Having just finished the Tinkerbell Half, a very well executed race, I had flashbacks of the Vegas Rock N Roll Half, and was reminded of all that went wrong. (Looks like I'm not the only who felt this way.)\n\nPoor logistics from the get go. \n\nI went to the expo early Friday and thank God I did. By Saturday, it had turned into utter chaos, with crowds so tight, you could barely walk through the aisles. Strike 1.\n\nShuttles to the race on Sunday were the next mistake. I jumped on the shuttle at Aria, where we were staying (a supposed official race hotel) and it took us easily 40 min to travel a few blocks. Our driver clearly didn't know the best route as he passed the hotel, only to turn into already bumper to bumper LV Blvd traffic to head back. Strike 2.\n\nOver 40K runners! Initially I thought this would be a plus. More people, more energy. NOT! They just couldn't handle the volume; at the expo, on the course, at the finish, at the post race. The course was jam packed from start to finish. Those poor full marathoners had it the worst. They were elbowed to the far edge of the right side of the road, and it never opened up for them. Terrible. The worst part, however, was the sheer number of people jammed into the Mandalay Bay after the race. It was a fire code violation at best, and a claustrophobic's worst nightmare. I made a quick 180 after 15 min of not taking one step forward, and cut through the pool area. The best idea I had all night was to walk to the Luxor after the race, and catch a cab there. Strike 3. \n\nI saw on the news that night that they plan to open it up to 60K runners next year. Um yeah, I'll be cheering from the craps tables. \n\nThe only positives were that I ran with awesome friends, and it was at night. Vegas at night, is Vegas at it's best. I will admit, that I never got myself together. Perhaps Vegas offered too much temptation for a race weekend.
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