Viva Las Vegas!

Here is my wrap up of the Las Vegas Marathon on
Dec. 2:


First the good news--
1. This is the first time that I've ever been able to run the last 5 miles
of a marathon without stopping to walk.
2.Great weather--38 degrees at the start, low 50s at the finish. Sunny, no
wind, low humidity.
3. I ran pain-free the entire way. I did experience the requisite
stiffness at mile 21 but no PAIN, thanks to my masseuse and my
chiropracter.
4. I felt pretty good afterwards, too, just some normal quad stiffness and
very tired feet.
5. I am now a 4-state marathoner.

Chip time: 4:36. (Subtract another 5 mins. or so for a pitstop at mile
4--more on this below!) 34 out of 116 in my AG.

Now the bad--
I didn't run my best time due to MAJOR logistical problems at the start.
Tom & woke up at 4 AM and had every intention of lining up at the start with
time to spare. We finished breakfast at 5 and headed over to the start.
Start time was 6:07 AM. Talk about best laid plans! There were hordes of
people cramming themselves onto the trams that would take us over to
Mandalay Bay. Later, we found ourselves stuck in a HUGE mass of people with
no one to direct us to the start. When we did finally make it, again, no
one was there to tell us how to get inside the corral and line up. We--and
a couple hundred other folks--ended up squeezing through a chainlink fence.

We had both wanted to use the portajohn before the race but that was not to
be as we had only a minute to start time. So unfortunately, we had to wait
until mile 4 to use one and then had to wait online for at least 5 minutes!
ARGH!

The starting horn blasted and we were off---to a slow walk, accompanied by
fireworks and Elvis' "Viva Las Vegas" blaring over the loudspeakers.
Speaking of Elvis, there were hundreds of 'em, all trying to break the
world's record for the largest number of Elvis impersonators in a marathon.
You haven't lived until you've seen a Japanese Elvis.

The race was crowded until about the halfway mark. Althought the crowd
began to thin out, there was much confusion as to where the half-marathon
split began and the full marathon continued. Signage was poor or
non-existent and there was a lone police officer--without a
megaphone--telling runners which direction to proceed. We were fortunate in
that we were able to hear him but many others were not. Several folks we
spoke with afterwards said they got lost.

Tom & I ran together for the full half (another first!) and then decided to
do our own respective paces. At that point, I was feeling a bit tuckered so
I took a GU gel. Almost immediately, I felt a warm buzz course through my
body and somehow, I got my groove back. Both of us were able to make up for
past sins and ran negative splits.

Special thanks is due to my friend, Beth, who told me all about what to eat during
the week leading up to the marathon. It worked! Lots of white carbs,
iron-rich foods plus iron supplements, and a powdered sports drink called
Ultra Fuel.

One highlight:

About Mile 18, I passed a man wheeling what appeared to be 4 baby dolls in a
stroller. It turned out to be a physician who was attempting to break the
world's record for wheeling the largest number of children in a marathon.
(He did). Turned out he's the father of 8 and the "dolls" were his
4-month-old quadruplets. He had some assistance with diaper changes and
bottle feedings along the way. I did manage to beat him--barely. We
enjoyed watching him being interviewed on CNN later that evening.

In summary, this was certainly not one of the more scenic courses: Very
flat, boring scenery alternating desert with freeway, plus minimal crowd
support. Perhaps people in Las Vegas don't wake up before noon.

In my opinion, this is also not the race to do if you are seeking to qualify
for Boston. Very poor organization (the expo took forever to get to and was
poorly marked) and very crowded with about 16,000 runners. While the course
is mostly flat (the last 4 miles are actually downhill), the repetitive
terrain can actually be more tiring to your feet than a varied terrain.

So, where to next? Only 46 states to go!