All in all, if I were to do this race again, I would do the half and I would not recommend the full marathon to runners who want an exciting race! | |
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B. S. from Dallas TX
(12/11/2006)
"Half Marathon a REAL Disappointment" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 I ran the last year of the OLD marathon course and found it oddly fascinating and enjoyable. I decided to run the new half marathon course and found it terribly disappointing. No mile markers, no time clocks, and running the second half through an industrial park is like running through Harlem. The 2H water stops were hardly worthwhile. One other note: organizers should not use white water cups, as runners are trying to avoid the white lane dividers on Las Vegas Blvd. I saw lots of runners trip on the lane dividers. I won't be doing this again anytime soon. | |
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G. M. from Pennsylvania
(12/11/2006)
"Lacking and extremely and unorganized for the $$" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I have run many marathons but this one took all my patience: No pre-race information for spectators or runners: A $101 entry fee for a flimsy T-Shirt. A late start. And a 27 mile course! The mile markers were so off par that it was hard to pace and the end result was an extra mile. The course was actually okay, were it not for the wind, but if you are looking to run Nevada, try Reno. Go to Vegas for a vacation but pass on this disappointing marathon and do not believe the hype. You had to walk almost a quarter mile just to get a warm bottle of water and a hard banana. I have never felt strongly enough about any of my other 25+ marathons to write a negative comment, for what it's worth. I am a middle-of-the-pack runner. | |
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N. T. from Ventura, CA
(12/11/2006)
"Headwind central..." (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Well, it's Vegas, baby! Any excuse to come to Vegas is a good thing. However, this is an OK event. They ran out of Champion Chip fasteners the day before at the expo. That's kind of amateurish. We had 15 mph headwinds for at least 20 of the 26.2 miles. So no PR here. But it was nice and cool. Really not an "entertainment" course as advertised. However, nice to see lots of running Elvises and showgirls.... Running up the strip was nice. The rest of the course is boring, although the mountains are beautiful. The mile markers were too small, and the finish was not that exciting. The mix with 1/2 marathoners meant that the back-of-the-packers faced pretty empty post-race support. Nice medal. | |
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Todd Kammeyer from Ogden, Utah
(12/10/2006)
"2006 Las Vegas Marathon's Good & Bads" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I have run the New Las Vegas Marathon both years since its inception in 2005. This year had some great improvements--bathroom coverage was drastically improved and the new half marathon seemed to add more excitement and people. The worst parts were the lack of good communication to runners--there was no race info sheet in the bags and the t-shirt was the absolute worst. You would think that for $90 we would get a better shirt than a $3 cotton t-shirt. Very disappointing. Also, although the medals were cool, the medals were the same for both marathon and half-marathon runners--all except the ribbon color. You would think the marathoners would get something a little more special. Overall, a good race but opportunities for improvement still exist. | |
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R. T. from Las Vegas, NV
(12/10/2006)
"Still Doesn't Measure Up" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 What do you get for $95? A rotten cotton shirt! The expo was pretty big, but seemed to be disorganized. Since the numbers were picked up by numbers instead of last name, you had to stand in one line to find out your bib number, then go find your number. They ran out of small shirts (which were lame anyway - short-sleeve and made of cotton!) They also ran out of fasteners to put the timing chips on your shoes. No pasta party. Some restaurants gave 20 percent off. For $95 registration, one would expect a lot more. As for the race, first of all there were no water bottles at the start. People like to drink a little about a 1/2 hour before. When we went down to the start, we couldn't even get on the street and we couldn't even tell where we should have started... there were no corrals that we could see everyone was just wherever they were. It didn't matter how fast/slow you thought you could run. We had to wait until after the start, jump over the gates and then get on the street and walk 10 minutes just to get over the starting line. Worst of all, they start the half marathoners with the marathoners. They should start them before or have it on a different day. As in previous postings, the only good part was about the first 7 miles, down the strip and into downtown, then the slums and just down streets - nothing to see after mile 7. The volunteers tried their best, but some of them seemed to be undermanned and disorganized. They didn't have any gels or bananas or oranges on the course at all. There did seem to be porta-potties about every mile in the beginning and about every quarter mile at after mile 7. They might want to consider putting out more than 5 of them out on the course since there seemed to be lines at almost every one. All the mile markers seemed to be off too. We only saw a few marked on the actual street - otherwise they seemed to be way off. There was no blue line to follow either. After it was over, we took off our own timing chips as again there didn't seem to be enough volunteers or they just weren't around. Then we took a picture with a showgirl wearing sweat pants. Then, you were on your own... no food! The only kinds of nourishment at the end were cups of water and way-too-sugary Gatorade and bananas. Marathoners need something more like something with protein and/or salt! The end was pretty weak. By the way, the spectators were pretty sparse too, nothing like the website claimed. And no, I wouldn't recommend it or do it again. | |
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M. H. from Cleveland, Ohio
(12/10/2006)
"great race" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was an awesome race. The spectators were great, the expo was organized and the weather was perfect. The first 8 miles were very entertaining running up the strip. The second half of the race was scenic; you could see the mountians in the background, and it was really pretty. There was a long line to get your picture taken at the end, which I did not feel like waiting in, and there was minimal food. Otherwise, it was a fun race! | |
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m. b. from usa
(12/10/2006)
"2006 Half Marathon" (about: 2006)
First Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 Nice job, Devine. Corrals were hard to get to, and slower runners started in front of much faster runners. Splits? What splits? Where were the mile markers? They weren't accurate. The t-shirt was total crap - a three-dollar shirt. The race started 20 minutes late. After the race they had water, bananas, and apple slices - that's nice. This was the worst race I have ever run. I will never run this race again. | |
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andrew griffin from flint, michigan
(11/19/2006)
"Fun, but all the good stuff is in the first half" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The new organizers did a wonderful job turning what I'd heard had been a rather disappointing marathon into a world-class event. The best marathon medal I've ever seen, a wicking shirt, a well run expo, there was some entertainment on the mostly flat course, and running through fireworks and the sun rise up the Vegas Strip was a great experience. The cons? I won't hold the sponsors responsible for the weather being much colder than normal; I'd rather run a marathon in colder temps anyway. Some warning about how windy Vegas is in December would have been appreciated (this was the windiest race I've ever run). This was the only race I've run where runners were picking up discarded clothing and putting it on because of winds and temperature. And the desert dust cakes on your skin. I suppose their permission to close down the Strip was only modest - the most fun part of the race was all in the first eight miles; after that you have ugly mountains on one side of the road and concrete buildings on the other; and the last three miles were down the utilitarian backside of the casinos looking at parking lots and dumpsters; and the last mile seemed to having you running forever in circles around the Mandelay Bay parking lot. You run for the sake of running after mile 10. The mile markers and the clocks didn't always coincide and porta-johns were hit or miss. Post-race amenities were non-existent. The post-race area was chaos, and if there was food, I never found it In spite of all that, the first half of the course was so much fun that I'm planning on doing the race again in another year or two. The organizers seemed to be working very hard; they probably can't do anything about the ordinariness of the back half of the course, but they'll probably have the rest of my quibbles taken care of. |
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