Just so you know, it does get cold in Vegas. I guess I knew that, but I thought Vegas cold would mean 45 at night with a little breeze. Unfortunately last weekend cold meant cold. It was probably in the mid 30’s by 9:00. Why would I care? Because I had decided to run a half marathon in Vegas, at night.
Yep, a few months ago Matt’s dad mentioned that there was going to be a half marathon that went down the strip at night. It sounded exciting. What a fun place to run with so much to look at that the race would whiz by! We signed up. We also somehow talked my sister, Matt’s sister and my dad into coming too. There was a whole party going down to Vegas and it was going to be fun.
We decided to fly down instead of drive because it would have been such a let down to get stuck in bad weather after months of training and the money spent for the race. So we found some cheapish airfare and set off on Saturday morning.
The flight was great, a little bumpy because of all the wind that was in the area, but we made it super quick and then took a cab to the race expo. We met Matt’s sister Becky and her husband at the expo and picked up our packets and our shirts. It was crazy busy, pretty much people smooshed into each other as far as you could see. I was trying to have a good humor about this because I knew we would be smashed in with these same people for the race. Rumor was that 44,000 (yep forty-four THOUSAND) people were signed up for the race. The biggest races I have done in the past have been Disneyland, and they have about 20,000 people, so I was prepared for this to be insane!
Anyway, we picked up our packets and walked back up the strip from the Venetian to the MGM at the other end. We checked in after some difficulty and the Matt and Forrest were off to an MMA fight they had tickets for. I hadn’t had a chance to relax all day so I took a break in my room until my Mom, Dad and sister arrived from their flight. Then we all walked down to the expo again to pick up their stuff. Yep, that was a lot of walking. I dropped them off to have dinner and went back to my room to wait for Matt to get done at the fight. They finished and came home and then took me and Becky out to see the Bellagio fountains. Matt was super sweet and purchased a rose for me from a guy on the road. We then listened to him try to convince us to go to a strip club for about 10 minutes before we convinced him we were not going to go. But it burned some time between fountain shows and I got a rose out of it. Not too bad of a deal.
Sunday we slept in and then got ready to have a late breakfast/early lunch with Matt’s dad. He and his friend Alicia drove down from Mesquite to spend some time with us. We convinced them to go to the buffet at the Treasure Island (Matt and I ate there a few years ago for dinner and it was steller, pricey, but wonderful). We were able to have omelets and anything else we wanted (including chocolate covered strawberries! I mean, those are the best breakfast ever!)
After brunch we went back to the hotel to chill out and get ready for the race. We were supposed to start at 5:30, so we set a meeting with Becky at 4:30 at the entry of our hotel to give us time to walk over there and find our places. We watched some football and slept a little then ate a banana I borrowed from the buffet that morning and I was ready to head out. Matt had been debating if he wanted to run this race since he was pretty sick with a cold. I was mostly over mine, but he was deep in the middle of his. He decided to give it a shot knowing he could bail out if he needed. And we were off to the races!
We crossed the street to the Excalibur and then noticed the road was already closed so we just walked up the side until we got to the starting area. We had assigned corrals, which is an area you line up based on your anticipated finish time. We were all towards the middle and the back. We walked through the corrals from the back, dropping Matt and Becky off at their corral I waded through the crowds until I got to where I was supposed to line up. My dad was in the same one so we spent some time stretching and chatting and trying to stay warm while we waited for the race to start. They lined us all up in a U shape, so the end of the group was even with the start, but on the other side of the road. I was lined up at the peak of the U, so the farthest away spot from the start we could be. We couldn’t really hear the announcers or the band, but we were able to see when the people in front of us started moving and we followed. We moved as a mass that changed from a walking mass to a running mass at the starting line. This is when I figured out that this was not going to be like any other race I had ever done.
People were smooshed together from the start. It was shoulder to shoulder people as we tried to run down the road. I set my dad loose since I didn’t have the energy at the start to push past people and hoped that he would be able to find a spot where people were going the right speed. I tried to keep up my run as I squeezed past groups of walkers and tried to stay out of the way of runners going faster than me. The race never thinned up and by the time we got past the Stratosphere and headed into the dark back roads I was kind of tired of the race, but it was only about mile 5 then, and I had a long way to go.
