I almost forgot that this race was a Saturday race. So after work, I made the drive up to Las Vegas. I drove straight to Fukumimi Ramen for a late dinner. I tried out their karamiso ramen. It was nice and spicy! And as usual I ordered their karaage. Their Japanese style fried chicken is the best that I've eaten! After dinner I made my way to my hotel, the Baymont Inn and Suites, to get checked in. The hotel was located near the Las Vegas Premium Outlets and looked like a remodeled Microtel hotel. Nothing fancy, but good enough for a quick weekend marathon trip. I unpacked my race gear and laid them out before hitting the hay.
Karamiso ramen and karaage
Race gear
Saturday
I got ready, hopped on the freeway, and drove out to Boulder Beach at Lake Mead. It was $10 to enter the park. I picked up my race packet and went back to my car to wait for the start. I found it funny that they ran out of men's medium race shirts. Did the race director not order enough? It wasn't the case where I had registered late. In the end, no harm done as I have way too many race shirts at home to know what to do with them. I usually end up donating the less attractive shirts to Goodwill. About 10 minutes or so before the start of the race, the Marathon Maniacs gathered for the traditional pre-race photo.
Nice view from my room :)
Marathon Maniacs!
I've run this race several times. It's a challenging out and back course. For the marathon, you run the course twice. It was a somewhat chilly windy morning. Running out to the Hoover Dam was pretty fun except for the "switchbacks" down the ramp to the parking lot and then back up the ramp after you run a loop around the parking lot. It's pretty much half paved roads closed to cars and the other half gravel trails. You can get by with just regular running shoes. No need for trail shoes. During the trail sections, we got to run through the historic railroad tunnels which is pretty much the selling point for this race. My sense of balance is always thrown off a bit as you run through the very dark tunnels. As you're finishing a loop, you have to first run past the finish area and head out for a little out and back before turning down towards the finish area. For the marathon, head back up the hill and repeat. I was hoping to finish in the 4:30's but I was getting a bit tired during the second loop so I fell a few minutes shy of my goal.
1: 8:58
2: 8:56
3: 8:56
4: 9:37
5: 9:17
6: 8:05
7: 10:39
8: 10:26
9: 8:39
10: 8:24
11: 9:41
12: 8:37
13: 9:25
14: 11:40
15: 12:23
16: 12:42
17: 10:59
18: 13:11
19: 10:17
20: 14:55
21: 14:19
22: 12:02
23: 12:28
24: 10:54
25: 11:53
26: 12:52
26.2: 2:10
Finish: 4:42:26
After crossing the finish line and getting my medal, I shot the breeze with a few of my Marathon Maniac friends while waiting for a few others to finish. After snapping a few pictures, I drove back to my hotel to get cleaned up before I head back out to eat with my friends.
Finish, picture from Martha
Finish
My friends and I met up at Wicked Spoon for a little post-race celebration. I love this buffet. It has been consistently the best in terms of food quality and service. The roasted chicken was exceptionally good! I wish I had a few more drumsticks. The strawberries dipped in chocolate were pretty good as well. When you see me eating any fruit at a buffet, you know that I'm pretty much done with eating. After taking some silly pictures in the giant shoe and exchanging goodbyes, I drove back to my hotel and watched some Little Mermaid before calling it a night. Yup, can't get any crazier than that in Vegas. :)
Post race meal with friends
Plate#1
Plate#2
Plate#3
Eating some fruit
Strawberries were good
Still my favorite animated Disney movie!
Sunday
Time to go home. But before going home I decided to eat lunch at the Studio B Buffet located inside the M Resort. Every time I come here, the quality of the food goes down. This place is definitely living off of its former glory. This buffet started off being pretty spectacular, but it is now just average. Of course the price of the buffet still keeps inching upwards. The one thing going for this place is that they have unlimited beer and wine. They do have one decent beer on tap every time that I've been here. They used to give you crab shelling tools, but now their crab legs are pre-opened for easier consumption. Go for the steamed crab legs, they're better than the cold ones. The pile of cocktail shrimp is always a mess. The carving station is still pretty decent. They have sausages, turkey, and prime rib. The omelette station is pretty popular if you come for brunch. The cashiers are pretty friendly. But when it comes to those bussing your table... they have a look on their faces that says, "I hate my job". They do come by often and do a good job though, so I can and will excuse the sourpuss face. :) I like coming here because it's away from the hustle and bustle of The Strip. Parking is much easier here. But sad to say with the continued decline of their food quality, this will probably be the last time that I dine here.
Plate#1
Plate#2
Plate#3
Plate#4
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