Las Vegas Race Recap.

So I'm back in town and back at work, can I get a BOOO!! Unpacking, downloading pictures, going to the grocery store for food, putting gas, etc..!! I need another day just to recover and get back on track, let alone just get some sleep! Race recap: My dad and I left the house at 4:14 am and headed for the Mandala Bay. It was windy and cold out with a slight drizzle out, Yuk, I said. This is not going to be a fun run if the weather keeps up. As we got to the parking garage I noticed alot of the runners not wearing much more than shorts and a long sleeve so I thought it couldn't be too bad out there. I had dressed with my shorts, long sleeve under armour shirt and 2 long sleeve t-shirts. I seriously thought about ditching 1 of the t's but then just kept it and thought I would tie it around my waist if I got too hot. As we made our way through the hotel and out to the parking lot where the start line and booths were the windy was really kicking up and it was cool. It was only about 5am so we had a good hour to wait, I hate waiting around. Luckily there were these great big tents with heat blowing inside of them so we stepped inside one of them only to realize that these were not just ordinary tents, they were Runner Incubators! It was so freakn hot in there I felt like an chicken egg waiting to hatch. Needless to say we did not stay in there too long as it was too hot so we step out and stood next to the seam of the tent where you could feel some heat blasting through. It was a great spot as the construction of the tent did allow for heat to blow down from the top where the roof was attached, so we just stood there. Other runners stood along side as well and we talked to a few for a while. At about 5:50 am I told my dad that we should head to the start line. As we got close to it, it became apparent that there were alot of runners and the line was starting to back up on the street so we cut through the porta cans only to find that everyone else was doing the same and coming to a halt just on the other side near the road where the line of runners was already past us. We stood on the side in some rocks till the start and that is where I took the pictures of the start. The gun went off at about 6:18am and of course with that many runners it takes a while to get going in spite of your anticipation to just go. I crossed the mat about 10 mins after the gun went off only to hear the announcer say that the back of the pack would not cross for another 20 mins! On the right of the start line was the Blue Man Group performing so I snapped a couple of pictures as I was running (will post later).

The wind was still blowing as we finally started to run. It was pretty cool running down the strip with all the lights and seeing some spectators cheering us all on. After about 2 miles I was ready to go on a shopping spree! I mean there was so many jackets, gloves, hats, sweaters and t-shirts laying all over the road it was crazy! I mean there was really good stuff laying out there. My dad and I talked about how neat it was to be running down Las Vegas Blvd. I ran ahead of dad and took a few pictures. As I got to about mile 3 I had to use the bathroom so I ran inside the Frontier Casino where Gilley's is located. I knew exactly where it was at as I have been there before and there were other runners popping in. I heard a guy in the casino say where else can you go gambling and find marathon runners coming in to use the bathroom. I headed back out and caught up with my dad and then he had to go so he hopped into the Slots-O-Fun. I kept running and didn't see him till the end of the run.

As I approached Fremont Street and made the turn I stopped to take some pictures and realized that I had not been paying attention to how cold it had been. Once I made the turn and started heading back I immediately noticed the head wind and the cold and was glad that I did not ditch the extra long sleeve t. A few short blocks and I checked my HR which had been running Z3 (~156) was now in Z4 at ~165. The damn wind jumped my HR like 10 beats/min! I felt fine so kept going.

The run back was kind of boring as scenary goes, as it was on Industrial. There were a few dj's playing music and a couple of bands but most of the entertainment started at the 9 mile mark with bands, a local cheerleading high scool, and some african band music with drums and stuff.

The volunteers were great handing out lots of water and gatorade and just making the overall run great. The other entertainment was the running Elvis'. They were great throughout the course and even stopped at one of the wedding chapels where several runners were getting married while on the run! The Elvis' caught me at about mile 7.5 and then I caught them at about the 10 mile maker and ran with them for a while until they stopped.

As I rounded the corner of the parking lot of the Mandala Bay the pace quickened and my heart rate went to ~178 and I knew that I was not going to last long running that fast but I also knew I was less than 1k away so I felt going and made the final corner to see the Finish Line Banner!

I crossed the mat and hit my stop watch, proceeded down the shute to get my chip removed, grabbed a neatO space blanket, got my finishers medal and went to stand in line to take a picture with a ShowGirl. After I got a banana and some water. There was not really much food at the end which I was suprised being as it was a marathon. Water, gatorade, smoothies and bananas (which were gone by the time my dad got there so I was wondering if they brought more later or the other full marathoners were SOL) I calculated my dad's time and went to watch others finish and wait. My dad hit the mat at 3:15 and I headed to the finishers area to meet up with him. After we made our way back to the car and headed home, we didn't stick around too long because it still kinda cold and I was totally starving after burning about 3600 calories!

I rested in the afternoon and we had dinner that my mom had cooked with my friend Mike and his new wife, Tris, which he didn't tell me he got married on 8-7-06. Your still in trouble for that one MIKE! Then we headed out to the strip.

I will make a Vegas recap.

According to final results there were 7,222 in the half marathon and 5,957 full's with the web site stating 16,047 total runners!

My results:

Place Gun_tm Chip_tm Pace 5097 2:52:57 2:42:13 12:23