We weaved thorough the back roads and to the end of Fremont street and then turned around. To this point there had been a couple water stops, but they only had water, no sports drink like they advertised. I brought my own little sports beans so I popped a few of those and chugged along – still packed in with people. About mile 8 my cold started to come back. I guess an hour or two of running in the cold air had aggrevated it (who would have guessed?) and I was coughing like crazy. I had to stop running and start a slow walk to get my coughs under control. Then I had to push myself to a water stop to get a little water for my burning throat. But I couldn’t get over coughing and I probably walked 2 miles.
I told myself I would run the last 5K of the race because that was the part where we were back on the fun part of the strip. But the fun was gone by then. I wasn’t feeling well, people were pushing and shoving around me. I just wanted the race to be over. Finally it was! I was so happy to finish, grab my metal and my mylar blanket and banana and find my family.
My wonderful Mom brought me a sweatshirt to wear and I was so greatful because it had started raining just as I finished. I was able to cool down (too fast probably) and then we waited for the rest of the group to finish (My dad beat me by about 10 minutes. Go dad!)
Becky and Matt finished and we walked back to our hotel to clean up and then head out for some more fun. We changed and cleaned up as quickly as we could and then took a cab out to Fremont Street. We had a really fun cab driver and made it in good time. Unfortunatly it was pretty late and things were shutting down. We had hoped to have a good time out there, but there just wasn’t much to see. It was Ok because I think we were all a little sore and tired anyway. So we made a trip up and down the road and then took a cab back to the hotel. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the food court and I was almost asleep before we got to our room.
Monday we went home. Not much else to it. We got up and checked out and went to the M&M store and Coke store and looked around. Then we went to the airport and relaxed until it was time to head home.
When we got home I was reading on Facebook about the race. There were a lot of REALLY angry people because of the crowding and the running out of sport drink and I guess they even ran out of metals. Overall, probably the most negative race I have participated in. People just were not happy. I still had a good trip, and it makes a good story, but I don’t think I would sign up for that race again.
Yep, a few months ago Matt’s dad mentioned that there was going to be a half marathon that went down the strip at night. It sounded exciting. What a fun place to run with so much to look at that the race would whiz by! We signed up. We also somehow talked my sister, Matt’s sister and my dad into coming too. There was a whole party going down to Vegas and it was going to be fun.
We decided to fly down instead of drive because it would have been such a let down to get stuck in bad weather after months of training and the money spent for the race. So we found some cheapish airfare and set off on Saturday morning.
The flight was great, a little bumpy because of all the wind that was in the area, but we made it super quick and then took a cab to the race expo. We met Matt’s sister Becky and her husband at the expo and picked up our packets and our shirts. It was crazy busy, pretty much people smooshed into each other as far as you could see. I was trying to have a good humor about this because I knew we would be smashed in with these same people for the race. Rumor was that 44,000 (yep forty-four THOUSAND) people were signed up for the race. The biggest races I have done in the past have been Disneyland, and they have about 20,000 people, so I was prepared for this to be insane!
Mass of people at the Expo (this was the least crowded part of the whole thing)
Anyway, we picked up our packets and walked back up the strip from the Venetian to the MGM at the other end. We checked in after some difficulty and the Matt and Forrest were off to an MMA fight they had tickets for. I hadn’t had a chance to relax all day so I took a break in my room until my Mom, Dad and sister arrived from their flight. Then we all walked down to the expo again to pick up their stuff. Yep, that was a lot of walking. I dropped them off to have dinner and went back to my room to wait for Matt to get done at the fight. They finished and came home and then took me and Becky out to see the Bellagio fountains. Matt was super sweet and purchased a rose for me from a guy on the road. We then listened to him try to convince us to go to a strip club for about 10 minutes before we convinced him we were not going to go. But it burned some time between fountain shows and I got a rose out of it. Not too bad of a deal.
Matt and I at the Bellagio
Sunday we slept in and then got ready to have a late breakfast/early lunch with Matt’s dad. He and his friend Alicia drove down from Mesquite to spend some time with us. We convinced them to go to the buffet at the Treasure Island (Matt and I ate there a few years ago for dinner and it was steller, pricey, but wonderful). We were able to have omelets and anything else we wanted (including chocolate covered strawberries! I mean, those are the best breakfast ever!)
