Las Vegas Rock n Roll Marathon Preparations

This Sunday evening, I’ll be running my last marathon of the year in Las Vegas.

I hadn’t started off this year planning to run 7 Rock n Roll marathon events, but I’d snagged an entry to the Las Vegas race earlier this year on the chance that we could go.  Neither of us gamble, so the real attractions in Vegas are the national parks & the concert/entertainment scene- specifically we really wanted to see Garth Brooks.

 I’ve ran the strip before, tackling way too many flights of stairs, and I’m glad this course is going to be on the actual roadway.  The first half looks to be very winding & full of twists.

I’ve very annoyed that Rock n Roll hasn’t posted an official elevation profile for this race.  I know the strip should be mostly flat, but I’m always very nervous about hills.  Luckily, another runner plotted out the route & posted this profile.  I was told the hills are mostly overpasses & I’m glad to see they are early in the race.

One very unusual thing about this race is that it’s at night. I’ve never done an evening race, but the full marathon starts at 4 and the half-marathon starts at 5:30.  I was hoping that it would be light out enough during the first half to see things & be entertained, but the sun is setting pretty early.  The strip will be all lit up with neon, so I”m looking forward to way more entertaining course than San Antonio.  Don’t expect too many (good) pictures from a night race, especially when I am going for a good time on this race.

Weather is looking good, but again I’m a little unsure what to expect as this race is at night.  I’m thankful for the cool temps & it should cool off rapidly once the sun sets.  I’m planning on having hubby carry my gloves & a light jacket in case it gets too cool near the end or the wind picks up.

I was initially tempted to run the half marathon for several reasons, but the hot pink full marathon was one of the things that convinced me to go for the full.  I’d also much rather run/race with 5K people on the full course than 40K people on the half course.  I figured I was already in shape, so I might as well go for the full & I am really hoping to redeem myself from my awful San Antonio time & hopefully get a new personal record.

I’ll also be picking this bad boy up- my 11th medal for a Rock n Roll race this year (6 finisher’s medals + 5 heavy medals).  I can’t believe that I got totally suckered into  the hype of doing all these races, but it’s been fun traveling to gorgeous places & seeing family around the country.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: So excited for a weekend getaway with hubby on our first trip to Vegas together!