Inaugural Alien Escape Half Marathon 2020

Saturday 11/14
Per the usual, I left the house just after finishing lunch. As a WorldMark owner, I've always stayed at either the Tropicana or the Spencer St properties whenever I'm in the Las Vegas area. This was my first time staying at WorldMark Las Vegas Blvd. I was pleasantly surprised with this location from the moment I arrived. Once I checked in at the gatehouse, I was given a parking placard. On the placard were instructions on how to do a drive-thru check-in. I called the number on the placard and stayed in my car. After a brief call, there were 2 friendly employees that showed up to my car. One got me check-in and gave me my room keys. He informed me that due to COVID, the children's playground, hot tub, and lazy river were closed. Also using the pools required reservations. The other gave me a bottle of water and invited me to an obligatory owner update with a $75 gift card as my reward. Upon agreeing to the owner update, he collected a $20 refundable deposit which I would get back when I showed up. Before heading on my way, he also gave me a bracelet which they were giving out to eventually replace the traditional room card keys.

I stayed in a studio room in building 13. It was a pretty basic motel style room with a kitchen and a murphy bed. That was plenty adequate for a short solo trip. The only thing wrong with the room was that one of the 2 bath towels had black stains on it. Sure, you could tell that it was cleaned, but come on, if the stain doesn't wash out, you should take it out of rotation! That just rubs you the wrong way as an owner because of the maintenance fees that they collect each year!

Murphy bed

Stained towel :(

After getting settled in and relaxing for a second, I hopped back in the car to fill up the gas tank as well as to pick up a quick dinner. I drove down to Silverado Ranch Blvd as both Chevron and McDonald's were right next to each other. I wanted to get fuel as I needed to leave pretty early tomorrow for the roughly 2 hour drive out to the start line at the Black Mailbox.

After getting gas, I drove next door to McDonald's. Per the usual, I placed my order on the mobile app before heading inside to pick up my food. I ordered 2 McDouble sandwiches and used their deal to get a large order of fries for $1. They had stickers on the floor to help people with traffic flow as well as physical distancing. Once my food was ready, I took it back to my room to enjoy.

Just follow the signs

McDouble x2 and large fries

Per the usual after finishing dinner, I laid out my flat runner before calling it a night. The original forecast was for some pretty cold weather in the 20's, but the forecast kept getting warmer every time I checked.

Flat runner

Sunday 11/15

I got ready and left my room at about 6 am. In all of the years that I've run any of the ET Midnight races, I've always opted to pay for the bus ride. This was my first time making the drive myself. I'm not sure that I would want to make this drive ever again. I have a pretty big lead foot, but it would turn out that my friend has an even bigger one. As I was nearing the 318, I noticed that a car was riding my ass especially as we were driving through a small town where the speed limit dropped quite a bit. As we were leaving that town, I didn't drive as fast as I normally would to allow that car to pass. Of course, I instantly recognized whose car that was with all of the stickers on it. I followed them in. Once we reached the Black Mailbox, the whole race packet process was very well done. Everyone stayed in their cars as it was a drive-thru packet pick-up. In addition to getting our forehead temperature scanned, we were to read a set of statements to determine if we were recently exposed to the Coronavirus. Once we were deemed okay to participate in the race, we gave them our ID's so the volunteer can bring us our race packet which included the race bib and race shirt. Then we were directed to the parking location that was along the road that was perpendicular to the 375 Extraterrestrial Highway.

Race shirt

Back of race shirt

As soon as I parked, I headed over to the starting area to use the portapotties to empty the bladder. I checked the weather along the way. The air temperature was cold, but strangely enough, it didn't feel all that cold. I think it was a combination of elevation and no cover from the sun. The warmth from the sun felt good. I decided to ditch the gloves and arm sleeves. While waiting for the start of the race, my friends were laughing at just how pale I had become! :)

Portapotty line

Robert, Karen, and Seth

The 51k and marathon runners started their race at 8:30 am. After that, the half marathoners gathered near the start area for the race at 9 am. The Half Fanatics gathered near the Black Mailbox to take the obligatory pre-race photo.

Half Fanatics

Robert, Karen, Seth, Vanessa, and alien

Going into the race, I was hoping to run about a 2:15. For some reason I always underestimate the effect that the higher elevation has on my breathing. The course was a straight out and back. I really enjoyed running it in daylight and being able to take in the beauty of the desert landscape. The first half was a gradual uphill climb. I was hoping to run the entire way back to the finish line, but I just didn't have the endurance. The downhill sure didn't feel like downhill and I had to take a lot of walk breaks. In that final mile, I had several opportunities to pass the 2nd place female, but I didn't feel like passing her as I saw that she was struggling. On the final stretch, I took a walk break to put on my mask and I ran with her to the finish line with her crossing just ahead of me.

Finish: 2:18:42
Click here for my Garmin data.

After crossing the finish line, I picked up my finisher medal and had to catch my breath as I was feeling a little dizzy. It might have been the mask or the elevation or the combination of both. Once again I hung out with Latino Heat. We waited for our friends to finish the race. I waited until about noon before I started heading back to car to make the drive back. I grabbed a Cup o' Noodles with me which looked really good. I haven't had one in decades! I think my body was craving the sodium.

Finisher medal

Post-race goodies

Marcia at the finish line

Marcia and Robert

After getting back to my room and getting cleaned up, I boiled some water for the Cup o' Noodles. While probably not the best thing to put into your body... boy, did that hit the spot! For an early dinner, I decided to go check out Picanha Steak Restaurant. I went with their picanha plate with the arepitas and garden salad as my sides. Unlike California, they were allowing customers to dine inside, but I took mine to-go to enjoy back at my room.

Dining area

On the way back to my room, I stopped at the Chevron gas station on Warm Springs Rd to fill up the tank for tomorrow's drive home. Once I got back to my room, I was finally able to enjoy my early dinner. The picanha was good as is, but even better with the chimichurri sauce! I see a return visit to this place in the future.

Picanha plate with arepitas and garden salad

Monday 11/16
I was up pretty early. I was all packed and ready to go long before the new earlier check-out time of 10 am. Before heading home, I went down to the lobby to attend the owner update at 8 am. As promised, I received my gift card reward at the start rather than at the conclusion. Apparently instead of the usual complimentary breakfast, we now only get snacks and bottled water. Contrary to what they told me, the whole update went over the 1 hour. They always say no pressure, but they're always trying to sell me more credits no matter what answer I give them. I understand why I should buy more credits, but no means no, especially during a pandemic when nothing is for certain!

After I was done, I used the restroom in the game room before hopping in my car for the drive home. I made really good time. There's certainly less cars on the road these days.