After brunch we went back to the hotel to chill out and get ready for the race. We were supposed to start at 5:30, so we set a meeting with Becky at 4:30 at the entry of our hotel to give us time to walk over there and find our places. We watched some football and slept a little then ate a banana I borrowed from the buffet that morning and I was ready to head out. Matt had been debating if he wanted to run this race since he was pretty sick with a cold. I was mostly over mine, but he was deep in the middle of his. He decided to give it a shot knowing he could bail out if he needed. And we were off to the races!
View from the hotel looking toward the airport. See how far traffic is backed up!
We crossed the street to the Excalibur and then noticed the road was already closed so we just walked up the side until we got to the starting area. We had assigned corrals, which is an area you line up based on your anticipated finish time. We were all towards the middle and the back. We walked through the corrals from the back, dropping Matt and Becky off at their corral I waded through the crowds until I got to where I was supposed to line up. My dad was in the same one so we spent some time stretching and chatting and trying to stay warm while we waited for the race to start. They lined us all up in a U shape, so the end of the group was even with the start, but on the other side of the road. I was lined up at the peak of the U, so the farthest away spot from the start we could be. We couldn’t really hear the announcers or the band, but we were able to see when the people in front of us started moving and we followed. We moved as a mass that changed from a walking mass to a running mass at the starting line. This is when I figured out that this was not going to be like any other race I had ever done.
Waiting to start the race. The start line is WAY up there somewhere.
People were smooshed together from the start. It was shoulder to shoulder people as we tried to run down the road. I set my dad loose since I didn’t have the energy at the start to push past people and hoped that he would be able to find a spot where people were going the right speed. I tried to keep up my run as I squeezed past groups of walkers and tried to stay out of the way of runners going faster than me. The race never thinned up and by the time we got past the Stratosphere and headed into the dark back roads I was kind of tired of the race, but it was only about mile 5 then, and I had a long way to go.
We weaved thorough the back roads and to the end of Fremont street and then turned around. To this point there had been a couple water stops, but they only had water, no sports drink like they advertised. I brought my own little sports beans so I popped a few of those and chugged along – still packed in with people. About mile 8 my cold started to come back. I guess an hour or two of running in the cold air had aggrevated it (who would have guessed?) and I was coughing like crazy. I had to stop running and start a slow walk to get my coughs under control. Then I had to push myself to a water stop to get a little water for my burning throat. But I couldn’t get over coughing and I probably walked 2 miles.
I told myself I would run the last 5K of the race because that was the part where we were back on the fun part of the strip. But the fun was gone by then. I wasn’t feeling well, people were pushing and shoving around me. I just wanted the race to be over. Finally it was! I was so happy to finish, grab my metal and my mylar blanket and banana and find my family.
My wonderful Mom brought me a sweatshirt to wear and I was so greatful because it had started raining just as I finished. I was able to cool down (too fast probably) and then we waited for the rest of the group to finish (My dad beat me by about 10 minutes. Go dad!)
Becky and Matt finished and we walked back to our hotel to clean up and then head out for some more fun. We changed and cleaned up as quickly as we could and then took a cab out to Fremont Street. We had a really fun cab driver and made it in good time. Unfortunatly it was pretty late and things were shutting down. We had hoped to have a good time out there, but there just wasn’t much to see. It was Ok because I think we were all a little sore and tired anyway. So we made a trip up and down the road and then took a cab back to the hotel. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the food court and I was almost asleep before we got to our room.
Monday we went home. Not much else to it. We got up and checked out and went to the M&M store and Coke store and looked around. Then we went to the airport and relaxed until it was time to head home.
When we got home I was reading on Facebook about the race. There were a lot of REALLY angry people because of the crowding and the running out of sport drink and I guess they even ran out of metals. Overall, probably the most negative race I have participated in. People just were not happy. I still had a good trip, and it makes a good story, but I don’t think I would sign up for that race again.
1 comment:
You rock! Anybody who can finish a 13.1 mile run, fun or not, has done something amazing.
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