Las Vegas Marathon/Half Marathon

Eric,

For the sake of comparison, I finished a place in front of you (76:29) but based on recent results was reasonably expecting 72:30 - 73:30.

Once the

Looking at the recent results of others in the top 10, it looks like people were generally at least 3 minutes down on normal - some a bit more.

Dave

PS - I thought that the Ozzy performing on the strip was a young Meatloaf?

That was one of the worst marathons I have ever run!!!! The wind was really really bad. But lets start with how disorganized this race was. Like someone mentioned the start was a MESS. They had brides and grooms and elvis runners starting literally next to the elite field. They had the elite 5 on the starting line but then they would not allow the rest of the runners to move up next to them so there was a fifteen foot gap between them and the rest of the field. They then had the Las Vegas Running Club starting before the Sub 3 corral! I snuck in and was able to stand next to this mess but I cannot believe they had the entire club separating the truly fast runners.

Also they had a field of 16,000 run into a narrow start. Instead of having startng mats all the way across the boulevard they had fences that pushed everyone through a section barely two lanes so they would run over the mats.

The race started late becuae the blue man group who was to perform before the start was runnnig late!!!!

NONE I mean NONE of the mile markers were accurate. MANY were MISSING. No first mile marker at all. Most were nearly a half mile off. I started looking for the painted mile markers used to certify the course because the clocks and water stops were no where near the actual marks. After mile 23 I never saw another marker. I was in no mans land and had no clue how much further we truly had. They then funneled the half marathoners and marathoners onto the same narrow path to the finish. It was a complete mess! Water stops were definitely not where they were supoosed to be either so I would just grab a water even if i didnt need it at the time because I didnt know when the next water stop would be.

How can a race not place the mile markers acturately is beyond me. Seriously a mess.

This was a new low for race management!

Eric,

I agree it was a complete mess. I was hoping to run 5:50 - 6 minutes for the marathon and never knew if i was truly on! The mile markers were not even remotely close. How can a race screw this simple thing up so badly!

Like the previous poster I seriously had no idea how much further I truly had after mile 23. Talk about messing with your mind the entire race and having no clue what your true pace was. It was a truly miserable day with the wind but not have the course marked correctly really hurt! Never run a Devine race!

I heard that this was mis-managed the year before and that the invited runners never got the money promised to them.

I can't believe how poor the invited field is....though after Devine has failed to pay a few athletes and agents, this comes as no surprise. Also, considering Devine's financial struggles, it is no wonder that this race was a complete disaster...Devine to perhaps go out of business???? It would be no loss.

the invited field was really poor considering there was a 65k 1st prize i am sure the times would have been much faster without the wind, but 65k for 1st place and a girl gets 3rd overall that is ridiculous. what was the prize money breakdown after 1st place?

I second all the above comments. The one thing that was missed was the fact that GU stations were supposed to be at miles 18 and 22. I was dead anyway, but really disappointed when it wasn't there. I talked to one guy who this really affected and I'm sure there were others. When you say you will have GU at these critical miles, people are counting on it. You can't just leave them hanging especially when you have no other food/nurishment available.

NO food after the race!! Only some fruit that was fozen solid. there were points in the race where I had to walk to the table and take water off of it b/c people were not handing it out. I was not in a mass of people either.

But definately the start and the mile marks being off were what messed up this race the most.

I will not be running another Devine race again. They put all of the money we paid into things like fireworks, having Robin Leech do the announcing, and blue man group instead of food and a measuring instrument.

And not that I care at all, but someone said Cirque du Soleil was going to perform at the finish. But instead it was some teenage garage band playing Bryan Adams songs.

Somehow I managed to enjoy this race despite registering too late to get a preferred starting position and weaving through traffic the first five miles, running way too conservatively and sprinting at the end, wind, etc.

I couldn't care less about food at the finish, but the mile marker situation was pretty bad. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the markers on 24 and 25 both said 24. I was in highish gear after 24 and planned on opening it up between 25 and 26, but when I saw 24 again, I was confused, so I held my pace. Next I saw 26. It's not like I'm going for a world record, but (1) that's a bad place to screw up mile markers, and (2) one should expect accurate mile markers for a $100 marathon.

The morning of the race we stood in line at the taxi stand until the bell cap told us cabs weren't taking folks to the marathon start. Luckily I had enough time to walk the two miles to the start, but that could have been ugly.

On the plus side, it's cool to run down the strip, fireworks, Mirage volcano, Bellagio fountains, flat course.

