Originally I wanted to get into Vegas sometime Friday, but things didn't work out. So I ended up driving in very early Saturday. I drove straight to The Palazzo. I parked and walked slowly through the Venetian to get to the Sands Convention Center. I took a few pictures along the way. It was still awhile before the expo opened, but there was already participants congregating in front of the expo entrance.
Every year, the cowboy expo is always nearby. Next year, I will have to go in and take a look. I'll probably buy a hat.
The waterfall at the Palazzo
The Grand Canal at the Venetian
Stetson Country Christmas expo
Expo
After waiting in line for about an hour, they finally opened up the expo. Before picking up my race packet, I went straight to the Wynn booth to pick up a VIP bracelet for the XS after-party and to see if they have any beanies. They ran out of the beanies the first day. They only gave out 4000 of them. I then headed over to the packet pickup, picked up my packet and the race shirt. I then made it over to the Rock n' Roll area to pick up my Rock Idol heavy medal for completing 10 of their events in one calendar year. The medal was huge! I took a picture with one of the showgirls. I was hoping that they would have a Miss Nevada. :)
I then talked to a rep about the race and he told me that they have about 44k participants and had plans to increase that to over 60k next year. My first thought was that the place that they're using for the expo was not big enough for 44k. It was the standard expo setup for their usual 15k - 20k participants. The ING New York City Marathon has roughly 45k participants and their expo is held over 3 days. They have lines at the entrance to control the flow of people into the expo. Also the space that they use at the Jacob Javits Convention Center is at least 3 times what they used for the Vegas expo. Later I would hear from my friends that the expo was beyond crowded. I was glad that I went right when they opened.
Showgirl
I was a little hungry, so I drove on over to the Chinatown area to check out Anime Ramen. It was a good concept/gimmick for a ramen shop, but they probably should work on improving their food. The waitresses were in cosplay. I ordered their tonkotsu ramen with gyoza. It was decent, but not as good as Monta Noodle House. I was told that they used the same noodles as Monta.
Anime Ramen
Cosplay
Menu
Gyoza
Tonkotsu ramen
I drove over to the Hampton Inn to check-in. I love staying here in Vegas to be away from the craziness. The only downside is that the drive to anywhere on the Strip will take at least 30 minutes to get there and park. I laid out the goodies that I got as well as some snacks I bought at the nearby Albertson's. I usually load up on salty potato snacks days before a race.
Shirt and goodies
Pringles!
I relaxed a bit in my room before heading out to eat with the Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics at the Rio World Carnival Buffet. The food is getting worse and worse each time that I come here. This will be my last year at this buffet. It won't be too hard to find another one to go to with so many buffets in Vegas. :)
Rio World Carnival
The buffet kind of wrecked my stomach, so I didn't eat much between the buffet and the race. I just ate my usual pre-race Mojo bar. The pre-race Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics photo was at high noon at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. I parked there and hung out with Big Bird for awhile until everyone showed up. After a gazillion photos, I drove back to my hotel to change for the race. I was pretty much dressed in all orange for this race: orange tiger beanie, orange Team WorldVision shirt, and orange Asics DS Sky Speed. Color coordinated!
Welcome to Las Vegas with Big Bird!
Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics
Race gear
Starting line prior to the race
The past 2 years, the parking instructions were incorrect. For the past 2 years, I followed the instructions to the T and drove into barricades where I had to get creative in getting into the parking lot. Lo and behold, this year was no different. I made sure to leave extra early this year. I did an initial drive through to check out the parking lots which I found that the easiest place to park was at New York New York. On the second time around, I check out the lots at Excalibur and Luxor. Despite the instructions stating to park here, people were being turned away. The hotel staff was making sure you were a hotel guest before they would let you through to the parking lots. It was a slow grind, but I got myself out of there and headed straight for the New York New York parking structure. Instead of walking through the casinos, I decided to just brave the weather and walk outside which is usually faster since everyone is trying to stay inside.
The runner look is pretty common place these days, but I got plenty of stares by the non-running Vegas patrons. I guess I stood out like a sore thumb in Vegas even a few hours before the start of the race. I was noticed by a fellow Runner's World forumite. Out of so many people, I was so easy to spot. We walked over to the gear check area in the Mandalay Bay. We wished each other a great race and went our separate ways. I waited near the entrance for my Maniac friends that were running the full marathon. I bumped into Sef, Joy, Mitch, and Casey. As their race was about to begin, I headed out to the starting line area to snap some race photos. I only found room after the first left turn on the race course. After watching all of the corrals take off, I went back to the gear check area to check my bag.
