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Marathon Details - Hoover Dam Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > NV > Boulder City > Hoover Dam Marathon

Hoover Dam Marathon

Hoover Dam Marathon & Marathon Relay, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K

Boulder City, NV USA

December 7, 2024

https://www.bbscrun.com/hoover-dam-marathon

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Race Details

This stunning course promises to quickly become one of the Nation's "Must Do" races. Running 100% on paved and packed dirt trails completely removed from vehicular traffic, you'll traverse the Mojave Desert running thru historic railroad tunnels perched atop of a sweet view of Lake Mead. The "Money Shot" comes at your turn around with an expansive view of Hoover Dam. No need to "stop and glance"- you get a great view without breaking your stride. The only reason to look away is to smile pretty for the camera and capture that killer photo opportunity on film to memorialize this fabulous run!

Contact Information

Name:	RD
Address:	Boulder City, NV
Phone Number:
Email:	Email the organizers

More Information


Number of Runners:	1,000
Number of Spectators:	100
Fees & Deadlines:	TBD
Start Time:	8:00 AM
Online Registration:	http://www.active.com
Packet Pickup Info:	Please visit www.calicoracing.com for packet pick up information
Marathon Ratings:	Course Scenery/Beauty/Interest: Good for First Timers: Crowd Support: Course Speed:

Runner Reviews (34)

Course 4.2

Organization 4.6

Spectators 3.1

Write a review

Number of comments: 34 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 > ]

D. B. from NM (12/13/2021) "Great local race, but no-frills" (about: 2021) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 The course was beautiful but challenging, with 2 climbs run twice. It's a low-key, no frills race that will appeal to experienced marathoners. The aid stations were self-serve and the course was 27.3 miles long (confirmed by everyone with a Garmin), but if you are not shooting for a PR or BQ, it's a really great race.
B. E. from Missouri (12/12/2021) "Do it only to mark it off your list" (about: 2021) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 If you want to run a marathon and don't care about anything else then this is the race to run. The course is challenging and there are some steep grades and rough terrain to cover. At some of the water stations I felt like I would have to pour my own cup of water as the volunteer just sat in a chair. So I skipped it. The course was long. My Apple Watch put me at 27.65 miles. The post race food consisted of bags of chips, water and cold pizza. It was 40 degrees out and the pizza was 40 degrees. Needless to say I threw the pizza away without taking a bite. Oh and walking up to the table with the food the volunteers just looked at me. I said "is this self serve?" They said no and then proceeded to offer me a selection of cold sausage, cold pepperoni or cold cheese pizza. Would I recommend the marathon, yes I would just to say you do it. Would I recommend it as a good marathon "experience" absolutely not.
B. K. from Ontario, Canada (1/4/2017) "Great race with Lake Mead view" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was a very unusual race: five tunnels, switchback section with 'do not pass' rule and almost non-stop view of the beautiful blue Lake Mead. There were many hills, big and small and we did two loops. The only detail that I did not like was the reversed mile markers in the second loop. Instead of 24, 25, 26 miles we were presented with 3, 2, 1 mile to go. Overall it was an excellent race with very efficient organisers and excellent team of volunteers. Thank you, Nevada.
D. R. from Cincinnati, OH (12/25/2016) "This is a beautiful marathon!" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This marathon is awesome: well organized easy packet pickup before the race beautiful course nice race director other runners were nice - did not walk/run 3 or more abreast as I have seen in other races pizza and chips available at the finish Overall, well done and highly recommended!
C. w. from PA - Pennsylvania (12/23/2016) "Beautiful scenery gets dull" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The course consists of an out and back that you repeat. Seeing the beautiful landscape once is great. The second time was good. Mind-numbing on the 3rd and 4th passes. The race started out great and there were plenty of water stops with gels at some stations. The food at the finish was fruit, pretzels and pizza. Other runners commented on the tunnels. Either they were wearing sunglasses or I have superhuman sight. The tunnels are not that long so you always have light coming from either end and I don't see a need for lighting inside. Am I happy to cross Nevada off my list, yes? Would I ever repeat the race, no. They need to change the course to avoid repeating the same path.
