Viva Las Vegas

If you are a veteran runner, meaning you've run for awhile, have so many races under your belt that you can no longer count them with your fingers and toes you sometimes lose the magic of the race environment.  And then enters a "newbie".  Someone who is running their first race of that distance, someone who has had no real experience with the race expo's, the crowds the morning of the race, the excitement and a big race with the music and fanfare. 

Suddenly that euphoric feeling swells up inside once again and as veterans we remember what it's like.  We see it again through the "newbie's" eyes and remember why we get up so early to stand out in the cold and wait to run like crazy people through the streets while most are still lost in slumber.

And so it was with the first annual Rock and Roll Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon.  Our niece joined us there to run her first half marathon.  While she attempted to remain "cool" it was apparant that the excitement was there and the nerves were too.

After a restful Saturday we got up at 3:00 AM on Sunday to get ready, eat, and make our way to the race start.   The race started at 6:15 so that the strip could be completely closed down.  That in and of itself was amazing.  How often do they close down Las Vegas Blvd.?

Making our way to the start we met a man who was a bit lost, he is from Florida and was running his first marathon.  Now we have another "newbie" and we assure him he will do fine, don't start too fast, make sure you fuel, all the things we say to those who have not been here before.  We stayed together until the race began, he was alone and nervous so we tried to provide some calmness for him.  Later after the marathon we saw him again, amazing with 25,0000 runners, he pulled a groin at mile 4 but still finished.  He was dissappointed but still happy to have made it through.

Staying with the Rock and Roll theme there are bands all along the way and at the beginning they had a band above the start line "Blues Brothers", fireworks, and skydivers with Celine and Cher singing beforehand (or at least I think it was them but may have been an impersonator).

And then we are off.  Running through Vegas is unlike any other race I've run.  The buildings, so large and ominous, the overwhelming enormity of it all.  We stuck to our plan and did well keeping our pace and slowly building up..and then it happened.  Terry and I were in a conversation about the wedding chapel where my dad and stepmother got married, we were looking at a few of the chapels we were passing as we ran, and I tripped on one of the reflectors in the middle of the road.  BOOM, I am down, with knees scraped up, knuckles and wrist bleeding, blood going down my leg.  I hop up and get right back at it hardly losing a beat.  I'm not sure if that makes me tough or crazy. We kept with our pace and still finished strong.

I'm not sure why I trip sometimes while running, it seems to go in phases.  I feel somewhat like Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live, and I hope I provided some good laughs for those around me and made their race easier.

As for our Niece, she came in after us and what a joy to see her face all lit up as she reveled in the excitement of having done something she never thought she would do.  She had a great run in her first half and I am quite sure there will be many more and possibly a full marathon sometime in her future.  What fun to be there to share with her the excitement of the first distance run!