Pages

Monday, December 8, 2008

Viva Las Vegas ~ The Recap

One of the ladies I went to Vegas with has a cousin who owns a condo just right off of the LV Strip. This was only small part of the view from my room!

We had an amazing panoramic view of the city, and it only cost me $10 ~ my portion of the cleaning fee...

Vegas is a very interesting place...no, we didn't do any gambling, in fact, we didn't even step foot into a casino, I know this probably disappoints some of you, but I did see some fascinating people...I will just leave it at that. 

Getting to the starting line was a little tricky with ALL the road closures, but we finally found a way through and got a parking spot and ran over just in time to visit the port a potties and have the gun go off. They shot off the fireworks over the strip, which was such a cool thing to see. 

As we started inching our way across the start line, I got a little weepy, I was so excited to be running another marathon (this was #11), and with the fireworks and Elvis singing Viva Las Vegas it was just cool.  There were about 15 thousand runners (full & half marathoners combined).  
                                       
The first 4 miles were really crowded with walkers and so I was having to dodge in and out of them, but once the half marathoners split off it was wide open. 

There was a run through wedding chapel at mile 6-ish and just after that was a line of about 10 Elvis' on the sideline, which was a total energy boost, seeing so many in one place. Of course, all along the course there was someone running as Elvis...

The weather was great! It wasn't too cold, there was a nice cloud covering, and not a lot of wind, it was a perfect day for running a marathon! I was feeling good and running strong and it just felt fabulous to be out there.
 
I started getting nauseated at about mile 18, but I stayed strong and just tried to run through it. Does anyone else have this nausea problem?? What do you do to keep it at bay? 


That last stretch before the finish line was the frontage road of I-15. There were more spectators than I had anticipated, which was really nice. As I turned to go around Mandalay Bay to the finish line I started getting weepy, I do that EVERY time...but as I crossed the finish line, there was Clara, it was so nice to see a friendly face and I cried, of course! 

I went into this race with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised, they had an aid station at every mile, with port a potties at each, and they also had a potty at every half mile as well. They took tons of pictures, MarathonFoto was everywhere. They didn't run out of cups at mile 22...it was mile 25! I was glad I brought my own post race food because there was NO post race food, not one morsel. They had water, gatorade, regular & chocolate milk and orange punch..that was it! Next year that won't be an issue since Rock & Roll bought the LV Marathon! Yeah!  All in all it was a fabulous weekend and a fabulous race. I finished in 4:33. Viva Las Vegas!

12 comments:

Marci said...

That is an awesome $10 view!! Congratulations on marathon 11, your pictures are great, and great race report!

Nurse Heidi said...

Woot! Those are great pictures! I can't believe they didn't have ANY FOOD?!? Holy moly, nice race organizers :P.

Leslie said...

Great Job Stacey! I agree that is an amazing view. I so wish I could race again but with the lack of funds as well as local races it'll have to wait till spring I presume. :(
So what race is next?

Denise said...

Great job! And your pics are great. You don't look like you're running a marathon!!

Unknown said...

You looked like you were running strong. I so want to do the LV marathon some year. If only I can convince my wife.

Joe said...

No food?!?!?!?! I love races with crazy runners and awesome spectators. That can make all the difference. Oh yeah...great job! :)

Joe
www.fitnessgeekga.wordpress.com

Becky said...

Congrats on another marathon well done! I'm so proud to know you! Thanks for letting me read about your experiences--it keeps me motivated!

Robin @ Bird On A Cake said...

Congrats on the race! Why don't you look tired in those photos??
So I saw your link to the Walt Disney World marathon, but it didn't take me to anything. Will you be doing that one? Did you get my email a while back about coming to Florida?

Anonymous said...

Stacey,
congratulations. Sound like you've had a good marathon career. I have several athletes who say they've had nausea, cramps, or (fill in the blank) at mile 18. It's the wall. Usually due to lack of race nutrition from the previous 4-5 miles. Keep the hydration going even when it seems unnecessary. My two cents.

Marlene said...

Congratulations!!! You're looking strong all the way through to the end. I'd love to try this one some day, especially since it has been bought by R&R!

Janice {Run Far} said...

Where the heck have I been these last two days? I haven't noticed your blog updated and I have been waiting so anxiously since sat to hear about it. I am so glad you had a good time. 11.... awesome. I am jealous.

Janice {Run Far} said...

seriously you are adorable. You were smiling in all the pics.