2007 Vegas Marathon Review: How Was It and Did the Half Marathon Runners Go Off Course?

I ran the half. I was running 5:40's through about four miles when back tightened up and I had to back off. At that point I was behind the second or third pack of runners. just before where the half split off there was a huge group of volunteers at the wedding chapel/Elvis corral. we then turned dirrectly into the sunrise. a couple hundred meters up the road is where the half marathon was supposed to turn. there was ONE volunteer there who had to be asked if this was the turn.

I saw two runners ahead of me and asked the guy. he said ya so I turned. I went down a block and when I turned I saw a pace car and only two runners ahead of me. I turned and waited for one of my team mates who was half a block behind just to make sure I was on course since he ran it last year.

the lead runners kept going, they did not know they missed their turn until about 8 miles. I would guess there were at least 30-40 runners and they never came back on course.

what a devine mess.

the half and full people started together. i was in the first wave of the non elite people and at the split the cop was yelling to go one way for the half, the other for the full. this is not the job of the cops and there was no sign but i knew the turn so I was prepared. i talked to a few people later in the day who missed the turn for the half and added two or three extra miles. other than that it wasnt bad. nice to see a lot of fans stayed up to cheer everyone on.

I know that Tim Keller was up with the marathon leaders which came through the half in 66:30 at which time he dropped out. I think some of the former Badgers (Spiker) ran it after not going to bed all night on Saturday and being drunk. After all it is Vegas, I guess.

They showed Keller on tv after he dropped out. The announcers were halfway chuckling at him for missing the turn.

umm ..... wrote:

They showed Keller on tv after he dropped out. The announcers were halfway chuckling at him for missing the turn.

I heard he was drunk as hell when he was out there running. One of my buddies ran with the lead group for 6 miles before they picked it up and they said he was talking shit the whole time and sprinting and slowing down. Maybe they thought he was funny because he would not stop running his mouth. That is a hell of an effort on his part if it is true he got no sleep.

heard this was a cluster again.

devine is clearly one of the worst in the industry--ugly.

missed turnoffs.

mismarked miles.

not paying vendors.

they are developing quite the rep!

I would just like to say that I was one of the so called elite runners in the lead of the half marathon who was in the tv interview. I would like to throw it out there that we do not consider ourselves "elite" by any means. However, we were running and knew the turn off for the 1/2 was somewhere around mile 6 or 7. But when we went through this area we saw nothing, or anyone indicating a turn was necessary, and further more at the aid station at mile 7 a lady yelled at us to " keep going straight, dont turn!" thinking we must have been marathoners, also along this stretch the sun was just rising and right in everyones face. However, once we reached mile eight and started heading toward the mountains, and away from town we knew something was up, so we stopped and asked a cop, who informed us we had missed our turn! And the great folks over at devine were not very sympathetic, no one could organize a ride back for us, or seemed to know what the hell was going on.Fortunatly the agreed to give our money back. And yes it is true that Matt Tegenkamp was running, clearly a tempo or for fun after not sleeping. After spekaing with the race director, what had happened at the turn off was the volunteer saw the lead group go by and THEN started directing traffic, and furthermore there was not the simplest thing in the world...a sign! So the long and short of it is, if you want to run a successful race but dont know the course that well, dont trust devine to get you through it!

Let's Run Folks,

I am a pro triathlete who runs about 70 min for the half marathon. I was part of the group of front runners who went past the turn, but I did get to see how bad the race really was when I back-tracked from mile 9 of the marathon and run in with the 2 hour half folks. I know most on this forum are pretty fast, but its the back of the packers that pay the majority of entry fees and I learned a lot from seeing more than I bargained for.

Please ready my letter to the race director. I have not received a response, so I will air my gripes to you in hopes that this race either does not happen again or it gets a MAJOR overhaul, perhaps new directors!

Las Vegas Marathon Director,

I would like to address several problems that I personally witnessed and believe each were small, but grouped together are unacceptable. I don’t understand how a race of your size can ask for the entry fee it does and not provide a quality race. I will likely never do one of your races again, based on these experiences.