This race was an absolute disaster. For people trying to get certain times, it was impossible to hold a pace with short mile markers at the beginning and long ones toward the end and a peppering of other distances in between. I would NEVER come back to this race or recommend ANYONE ever run this race. Complete and utter disorganization!

b. wrote:

2003 Las Vegas Half Marathon and Marathon. Sustained winds of 25 mph with gusts around 40 mph that blew over outhouses. Oh yeah, point to point courses that were actually run in from the desert with sand from all over hitting you in the face and the rest of your body.

Taken from an article back in 2003:

David Bronfenbrenner tuned up for a planned run across the United States by winning the Las Vegas international Marathon under miserable conditions Sunday.

Bronfenbrenner, of West Hazelton, Pa., and the record field of 7,901 in the half-marathon and marathon battled a prevailing headwind with gusts up to 45 mph on the course from Jean, up the old Los Angeles Highway, to the finish line at Sunset Park.

...

"Through the first 10 (miles), it wasn't too bad," Bronfenbrenner said. "Once we hit the halfway point, it felt like 50-mph winds. ... The wind was blowing really, really bad."

i ran that race... never seen ANYTHING like it in my life-- a guy right in front me had to drop out when he was hit by some flying debris/shrapnel...

I thought my POD was way off but maybe not, I also mapped it beyond a half at 13.56

bwuhahaha. sorry, just had to chuckle at seeing everyone else deal with what i did a couple of years ago when i won the half there and was essentially told prior to the race that it would be nice for me not to waste the elite athlete coordinators time as i shouldn't really call myself elite. also, i didn't need to be at the technical meeting as i wouldn't need any of the info (what if i had questions pertaining to the half??). I tried to keep it civil with the newspaper reporter after the race but i guess some pole in 4th (i think) just blasted larry and co in the LV paper, it was pretty amusing. i figured my winning overall as a "non-elite" who wasn't even worth an entry, let alone hotel was irony enough (that said, the actual RD was kind to all of us, it was just the EAD who was a tool). sorry for all you guys, but always do some research on which races DO take care of not just elites, but sub-elites as well.dude-

Marathoner in the LV wrote:

This race was an absolute disaster. For people trying to get certain times, it was impossible to hold a pace with short mile markers at the beginning and long ones toward the end and a peppering of other distances in between. I would NEVER come back to this race or recommend ANYONE ever run this race. Complete and utter disorganization!

So you, the reader will understand where we coming from the 2006 Las Vegas Marathon would have been the fifteenth marathon for both my wife and I. My past five marathons I have been the age division winner in my category. My wife is a stabile 3 hour runner and we have qualified and participated at the Boston Marathon on several occasions. In other words we would consider ourselves well versed into what it takes to prepare for and complete a 26.2 mile marathon. We were both well prepared and ready for the Las Vegas Marathon after logging several 70 – 80 mile weeks topped by a 105 mile week all followed by the traditional taper. We had decided we would run this marathon together; and thank goodness we did in view of the debacle this event eventually degenerated into for us. Just prior to leaving our hotel room the current weather conditions were reported as 50 degrees and 10 - 15 mph wind. We are not sure what part of Las Vegas the weatherman was located but they most certainly were not in front of Mandalay Bay or any where else near the LVM course. The wind was more like 30 mph and gusting. In spite of this we were doing fine until about the 12 mile mark when abdominal cramps started affecting my wife. She held on for 4 more miles but then that was it. Between the wind, the cramps and snow spitting out of the northwest it was time to call it a day. I believe any experienced long distance runner knows that no matter how well prepared you are, you never know when you will have bad day and this was ours. However when we stepped off the course at 16 miles little did we know that only now was our real ordeal about to begin.

For starters the staff at the aid station had no capability of contact with anyone; no phone, no walkie-talkie. Plus no blankets, no shelter, in other words, with the exception of water, Gatorade and a bunch of cups, they were totally incapable of rendering any assistance or aid to us or the other runner that had also stopped at mile 16. Fortunately two other people were able to help us with communications, a Metro police officer and a fellow on a bike who was monitoring the course for runners needing assistance. We were told by both that the shuttle was just a couple of miles behind us and would there to pick us up in a few minutes. So we waited and waited. In the mean time we are getting colder and colder. To make a long story short, after an hour of waiting, freezing and all three of us entering various stages of hypothermia (confused, slurred speech) we are told there IS NO SHUTTLE. For over an hour race headquarters had deceptively informed us otherwise. If there truly at any time had been a shuttle then what happened to the one that was reported to be at the corner of Torrey Pines and Smoke Ranch over an hour ago? Fortunately a Good Samaritan in the form of a lady driving by the course, volunteered to drive us home. The other runner was also taken hand on by a private citizen for transportation back to the finish area. Needless to say we are totally livid at the irresponsible behavior of Devine Racing and their New Las Vegas Marathon, but happy to have survived after placing ourselves at the mercy of such gross ineptness. Never again will we step to the line of any event sponsored by Devine Racing nor would we encourage any friend, family or loved ones to participate in their events.

