Rock 'N' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon Race Recap

Last weekend was one that had been on the books for a while... A weekend of friends, running and #AllTheFun. The hubby and I drove to Las Vegas on Friday to participate in the Rock 'N' Roll Las Vegas weekend (I ran, he spectated).

Source

The game plan was to run the 5K on Saturday night and the Half Marathon on Sunday night (they also offer a 10K and Full Marathon on Sunday night as well) as part of the Remix Challenge. [Because #BLING!]

Source

Hopefully, by this point, you've already read my 5K recap, but just in case time has gotten away from you and you haven't had a chance yet, STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GET YOUR READ ON! [I mean, it's not every day you can read race recap where someone runs as a landmark from the city, right?!] #WhenInVegas

Now that we are on the same page, we can proceed ;)

And, before you ask if I ran the Half Marathon in the Vegas sign, let me dispel all the rumors and say that I did not. Although I have run a half with a piece of foam core strapped to my back (a la Rosie the Riveter at Rock 'N' Roll Los Angeles), I figured that the 5K was far enough... not to mention, there was a new tee I was DYING to rock!

Source

You see, Sparkle Athletic and #WeRunSocial got together and created an AMAZING tee with reflective ink (PERFECT for a night race). As soon as I saw the shirt I knew that I HAD TO wear it for the half (along with Sparkle Athletic's new reflective skirt)! The race outfit called my name before I even had the chance to come up with another DIY costume.

This #FlatCarlee was all about the reflectiveness and glow power ;)
Black PROs, pink Handful bra, reflective Sparkle Athletic skirt,
We Are What Happens in Vegas tee, pink reflective Sparkly
Soul headband, pink QALO silicone wedding band, pink and black
Momentum Jewelry wraps, black RoadID, light up ring and sunnies, glow sticks,
KT Tape (for my knee and bum hip), my Garmin Forerunner 735XT, Remix bracelet
(so I could claim my extra medal) and Brooks Ghost 9 with #TeamSparkle Shwings.

Well, I guess that isn't entirely truthful... You see, PRO Compression had released a sock a couple months back, the black with neon swirl. Someone (who will remain nameless ;)) deemed them the unofficial official #RnRLV sock.

Source

The issue I had was that I already own like 4 pairs of black PRO Compression socks in my drawer, so although I am a major team player, I couldn't justifying buying another. THAT is where the DIY comes into play. I thought to myself "Those socks sort of look like they have neon lights wrapped around them.. I bet I could finagle something with an existing pair of black socks and some Dollar Store glow-in-the-dark bracelets..." And, voilà, magic was made ;)

PS In case you ever need to do something similar, I bought some
elastic and just hand stitched little tabs so I could run the bracelets
behind them. You cannot put the glow sticks in until it is 'go time',
because they will run out of glow, but, for what I needed, they
worked perfectly. [I only lost two of the twelve during the 13 miles.]

Okay, okay, I realize that they may have not be 'exact' but they were pretty close, really fun, and you could actually see them while running The Strip (as opposed to the legit socks that just looked like black socks once the sun went down).

One of these things is NOT like the other...

If you aren't familiar with the Rock 'N' Roll series, let me give you a few details. On the courses, there are bands/ DJs/ entertainment. Along with those acts, there's normally a headliner. For Vegas, since it is an evening race, the headliner plays at a pre-race party (which is open to the public, but unless you are dying to see the band I don't know if you're willing to fight the 22,000+ runners to see the show). This year's performer was none other than Snoop D-O-Double G.

[Let's just say Snoop isn't the most family friendly show, but I guess you should expect 

that when you are in Vegas... and have a rapper who is all about the Gin and Juice.]

The #WeRunSocial crew decided that meeting up at the concert would probably be the easiest to coordinate (seeing as most people stay at different hotels, get into town at different times, etc) since we all had to go to the starting line at some point [this year they introduced a wave start with different colored bibs, but more on that later].

Deets on the meet-up from the man himself, Pavement Runner

Well, I guess we just assumed that the set up for the concert would be the same as in the past... but you know what happens when you assume, right?! So, as it turns out, the meeting place (in front of the VIP tent) was no longer a convenient and easily accessible spot since it was now moved RIGHT NEXT TO THE STAGE! #Fail Thankfully a few folks were still able to fight the crowds and find us to say HEY and snap some pictures before heading out.