Mark Stodghill from Duluth, Minnesota (12/14/2016) "One of my favorite marathons" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Beautiful scenery, challenging but not too challenging course. Well organized. No hassles. I gave it 5 stars for spectators because there were hardly any. Didn't have to listen to dumb comments or perhaps well-meaning strangers who think their words of encouragement mean anything to me. I always feel like telling marathon spectators to run and encourage themselves. I understand wanting to watch the leaders, or cheering on a loved one, but don't understand hanging around to see a 'way-over-the-hill' stranger running just to challenge himself. I liked this race enough that I'll go back to do it until I no longer can make it 26.2 miles.
J. C. from PA (12/12/2016) "Scenic Deja Vu" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I really enjoyed the Hoover Dam Marathon because it was very scenic and had great views of Lake Mead even though we had to run the loop twice which gave me a sense of deja vu. I also enjoyed running through the railroad tunnels. It was a little dark running through the longer sections but you could see through to the other side and as long as you ran straight ahead, you were fine. The route was about half paved and about half on hard pack and ran mostly parallel to the road. It was also a little hilly but if you train for hills you should be fine. There were not a lot of spectators which is understandable since the route is on a trail and there were only about 120 marathoners. One of the benefits of a small marathon is that my friends were able to easily drive ahead to cheer me on at the parking stops and at the turnaround on the Hoover Dam garage roof. Another benefit of a small marathon is that packet pick-up was really easy the night before at McGhie's Ski Bike & Board. The drawback is that there was no expo but you could buy gel or energy bars at McGhie's if needed. The medal and t-shirt are nice. The medal is comparable to medals from much larger marathons like NYC and Chicago (which I ran in October). The year is on the medal and the full date is on the ribbon. I also like the t-shirt better than my Chicago t-shirt. I would run this marathon again but I'm working on running all 50 states so I don't have any plans to run this one again.
B. J. from Atlanta, GA (2/6/2016) "Great choice for Nevada marathon!" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was a great small race my husband and I ran to check Nevada off our 50 state list. Only two cautions: 1. be aware that the tunnels are DARK! I wish race organizers could have positioned some light source within, as it was not comfortable to run in the total darkness 2. don't underestimate the gravel portions of this course. As someone who trains totally on pavement, I didn't appreciate how different the running surface would be on those portions and I was honestly finding tiny bits of gravel in my shoes for literally weeks afterwards. Still highly recommend, but want everyone to be prepared:)
E. B. from Whidbey Island, Washington (12/15/2015) "Terrific Event!!!!!" (about: 2015) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I traveled from Whidbey Island, WA for this event. The tunnels were GREAT!!! The runners were GREAT!!! The volunteers were GREAT!!! The event was GREAT!!! Yes it's not a spectator course but that was ok because I had a GREAT experience!!!!! THANK YOU!!!
R. H. from Excelsior, MN (1/6/2015) "Unique location, great management." (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Calico Racing always works hard to make some difficult races possible. Yes, spectators are few but the 'spectating' of the terrain makes up for that! The RD works very hard to personalize these events and it shows including a few special awards to participants hitting milestones in their running careers. As for the comment about the pass through the lower areas of a parking garage at the Hoover Dam spectator area, someone was obviously was not listening. The RD announced at the start there was a power line down on the top floor of the garage so we had to be rerouted to the lower floor. Sure better than missing the spectacular view of Hoover Dam from there.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 > ]