Finally, and most importantly, a big thank you from both us to the Metro officers and the Course Monitor that did everything they could to help, along with summoning aid from passing motorists. And most of all to Rachael, the kind hearted lady who drove us home. We don’t know what we would have done without you.

Bart and Eve Smith

Las Vegas, NV

Just imagine, if the old course was used last Sunday.

It would have been a perfect tailwind and everyone

would have fast times.

Bring back the old course and run the race

in early November.

I'm truly amazed that Devine Racing is even in business. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the basics of putting on a race, even a big city event.

1. Risk Management Plan - everything from communication procedures to protocol on how to deal with every kind of emergeny situation that could, and often does, arise. I put on about 6 events a year and in order for me to get a permit, I have to submit a detailed risk management plan.

2. Course is accurately measured and mile / km markers are exactly where they should be. Whether you are a 2:05 marathoner or a 4:00 marathoner, you care about the accuracy of your splits. You need them to be accurate.

3. Have aid available at the precise location you said it would be at.

4. Ample food at the end, not just water and bananas, especially if you are going to charge $100 for what you bill as one of the best events in the world.

5. Provide a warm place for people to congregate before and after the event if possible.

6. Treat all of your customers well. You never know who might have a very big mouth and spread the word about you...

5. Come through on all of your promises

Devine Racing can't control the wind, but they pretty much screwed up every other aspect of the event.

Just my two cents (again).

Eric

PS When I got to package pickup, I found that they had given me a "mass start" number, even though I had formally requested an elite number. When I finally tracked down the elite athlete coordinator to ask for an upgrade since I was racing with a top ten finish in mind, she said "prove it." Fair enough...yet I had provided all the details previously. So I had to hunt down a computer, print off a recent race result and track her down again. She was very irritated by my existence, didn't bother to look at what I had to show her, and simply gave me a sticker that would "allow me" into the start area for the Las Vegas Road Runners, the area three back from the start and the one immediately behind about 500 joggers and people in costumes. When I thanked her for accomodating my request (sort of), she glared at me and said "you better back that up." Definitely an impressive way of dealing with people...

Eric I hear ya!

I too had a horrible experience at the Las Vegas Half Marathon. Nothing health-related or life threatening, so I really shouldn’t complain, but traumatic for me nonetheless. I can laugh… now.

CHAPTER 1:

A yellow-coated pudgy volunteer gripped me firmly by my shoulders and stared me in the eyes as she scolded me. She moved a fat finger to her semi-parted lips saying through them, “Shush!” She then moved THAT SAME fat (possibly saliva-germed) finger to MY lips and stopped me mid-protest as I tried to say there was some sort of mistake. “You are NOT going anywhere!”

Holy shit!

great stories . . . keep 'em coming!

Chapter 2:

Yes, I know I’m an adult who beheld the power to attempt a second break from captivity, but I’m also overly sensitive a lot. I went from escape mode into emotional shutdown and tried to hold back my tears. I felt so stupid. I was so embarrassed. I was standing up front with the ONE elite female marathoner (another woman did show up in a couple minutes) and people were videotaping and flashing pictures. I felt like the biggest jackass poser on the planet. I didn’t want to be there, shouldn’t have been up there, and I had TRIED to leave, as described above. Soon enough, I did get to leave (not how I wanted, but across the start line) when the announcer said something like “That’s the start signal and they’re off!” I looked at the women next to me, still STANDING there as well, who looked back at me in mutual confusion. We had NOT heard a start signal, and we were NOT “off”. But, in a second we were.

Check out these videos (especially the one that says Watch the Las Vegas Marathon Race Start) to see how well organized the race was.

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4395511&nav=menu102_8

You can see the people in costume and from the LV road runners corral passing the elite athletes because nobody had any clue the race had actually started.

I also love the commentary about the half marathoners (Josh Spiker and Nick Gramsky an OT qualifier) not being elite athletes.