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Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon Information & Reviews

Course Rating Course 3.3 
 
Oranization Rating Organization 2.7 
 
Spectator Rating Spectators 2.8 
 
 
Number of comments: 736 [displaying comments 141 to 151]
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K. S. from Atlanta Georgia (12/8/2011)
"My 22nd and worst marathon" (about: 2011)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 1  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 1


Much has already been said, all of which I concur with. I was really looking forward to this race, my son and daughter-in-law live in Henderson and I stayed with them. My daughter, her husband and my 2 oldest grandsons (7 and 9) came from NY to watch.
First half of the marathon was 1,000 turns around an industrial/service road area. I thought the bands would be fun, but you only hear them for 20 seconds each. In between there were no spectators. Aid stations were 2 miles apart and they only had sports drink every other station, and it wastomax. It could have been the Cytomax, or the fact that they used hydrant water, that made me so ill. After the half, when weaving through the half marathoners, I saw no Cytomax at all, and they were breaking down the aid stations already. Running on the Strip at night should have been awesome but it was just frustrating. At mile 17 I got very ill, and the porta-potties at that spot had lines of 10-12 people each (way too few pp's on the course). I found a gas station and used the facilities, but continued to feel extremely nauseous, my bp tanked and I became totally dizzy and disoriented, couldn't even walk in a straight line. Finally saw a cop at an intersection and she called an ambulance. Four and a half hours in the ER, 3 EKGs, lots of blood work. My temperature crashed and it took them an hour to warm me up. I am glad I went as they took good care of me and I really did need help. Luckily my heart signs and blood work were good, and my son and daughter were found and came to be with me. My grandsons were really freaked out. So don't know what the cause was, but apparently I wasn't the only one to be sick. Glad I missed the mess at the finish line, actually. Heard they ran out of medals as well.
Did I mention they had a 4:30 cutoff for the marathon?? Who does that?

Amyway, I would not run one of these races again. It's going to be fun to get all the medical bills in the mail as well. Who can I send them to for payment?

 

R. R. from DE (12/8/2011)
"NIGHTMARE" (about: 2011)

First Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 2


I ran the half marathon and was very disappointed in the lack of respect people had for the corral system. I have no issue with people walking the half, but stay in the last corrals not in the first ones. Trying to get to the gear drop was poorly marked as was even getting down to the start of the race. Very poorly managed for the price. I felt so bad for the full participants trying to merge into the sea of humanity on the course. This race was too big for the strip to handle.

 

Jim Skibo from Cedar Hill, TX USA (Dallas) (12/8/2011)
"Glitzy Race" (about: 2011)

50+ previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 4


There are PROS and CONS.
I ran the full marathon. I thought the marathon was organized 'reasonably' given its disproportionate ratio of marathoners to half-marathoners; however, I was disappointed to not find any Gu or electrolytes beyond about mile 15. There was plenty of water, and really I don't care if it came out of the city pipes.

The problem almost came at the end of the race as I walked into the Mandalay to make my way over to THEhotel. I just stopped dead in my tracks and I almost passed out...very light headed and I sat down to get over it. I am not sure what caused that but I see other runner comments that I wasn't the only one. A guard told me how to get out of the hotel logjam and walk around to another entrance.
That many people stuck in one place was not safe....fire, medical, whatever.

Runners vs walkers. The biggest headache to me was the timing of the marathon and half-marathon starts so the marathoners ended up plowing into the half-marathoner crowd. In hindsight, it would have been better to start the marathoners at 5:30 and the half-marathoners at 4. That would have given the half-marathoners a 3 or 4 hour head start on the full marathoners and probably would have reduced some of the logjam.

No shuttle. The official hotel is the Mandalay but the Expo is 3 miles away at the Sands (Venetian). A shuttle would have helped because a taxi was $15 to $20.

PRO:
It was a marvelous experience to run down the strip at night. That is something you cannot do unless it is an event like this. I have run many times in Vegas when I am there on business trips and I normally run exactly where the first half of the marathon ran, so that industrial area was very familiar to me. I kind of like it because you get a great view of the city.

We stayed at THEhotel and simply walked out the door and into our corrals. So logistically this was good. If you had to drive and park, probably it wasn't so good. But, if you compare this to New York or the end of the Marine Corps marathon, those are logistical nightmares compared to this. It is a BIG race and you will have crowds.

I like to run at night and this was my kind of race.

 

J. W. from Phoenix, AZ (12/8/2011)
"Sadly disappointed that 6 months of training turne" (about: 2011)

First Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 4


At 53 years of age I had trained for six months for my first marathon. I had done three halves all under two hours and hoped to break four hours in Las Vegas. The first half went well but as soon as we hit the strip my heart sank as I knew I was done. People were walking in the marathon lane. I spent the next ten miles walking running and dodging my way through the course. There was a constant yell of half marathoners to the right marathoners to the left. It never happened and once I heard a guy yell back 'No you're not going to win the race'. Sad considering the full marathoners put in a lot more work to achieve their personal goal. 4:15 minutes from start to finish I achieved a great personal accomplishment that fell shortof my goal primarily due to the lack of organization in this race. And oh ya, green bananas, really?