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D. B. from NM (12/13/2021) "Great local race, but no-frills" (about: 2021) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 The course was beautiful but challenging, with 2 climbs run twice. It's a low-key, no frills race that will appeal to experienced marathoners. The aid stations were self-serve and the course was 27.3 miles long (confirmed by everyone with a Garmin), but if you are not shooting for a PR or BQ, it's a really great race.
B. E. from Missouri (12/12/2021) "Do it only to mark it off your list" (about: 2021) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 If you want to run a marathon and don't care about anything else then this is the race to run. The course is challenging and there are some steep grades and rough terrain to cover. At some of the water stations I felt like I would have to pour my own cup of water as the volunteer just sat in a chair. So I skipped it. The course was long. My Apple Watch put me at 27.65 miles. The post race food consisted of bags of chips, water and cold pizza. It was 40 degrees out and the pizza was 40 degrees. Needless to say I threw the pizza away without taking a bite. Oh and walking up to the table with the food the volunteers just looked at me. I said "is this self serve?" They said no and then proceeded to offer me a selection of cold sausage, cold pepperoni or cold cheese pizza. Would I recommend the marathon, yes I would just to say you do it. Would I recommend it as a good marathon "experience" absolutely not.
B. K. from Ontario, Canada (1/4/2017) "Great race with Lake Mead view" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was a very unusual race: five tunnels, switchback section with 'do not pass' rule and almost non-stop view of the beautiful blue Lake Mead. There were many hills, big and small and we did two loops. The only detail that I did not like was the reversed mile markers in the second loop. Instead of 24, 25, 26 miles we were presented with 3, 2, 1 mile to go. Overall it was an excellent race with very efficient organisers and excellent team of volunteers. Thank you, Nevada.
D. R. from Cincinnati, OH (12/25/2016) "This is a beautiful marathon!" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This marathon is awesome: well organized easy packet pickup before the race beautiful course nice race director other runners were nice - did not walk/run 3 or more abreast as I have seen in other races pizza and chips available at the finish Overall, well done and highly recommended!
C. w. from PA - Pennsylvania (12/23/2016) "Beautiful scenery gets dull" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The course consists of an out and back that you repeat. Seeing the beautiful landscape once is great. The second time was good. Mind-numbing on the 3rd and 4th passes. The race started out great and there were plenty of water stops with gels at some stations. The food at the finish was fruit, pretzels and pizza. Other runners commented on the tunnels. Either they were wearing sunglasses or I have superhuman sight. The tunnels are not that long so you always have light coming from either end and I don't see a need for lighting inside. Am I happy to cross Nevada off my list, yes? Would I ever repeat the race, no. They need to change the course to avoid repeating the same path.
Mark Stodghill from Duluth, Minnesota (12/14/2016) "One of my favorite marathons" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Beautiful scenery, challenging but not too challenging course. Well organized. No hassles. I gave it 5 stars for spectators because there were hardly any. Didn't have to listen to dumb comments or perhaps well-meaning strangers who think their words of encouragement mean anything to me. I always feel like telling marathon spectators to run and encourage themselves. I understand wanting to watch the leaders, or cheering on a loved one, but don't understand hanging around to see a 'way-over-the-hill' stranger running just to challenge himself. I liked this race enough that I'll go back to do it until I no longer can make it 26.2 miles.
J. C. from PA (12/12/2016) "Scenic Deja Vu" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I really enjoyed the Hoover Dam Marathon because it was very scenic and had great views of Lake Mead even though we had to run the loop twice which gave me a sense of deja vu. I also enjoyed running through the railroad tunnels. It was a little dark running through the longer sections but you could see through to the other side and as long as you ran straight ahead, you were fine. The route was about half paved and about half on hard pack and ran mostly parallel to the road. It was also a little hilly but if you train for hills you should be fine. There were not a lot of spectators which is understandable since the route is on a trail and there were only about 120 marathoners. One of the benefits of a small marathon is that my friends were able to easily drive ahead to cheer me on at the parking stops and at the turnaround on the Hoover Dam garage roof. Another benefit of a small marathon is that packet pick-up was really easy the night before at McGhie's Ski Bike & Board. The drawback is that there was no expo but you could buy gel or energy bars at McGhie's if needed. The medal and t-shirt are nice. The medal is comparable to medals from much larger marathons like NYC and Chicago (which I ran in October). The year is on the medal and the full date is on the ribbon. I also like the t-shirt better than my Chicago t-shirt. I would run this marathon again but I'm working on running all 50 states so I don't have any plans to run this one again.
B. J. from Atlanta, GA (2/6/2016) "Great choice for Nevada marathon!" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was a great small race my husband and I ran to check Nevada off our 50 state list. Only two cautions: 1. be aware that the tunnels are DARK! I wish race organizers could have positioned some light source within, as it was not comfortable to run in the total darkness 2. don't underestimate the gravel portions of this course. As someone who trains totally on pavement, I didn't appreciate how different the running surface would be on those portions and I was honestly finding tiny bits of gravel in my shoes for literally weeks afterwards. Still highly recommend, but want everyone to be prepared:)
E. B. from Whidbey Island, Washington (12/15/2015) "Terrific Event!!!!!" (about: 2015) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I traveled from Whidbey Island, WA for this event. The tunnels were GREAT!!! The runners were GREAT!!! The volunteers were GREAT!!! The event was GREAT!!! Yes it's not a spectator course but that was ok because I had a GREAT experience!!!!! THANK YOU!!!
R. H. from Excelsior, MN (1/6/2015) "Unique location, great management." (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Hoover Dam Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Calico Racing always works hard to make some difficult races possible. Yes, spectators are few but the 'spectating' of the terrain makes up for that! The RD works very hard to personalize these events and it shows including a few special awards to participants hitting milestones in their running careers. As for the comment about the pass through the lower areas of a parking garage at the Hoover Dam spectator area, someone was obviously was not listening. The RD announced at the start there was a power line down on the top floor of the garage so we had to be rerouted to the lower floor. Sure better than missing the spectacular view of Hoover Dam from there.

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Marathon Details - Hoover Dam Marathon