I was looking forward to this trip for several reasons, none of which had anything to do with the Strip - now a close resemblance of the Mall of America. For one, this was another Libertyville Running Club trip - the 3rd and final trip of 2015. All of my marathons in this states quest are becoming LRC trips. I was also looking forward to getting out of Las Vegas as soon as I landed. The Wife and I rented a couple of Harleys Friday morning and rode a 160-mile loop to the Valley of Fire State Park and around the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. To this day, we have not had a better ride. The weather was beautiful, the surrounding scenery and hikes were surreal, the roads were ours alone, and the ride into the setting sun, a purple and yellow hue behind the mountain range as we rode back into town to grab dinner at In-N-Out Burger was stunning.
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| Road through Valley of Fire State Park |
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| Sunset Overlook at Lake Mead National Recreation Area |
This was my 40th overall marathon and 26th state. I called it my Over the Hill Marathon for that reason. The Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon is unique in that it starts at sunset, 4:30pm, and runs the length of the Strip, venturing to the north side of the city, around an airport and back down the Strip, finishing outside of the Caesars Palace Hotel. Just as you question the need for a headlamp, you quickly realize that Las Vegas is visible from space as one of the most illuminated areas on planet Earth. Even at its northern point, the course is well-lit by this luminescence, area street lights, and portable stage lights and spotlights strategically placed by the race organizers along the course. I went into this race hearing about how much of an afterthought the marathon course was and just how desolate it gets. I was rather impressed with the extent to which the course had ample music (albeit mostly trance and club and not as much rock n' roll as you might expect by the group that hosts the race) and lighting in just the right areas. This, even though the ratio of marathoner to half marathoner was about 1:10.
Flat and cool desert race... What could go wrong? The wind. That howling wind storm that rolled in just about the time the race started proved to be a hindrance for the runners and the aid stations. With wind gusting up to 50 miles per hour and sustained winds of 20 mph, runners had to readjust expectations. I went into this planning to just skirt by under 3 hours. I hadn't put many miles in since Chicago due to all the planning and execution of the Run of the Dead Elimination Run, my first stab at race directing my own race. Also, I'm exhausted from a pretty good year of 5 sub-3-hour marathons (winning one of them), my first 50-mile ultra, and a lot of miles in between. I'm approaching 3,000 miles for the year; that's just stupid for me.
You can imagine my surprise at mile 21 when I entered that sustained headwind and slowly thereafter realized the time I had banked was being whittled away at by those winds. As I ran through an aid station, the wind picked up a table with water glasses stacked 3 high and flipped it. Cups were circling everywhere along the course. As I remerged with the half marathoners at mile 24, I was jealous that they could huddle among their masses while I was running solo down my chute with no one to block the wind for me. The final 10k of this marathon was a very different struggle than usual. I wasn't spent at this point. I felt fresh but just couldn't move with that wind holding me back. As the finish clock came into view, I had to smile at the 2:59 time; that was close.
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| Most of the LRC at brunch the day before the race at Mon Ami Gabi |