The little things:

-Lack of signs to direct athletes to the expo in a very large resort/casino.

-Packet pick-up ran out of safety pins for the race numbers.

-Lack of signs on race day to direct athletes to anything: start, bag drop, corrals, etc.

-The “sweat’s bag” drop race morning was very poorly run and very difficult to find. There were about six overworked volunteers helping two lines each of over a hundred people trying to drop off their bags. There was no security or even anyone monitoring people picking up their sweat bags, post-race. The entire bag drop operation was poorly executed.

The really big problems:

-The inability to get to the start line. My girlfriend witnessed people climbing and pulling down fences so they could get to the starting corral before the start. It was nearly impossible to get onto Las Vegas Blvd for the start. I personally had to jump a fence to get to the corrals.

-Not directing the first 15-20 runners of the half marathon onto the correct course (I was one of them!) I eventually turned around before the nine mile mark of the marathon and returned to the half marathon course turn-off.

-There were no visible signs or barricades for the half marathon/marathon split. I witnessed about six runners correcting themselves when I returned to the split, which at that point would have been about 70 minutes into the race.

-You did not have enough volunteers at your aid stations in the second half of the half marathon. I witnessed runners having to do everything at an aid station due to lack of volunteers. They were opening cases of water, pulling out jugs of water, putting out cups, filling cups for fellow runners, etc.

-The gel station, well marked by your gel company, did not have any gels being handed-out when I arrived around 90 minutes.

-The highly advertised mile markers (and this is why it is a big deal, your advertising!) were not visible at miles nine through eleven. The clocks were not working for the first several miles (granted I was in the lead groups). However, I did not see one Elvis doing splits. I did not need the Elvis’, but you advertised they would be there.

You are not re-inventing the wheel when it comes to big races. If as a race director, you can not handle or get the volunteers to make a race of your size happen then you, should set a cut-off or not hold the race at all.

I crossed the finish line around 2:03, upset with my 19 mile half marathon, but more appalled by each of the many flaws in your directorship. I ran all the way out to almost the nine mile mark before I back-tracked to the unmarked split. Had I listened to my friends I would have never been on your start line, but I felt I should give your race a fair shot and do it myself. I look forward to your explanations and apologies.

Billy Edwards

Boulder, CO #18601

One of the runners who got caught in the mess when the half's turn-off wasn't properly marshalled was last year's half marathon winner (in 1:10:08), Ventura resident and former University of Wisconsin standout Josh Spiker. If someone like Spiker isn't "elite" enough for you, too bad. For this mid-pack runner, at least, it seems a shame that the race promoters messed up in a way that prevented the prior year's winner from having a fighting chance at a repeat. At the very least, any runner in the top 10 or so who was thrown off course by the promoter's negligence ought to be offered free entry and a hotel room in 2008.

Please post your response if you ever get one which I doubt you will. I honestly dont think they really care. The bottom line is that you and several thousand others added to their bottom line and that's all they care about.

Like many, I came in with pretty low expectations, but ran it anyway since I was there for another event and friends were already in the half. To me, it seemed the "showy" things were in place that would impress people that may not commonly do a big road race: The expo had lots of exhibitors, the start was a spectacle w/Blue man, fireworks, etc, and the finishing area was impressive as expected with a big race. I think for those that aren't used to running in races competitively, as was the case for many that were in this race, would walk away feeling that they just participated in an "event." They may even write to Devine and say that they had a great time, etc. But I think Devine is catering to the lowest common denominator and providing things that are auxiliary to a race, and ignoring what is important to us: A well run RACE. Support runners on the course with water and volunteers/employees, respecting each race as a separate event (the marathon/half-marathon split and the debacle when the races joined up again) and providing access to the start (parking was non-existent, barriers to the corrals, poor signage)-these are all things we expect before fireworks and bands on course (which took more breaks than a 5 hr marathoner by what I saw). As long as an event as poorly orchestrated as this continues to make money, I think we will continue to see more of the same.