Rock 'n Roll Vegas Half Marathon

Seems like I can't get enough of walking, so I decided months ago to sign up for the Rock 'n Roll Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon. Let's be honest, after walking 60 miles I know that I can walk 13. miles in my sleep. This half marathon intrigued me because it was walking the Vegas Strip at night!



Before the Half Marathon

Little did I realize that walking with 44,000 people AND doing it in Vegas would present its own challenges. My hotel was about a mile and a half from the start/finish, which I thought would be a good thing. Well, let's be honest, who really wants to walk extra miles before or after walking 13.1 miles? Note to self: next time select the hotel that the race starts from. Getting to the start wasn't that bad. Leaving the hotel afterward was a completely different story...it took about 2 hours! This was due to the amount of people participating in the event and the lack of taxis.

Walking The Strip at night was way cool since I was able to see all of the hotels and casinos lit up. Unfortunately, I really couldn't take any pictures (I know, a marathon/half marathon is a competitive event and not a sight seeing adventure). This was also a great way to see the entire strip, including the downtown strip area.

I have been to Vegas more times that I can remember, but I always stay on The Strip and move between a few hotels and casinos. This was my first (and probably last) time going to the downtown area. As we walked away from the bright lights of The Strip, the landscape changed pretty quickly. It was pretty apparent where the money is at in Vegas. Needless to say I was happy when I was able to see the bright lights of The Strip again. And yes, this also meant that the half marathon would soon be finished!

I was excited to walk the event with my step mom and a friend of mine. This half marathon was the first endurance event that my step mom has completed since completing her treatment for breast cancer in December 2010. For my friend, this was her first (and hopefully not last!) half marathon that she has ever walked.

My biggest disappointment of the evening was that there were no finishers medals when we finished! I am all about instant gratification and was really looking forward to receiving my medal. Hopefully it should arrive in about 6 weeks.

I mentioned earlier that walking a half marathon really doesn't challenege me. I suppose I could train to walk it faster (I finished this one right at 4 hours), although I believe I am going to train to jog my next half marathon! There is another Rock 'n Roll half marathon the end of March that I am going to make it my goal to do a jog and walk combination to complete. At the very least, I want to beat my 4 hour finishing time!