Sorry about the lighting... It was VERY bright (even with all the smoke Snoop was blowing into the crowd...)!

As I briefly mentioned above, this year was the first time that Rock 'N' Roll changed their corral start. In the past, you would enter your estimated finish time when registering and be assigned a corral. At previous races, although you are assigned a corral on your bib, it is a lot of self seeding (meaning, no one is checking bibs, making sure runners go into correct corrals, or even verifying estimated finish times). Since the #RnRLV race is so large (and there are a billion and a half corrals), they had to make a change to get runners to the start as efficiently as possible. This year, runners were assigned one of three color waves (Blue, Green or Yellow) and then corrals within those waves.

Source

Unfortunately, due to this change (and the fact that not everyone is totally honest with their estimated finish times), not all of the crew could run together. It was a bit of a cluster, but I understand that something had to be done so there weren't 40 corrals and runners standing for over an hour trying to make their way up to the starting line.

Source: @PavementRunner's Instagram

Anywho, the crew who made it through to the blue start was myself, Brian, Dave, Richard, Ivie and AJ. The game plan was to stay together at least until the "Welcome to Vegas" sign for a photo and then AJ and Ivie would begin their walk intervals. While veering over to the center divider, AJ rolled his ankle - OUCH! He took it in stride though and was glad it happened during the last race of the weekend (yup, he and Ivie ran the Avengers 10K and Half before Vegas).

Source: @BlingWhore's Instagram

Once we made sure AJ and Ivie were okay to continue on, we decided to run on ahead. For the rest of the race, it was me and the Three Amigos / Three Musketeers/ Three Stooges (all jokes aside, these three guys - Brian, Dave and Richard - are AMAZING and if you have the pleasure of calling any of them friends you know EXACTLY what I mean).

We left the Vegas sign in between waves so we had the street to ourselves
Photo credit: FitFam6

Source: @BlingWhore's Instagram

Richard had run the Avengers Half that morning (see, I'm not the only crazy one... I have plenty of crazy friends too!) so we knew this race was going to be all about the fun, friends and fantastic-ness. We would stop when we needed to, walk when we needed to, potty when we needed to, party when we needed to, selfie when we needed to, etc.

Hubby was out at the Lexor and grabbed this shot of me

Let's just say, with these guys it is hard not to have a great time. I am honored to have them in my life (and that they let me tag along with them for the race). With that said, the course seemed a little less exciting this year. Don't get me wrong, there were some noticeable upgrades (including lasers at the finish line, more DJs along the quiet sections, etc), but the vibe didn't seem to be as hype as it had been in the past (which is saying a lot since last year it was cold, windy and raining). Maybe it was the spectators, maybe it was the runners, maybe it was us... Whatever the case, we made the best of it and kept smiling and laughing the entire way (and the beer stop didn't hurt)!

Source: @BlingWhore's Instagram

Night races are tough (at least for me). I felt like I had a bad belly the entire weekend (sort of like what I get with Ragnar). It is hard to know when and how to fuel/ eat. Along with the warmer temperatures and the fact that I was drinking Gatorade to keep my electrolytes in check, my stomach was not super thrilled with me. Nothing that caused me to slow down or stop, but noticeable... which is why I wanted to at least mention it... since I know most of us are used to running morning races and may not take into account how our body may react (or revolt) with an evening race.

We found Lisa at the finish line! She was spectating the Avengers Half with #TeamSparkle that morning!

All-in-all this weekend was a MAJOR success! I got to hug some friends who live too far away, run some miles, collect some bling, spend some time with the hubby and have a BLAST! I know I say it a lot, but the running community ROCKS MY SOCKS! I have never found a crew who is as welcoming and encouraging as my fellow runners (minus the ones who wanted to trip us for being in the front of the 5K race). Even if the race would have been a complete bust, seeing all of my running buddies would have made it entirely worth the time, money and miles!

Hubby had to work Monday morning, so as soon as I finished
we made our way to the car and drove the 5ish hours back home

The bling (it glows in the dark and spins!) and tee (my fave from RnR thus far!)

If you want to #StripAtNight in 2017, there are still a few pre-sale registration spots available (but they will only be up for grabs until Sunday, November 20th or until they sell out, whichever occurs first). Register HERE (like NOW!)!

Source

Have you ever run an evening race before?