 

D. S. from Chicago, Illinois (12/8/2011)
"Not for a serious full marathoner" (about: 2011)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 3


There were several problems with this race (crowding etc.) that many others have observed. However, the critical problem and the problem that actually affected my performance was the horrible merging of the half marathons with the full marathoners. I spent so much energy dodging slow half marathons that were not paying attention and yelling 'half to the right!' at the top of my lungs that it really created a difficulty during the last 13.1. It is inexcusable that the race organization would impact performance in this way for so many marathoners (the actual run should be the absolute top priority for the organizers - the rest is just details). If you are a serious marathoner or are looking for a BQ, look else ware.

 

R. R. from Raleigh, NC (12/8/2011)
"Terribly organized. Poor execution." (about: 2011)

6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 2


Firstly this site is mis-leading. If you look at the overall ratings they seem fairly average. However that is because it includes all comments made for previous years as well. There are no good ratings for2011. The overall results are skewed by the past results.
Secondly having run several halfs and 1 full marathon over the last 4 years, this was the worst organized I have experienced. I agree with the other comments below. I also got the distinct impression that the major objective of this event was to bring as many people as possible to Vegas and get as much money from as many people as possible.I had to pay an additional $40 to pick up my bib on race day. Planning for 60,000 next year is irresponsible and maybe even immoral and maybe even dangerous. From the comments I have read it seems like the Rock n Roll series has a bad reputation I wasn't aware of. I had planned to do Dallas and Chicago next year but now I will not. Plus I will warn every one not to participate. Heck, I don't even think all the RnR bands showed up.

 

J. D. from Fairfax, VA (12/8/2011)
"Awful." (about: 2011)

11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 2  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 2


I have run 15+ marathons and this was by far the worst. The first half of the race was ok. Nothing great but nothing to complain about. The second half was a DISASTER. I knew going into the race it was going to be a problem to merge the marathoners with half marathoners but I highly under estimated how bad it could be. I didn't even enjoy running down the strip as I was trying to weave in and out trying not to fall or knock someone over.

It was also a 'cool' idea to run the marathon at night but I am a morning runner. I didn't like having to waste basically an entire day on my trip sitting around waiting for the marathon to start.

the organizers said they are hoping to increase to 60,000 runners next year. I will not be one of them. I suggest for you safety and sanity not to enter either.

 

M. F. from Arizona (12/8/2011)
"THIS RACE IS NOT FOR MARATHONERS!!!!" (about: 2011)

11-50 previous marathons | 2 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathons
COURSE: 2  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 2


For any other Marathoners like myself who ran this course it was a real let down. I ran the first 13.1 a little faster then normal just so I could get on the strip for the second half and really enjoy myself!! The first half is ugly and boring. I had a great pace going ready to PR and BAM!!! SMACK!! Right into thousands of halfers walking and taking pictures. This was an EPIC FAILURE by the Rock N Roll Series!!! Half marathoners were told to stay to the right and leave us the 6 inches of strip that was designated for marathoners. I dont think the majority of them even were aware of this! What a joke! I don't blame the halfers though because of the utter chaos that 40,000 people running brings, and the lack of communication from Rock N Roll. In the end I spent the second half of the race weaving in and out of walking/jogging half marathoners. It made for one hell of an interesting and different race!!

Ironically I PRd because I just wanted off this mess of a marathon course. Luckily I ran fast enough to miss all the chaos at the Mandalay Bay and the finishing area. I really feel bad for everyone who went through all that and did not even get a medal. This was my 7th Rock N Roll marathon. They are not a proactive company and they only care about money! I have run several other non Competitor group marathons and small city marathons and they are all better!

 

S. N. from Portland, Ore. (12/8/2011)
"Disappointed" (about: 2011)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 4


I had high hopes for RnRLV. It's the Strip, and they're closing it to traffic, and it's at night. How bad could it be? Pretty bad, as it turns out.

Organizers got virtually everything wrong. By doing it at night, they created gridlock for locals. By staggering the start the way they did, they guaranteed that most marathoners hit the strip just in time to be blocked by a wall of walkers and half marathoners. Marathoners' race was effectively over at that point.

Some water stops ran dry. At the finish line, they ran out of medals and space blankets. Few people seemed to have any idea where the post-race activities were, or how to make their way through Mandalay Bay. The Strip was too narrow to accommodate this many people at once in any kind of orderly way. And to top it off, this race cost more than most.

Based on this event, my sense is that Rock n Roll is all flash and marketing, with little substance. That may not be fair, since I've heard their other events aren't bad. But I'm not sure I want to give them another chance. There are plenty of other locally organized events in the country that are well run and well done, and I'm more inclined to give them my money in the future.

 

I. C. from San Francisco, CA (12/8/2011)
"Disastrous planning" (about: 2011)

1 previous marathon | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
COURSE: 2  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 3


Horribly organized. The merge was a fiasco; as a marathoner, I wasted so much energy trying to weave thru the crowd of slow half-marathoners and the stupid cones that were so ineffective at separating the two groups. The Mandalay Bay post-run jam was a scary fire hazard, it took over an hour to get out of the wall-to-wall, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. Food was pretty much impossible to get for hours.

 

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