It was a complete zoo trying to get to the front corrals. We had to start squeezing through the barricades. I was only able to get myself up to corral 11. But that was good enough for me.
New things for this race:
- Tiger beanie
- Asics DS Sky Speed
The Race
It was pretty congested at the start. I tried to go out easy, but the right leg felt a little awkward. But it felt good to clock a few sub-10 minute miles. It was good to actually feel like I was running, but in reality it was still a slow jog that would only get even slower as the race progressed. I used this race to get reacquainted with my Honey Stingers since I've ran out of my favorite GUs and Powergels. They used to upset my stomach. When we started running with the full marathoners, I pretty much moved over to the right side of the road to avoid getting into the way of the marathoners. But I could hear the jostling and dodging that was taking place on the other side of the road. Sure, there were a few bike marshals directing traffic, but there was just too many half marathoners clogging the marathon lane. The signs were too small, the cones were too small, and it was too dark to read anything. I was scanning all over the place for the mile markers and still I missed two of them. The Strip at night... sure, an interesting gimmick, but a logistical nightmare. The finish line was when the nightmare began. There was a humongous crowd right at the finish line. I was fortunate enough to cross the finish line without the line being crowded.
1: 9:29
2: 9:46
3: 9:56
4: 11:00
5-6: 20:12 (10:06)
7: 11:34
8: 11:55
9-10: 24:56 (12:28)
11: 12:40
12: 13:31
13: 12:53
13.1: 1:08
Finish: 2:29:00
Post-Race
I picked up my medal and tried to get the heck out of there. But I quickly learned that it was going to require some patience. One of the worst possible piece of planning was that they placed the finish line photo area just a few steps from the finish line. This nice bottle neck was at the worst possible place when they need to provide plenty of space to accommodate 44k streaming into the finish area. After the photo area, the crowd was still moving like molasses in wintertime. The volunteers handing out the mylar blankets had to start tossing them at the crowd. I waded my way out of there not even trying to get a blanket or food. I guess it was a smart idea because I heard later that they were handing out green bananas. I finally made my way back into the Mandalay Bay out of the cold. I got my gear bag, changed, and tried to get back to my car parked at New York New York.
It took me forever to get through the Mandalay Bay casino. Just as I was about to head outside and use the sidewalk, I bumped into Marathon Maniac Hideki who was getting inside away from the cold. I then changed my mind and decided to go with him through the casinos since we were both headed to New York New York. It was slow going and the casinos make it pretty darn confusing to navigate, but at least we weren't cold.
I finally got to my car and drove back to my hotel. I showered and tried to meet up with my friends at the XS post race party, but that didn't work out. My friends were hurting or had gotten sick after the race, so I ended up flying solo. I wasn't there early enough for the free drinks, but at least I didn't have to pay the cover charge. The drinks took care of that... $14 for a black Russian and $17 for a Grey Goose martini. That was fine, but the funny thing was for that price they didn't even give me an olive pick for my martini. I asked the bartender for one and she told me to use a cocktail straw. Nice. Next time I'm pre-boozing if I miss the hour of comp drinks.
XS post race party
It was fun people watching. I got to see the bouncers bounce a few dudes that were trying to get on the pole dancing platforms. Sorry dudes, girls only. After that, I went back to my hotel.
The next morning I checked out and drove over to one of my favorite places for cheap good-tasting food, Ohana Hawaiian BBQ, for a little preview of my Honolulu Marathon trip. I ordered their special of the day which was the kalua pork. I brought Mountain Dew with me for the drive back home. I must have been a bit dehydrated since I was able to make it all the way home without a potty break while finishing my Mountain Dew.
Despite a very poorly organized race, I most likely will be back next year to see the changes that they'll inevitably make. There is a good reason why they're taking over races all around the world. Their formula works, they listen to feedback, and they take action as soon as possible. I've ran plenty of Rock n' Roll races to see all of that first hand. People and companies need to be given a second chance or even a third chance to redeem themselves. My only wish is that they would give the marathoners more time to finish the race. Normally a 4:30 marathon wouldn't be too hard if one does some training, but it's no dice when you pick up an injury along the way from registration to race day.
1 comment:
It was great seeing you along the course, cheering for us marathoners, and being able to catch up to you afterwards! I guess you had enough time to drive back to your hotel and go to the XS after-party. I missed it and wish I could have made it, but it took too long for me to get back and shower and all.
The 4:30 time cut-off for the full was not enforced.
Congrats on the RnR LV Half and the Honolulu Marathon a week after!
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