I spent the past weekend in Las Vegas, enjoying the beautiful weather, mountainous terrain, and time with family. My (pregnant) sister and her husband live there, and this weekend was the Las Vegas Marathon, so my mom was in town, as well as my sister’s friend and her boyfriend. Although I typically hate road races, I thought it would be cool to run the Vegas race (I did the half) because my sister was doing it and the race was held at night. We would run up and down the strip, so lack of scenery would not be an issue. Since I am training for the Bandera 100K, I planned on getting a couple runs in the mountains in addition to running the half, which I planned on cruising and enjoying the atmosphere.
I awoke on Saturday (slept on a blow up mattress in a room with my mom snoring on the couch next to me) and headed to Boulder City and the trails of Bootleg Canyon. I had run there twice before, and I knew the terrain was challenging but very runnable. In my previous trips, I had run the same series of trails, which featured no major climbs or descents, but were rolling the entire time, providing no flat stretches and making it difficult to establish a comfortable running rhythm. I knew this would be great training for Bandera, and I was excited to get into the mountains and enjoy the views and cool weather.
I soon reached a familiar dirt road that leads up to some sort of radio tower (I think). I figured I would hike to the top, turn around, and go back the way I came. Just as I was about to head down, I noticed what seemed like a faint trail snaking around the side of the mountain. Hmmmm, maybe I should explore this. Even better, the trail went up, switchbacking past the tower a set of cables. Wonder what these are? Soon my curiosities were answered as I saw a group of people in red shirts attached cables to several folks sitting in some sort of harness. As I followed the set of long cables down to their endpoint, I realized I was standing under a zipline that shot people down the canyon. Pretty cool, but nothing I would ever do.
I saw that the trail snaked down the other side across some very rocky terrain. This was great! I took it to the bottom, then turned around and head back up to the zipline/tower. Once there, I was ready to jog down the road, collect my water bottles, and head back on the trail I started on. Just as I rounded the first corner, I noticed a trail dropping off the right side. Let’s see where this goes, I thought. What I found was the best singletrack, switchbacking trail I had ever run in the Vegas area. In all, it dropped roughly 750’ over just over a mile. Short, but still a blast to run. Upon reaching the bottom, I turned around and began the steep hike back to the top. A nice couple I met at the top suggested I go in a different direction and check out the views from another peak, where I would have an unobstructed view of Lake Mead. Always up for an adventure, I headed that way. After several navigational challenges, I was there. Sure enough, the view was spectacular.
Enjoying the view but not wanting to linger too long, I started the 5+ mile trek back to the car, retrieving my water bottles along the way as I re-traced my steps over the same trail on which I began. Since I have been trying to use liquid nutrition (Carbo Pro) exclusively, I have a surplus of gels and chomps left over from previous races, so I was on a mission to use these on my run. I had a variety of flavors, but I certainly found out that Cherry Lime Roctane Gu is NOT something I will be using in the future!!! Less than I mile from my car (a nice fire engine red Chevy) I spotted a large bighorn sheep. Very cool to see it scurry up the side of the mountain with little effort. I arrived at my car and looked at my Garmin, which registered a beautiful 18+ miles in a little over 3:50. What a great way to spend the morning. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Since I wasn’t going to try to “race” the half marathon, I woke up early on Saturday and jogged down to the local park for some hill repeats. This “mini mountain” offered the perfect spot for some incline work. It is exactly one mile from my sister’s front door to the trailhead, giving me a nice warmup before the real fun started. The trails leading to the top are steep and rocky, and the views of Mt. Charleston, Red Rock Canyon, and the Vegas Strip are amazing. The only downside is that it takes a lot of loops and re-tracing one’s steps to eek out 10 miles, which is what I did. Then first couple times I passed people, they though nothing of it, but when I bearded guy in a button down shirt runs by for a 10th time, eyebrows are raised. I had a great time all the same, as the weather was once again beautiful, sunny and cool.
After a huge breakfast (I love breakfast food and could eat it any time of the day!), we made our way back to my sister’s house for a little rest. I relaxed by watching football and playing banjo. Not a bad way to spend part of the day. Soon it was time to head down to the strip for the race. I was excited about the run, but I certainly wasn’t expecting great things from my legs, which had nearly 30 mountain miles on them in the past 24 hours. Oh well, just have fun and enjoy the experience. So, the 6 of us piled into my sister’s car and made the 15 minute drive. As soon as we got near the Strip, we realized this was going to be ugly. Traffic was horrendous (much more so than a “normal” day in Vegas). We decided it would be best if the 3 of us who were running got out and walked to the start while the others looked for a parking spot (which they found over an hour later and a mile away).
The full marathon started an hour and a half before the half marathoners were set to be unleashed, and the race leaders whizzed by just as we were walking up. We still had over an hour before we started, and it was getting chilly as the sun set behind the towering casinos, so we headed inside Madalay Bay in the hopes of staying warm. To say Mandalay was crowded would be a gross understatement. It was a zoo. People crammed everywhere. I hate big crowds, so this was not fun for me. After taking care of some last-minute needs, we headed out in to the darkness to find our corrals and start the race. At 5:40, 10 minutes after the race started, my corral made it to the start line.
My goal was to stay relaxed for the first half of the race and then see if I had anything left for a controlled tempo effort over the last half. I really enjoyed the first hour, as I got to chat and enjoy the scenery. I could go on and on about the absurdity of having 44,000 people running down the Vegas Strip, but I’ll be brief and just say the merging of the half and full marathoners was dangerous, there were too many people (as in any marathon) who just stopped in the middle of the street to walk or tie a shoe (move over to the side for cryin out loud), and I had to weave in and out of so many people that I probably added an extra half mile to my total. Of the 200+ songs I had loaded onto my iPod, only one of them was a Garth Brooks tune. It just so happened (completely by chance) that the song came on just as I was running by the Wynn (where Garth now performs) and a huge picture of Garth. Weird.
Despite all the craziness, I felt pretty good and decided to pick up the pace for the last 10K. I downed a couple gels (not all at once), drank bad water (more on that in a bit), and dodged crowds on my way to a respectable (for me) 1:59 finish, where I was greeted by thousands of people and cold temps (not fun with sweaty clothes). I found my mom and grabbed some dry clothes, then waited for my sister and her friend to finish. Another hour and a half getting to the car, followed by a food stop and In and Out Burger, and we were home after midnight. What a long day.
I have sworn off road races several times before, and this one did nothing to entice me to do more of them. I considered this a special occasion since my sister was also running (while pregnant!). The crowds (in the race and at the expo) are awful. People litter everywhere (throw your cup in a trash can). There isn’t any good food at aid stations (that’s the best part of ultras). And the course was pancake flat, which most roadies like but doesn’t suit my tastes in running. All in all, I’m glad I did the race and was certainly glad to get to see my sister finish her 2nd half marathon in 3 months. I mentioned the water situation earlier because enough people became ill during or after the race (some are still sick) that the Nevada Department of Health is looking into whether the water was contaminated. Several people are actually talking about filing a class-action lawsuit over the poor race management. Guess I will stick to trail and the ultra scene. Thank goodness J
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