5/5 Stars

What a great race! Fast, downhill course! Super well-organized and fun! Loved the photo opps at the finish line and the personalized result card.

I PRed by 9 minutes and qualified for Boston and New York!

Beautiful downhill course!

Definitely incorporate a lot of downhill running!

4/5 Stars

Nervous energy to start the day - first half marathon! Good weather conditions. My favorite memory was making it across the finish line with my best friend / maid of honor.

Seemed to be very well organized, but I don't have much to compare this to other than spectating St. George Marathon and LV Rock N Roll a bunch of times. Easy pick-up at the expo, nice buses, friendly volunteers, helpful to have the gloves / beanie / blanket at the start.

I set a PR because this was my first half marathon. I said that I would be good with under 3:00, happy with under 2:45, and ecstatic anywhere close to 2:30. Hard to set more detailed expectations when you have no idea how your body is going to react to this distance for the first time. I finished in 2:34, but I had a long wait at the restrooms near mile 4. Couldn't have been happier!

The scenery was beautiful. I have a thing for Joshua trees. The elevation helped me to get off to a fast start without feeling that I was expending much effort, but it didn't feel like it was too much of an elevation change.

It seemed a bit tight with respect to the amount of road space that we were given at the start of the race coming down Mt. Charleston, especially in the vicinity of the aid stations as people were stopping. The Elkhorn overpass was BRUTAL, but I think that may be because I wasn't expecting it and I have a huge fear of bridges / heights.

I had a bit of a safety concern where there were cops intermittently letting traffic through (I think at Elkhorn and Cimarron). One of the fast marathoners was speeding by us (we were running the half marathon), and it looked dangerously close as to whether traffic was going to be stopped as he was running through that intersection.

This why I gave this race a 4/5 instead of a 5/5.

As a first timer, I didn't quite know what to expect, so I tried to follow a training program that I found online. It was very helpful, but mid-way through my training I noticed some lingering shin pain. My friend told me that I probably needed more recovery time after the longer runs, and that I should give myself an extra day or so to rest. Listen to your body! Also, don't beat yourself up over missing something on the schedule from time to time. Next time I plan to better monitor my pace, as that was something that I didn't focus on a lot during training - I just wanted to build enough endurance to be able to finish comfortably. Strengthen those quads!

It is really tempting to start off too fast, especially when you factor in the downhill component. The pace in my first 8 miles was 1:30 - 1:45 faster than what I thought I would run, and there were several times when my race partner told me to ease off a little bit. It is ok to go a bit faster than your normal pace, but be conscious of how much faster you are going.

Wear layers and shed them as you go. There is always a pretty significant difference between Mt. Charleston temps and LV temps. We've had a pretty mild May so far, so we lucked out with the temps at the finish.

I am a local, so I didn't do anything particularly special. We did host a post-brunch race at my house for my running friends who traveled from out of town. We had runners from Missouri, Iowa, North Carolina, California, and Colorado in our group.

3/5 Stars

The part of the day was the little snow flakes we got at the start.

yes

I was little disappointed in the scenery and the elevation chart was not accurate.

I trained for a steeper decline than what this course was. It felt more flat or slightly downhill. Train as you normally would mixed with some downhill training.

The weather was perfect but still dress for the cold. The last 6 miles are tougher than the elevation charts shows.

Played Golf. I'm from Southern California.

5/5 Stars

Perfect weather! Even the snow was great! The race started promptly on time and was well organized. The water/aid stations were well stocked and the volunteers were so pleasant.

Yes!! All 5 of my running girlfriends PR'd AND qualified for Boston! I came in 15 minutes under my qualifying time!

Very scenic and super fast!! Grade was not as steep as it seemed on the elevation map. It didn't hurt my knees like I thought it might.

I trained well for this marathon. Even came up a couple of times to run parts of the race course during training. Cross training and leg/hip strengthening made all the difference.

Include altitude and downhill training for these types of races.

Hung out with fellow racers and took lots of pics. We are all local.

5/5 Stars

5/5 Stars

Fantastic Race. It snowed lightly at the beginning, but was not too cold. The course was fast the volunteers were awesome.

YES! I went from a 3:41 to a 3:34 a 7 minute improvement!!!

I did not qualify for Boston (I am a clysdale, but now I am within range. I will go for it next year.)

The beginning of the race was beautiful with huge granite cliffs. The middle drops down towards the valley and warms up a bit but was very manageable. I loved the inspirational sandwich board posters with funny sayings. The end puts you in town, it was warm and I was in pain, but hey it is a marathon.

I really undertrained. 2 20 milers, 2 18s, 2 16s, and a 12. I only rarely ran during the week.

set a reasonable but strong pace and hold it. This course will not punish you for it.

I laid on my back with a cold towel on my head.

I am from Utah.

5/5 Stars

I PR'd by 14 min!

The course was great. Downhill and fast!

5/5 Stars

It was a little chilly at the start and I was happy that it was overcast as well. Good running conditions. We had driven the course the day before and although we knew the first 8 or so miles were down hill, it didn't look like much. So, I had no expectations other than to finish.

YES! My PR before this race was set in 2010 and I really thought I wouldn't break it again. I didn't just break it, I shattered it by 8 minutes!

I live in Moab, Utah so it's hard to wow me on the scenery. It was nice until we got near the highway and then it was pretty noisy and mostly city running although at least on that part of the course, there was plenty of room to spread out. The first few (and very fast) miles were coned off so that there was only a half lane to run in. I understand the pilot cars and keeping the course open to traffic but a full lane would have been much appreciated, especially in the first 6 miles where there were lots of runners.
The elevation is lower than where I live so that is good as well. I certainly enjoyed the course and may do it again next year.

My training was off this year. I had a bout of the flu with secondary pneumonia that kept me off my feet for 2 weeks in late March, early April. I still was only getting about 15 miles in per week coming up to the race but did get my long runs in (I practiced on down hill grades). So, I was super surprised that I got a PR!

Have fun.

We stayed near the strip and enjoyed a bit of Las Vegas before and after the race. We traveled from Moab, Utah.

5/5 Stars

It was an amazing experience! This was my first half marathon and it was more than I could have ever imagined. The scenery was great. The support from all the racers was amazing. I saw a girl doing the half marathon in crutches! I nearly cried. There's just so much great energy coming from everyone. Everyone is there to accomplish one thing and along the way they overcome so many limitations and challenges.

Yes. Personal record of awesomeness surpassed!

The grade was perfect. It was not too hard on my knees as I had imagined it. The grade was constant and steady. The elevation did not affect me at all either. The scenery was the best part. When we got dropped off at the top there was a snow cap on one of the peaks. It was beautiful.

I signed up 3 weeks before the race. I had been running 3 miles, 3 times a week for almost 2 months. What worked well for me was running uphill for the most part. It definitely makes flat terrain feel like a breeze. I also did a lot of core training and weight lifting to get stronger legs. The core training helped give me the cardiovascular endurance because when you are out there, your posture is very important. Your core helps maintain your posture.

Run with your heart. Run with a purpose, and run with a friend. DO NOT BUY new shoes for the race without breaking them in for like 2 months. This did not happen to me the day of the race but hear a few people mention it.

5/5 Stars

The bus company you got was amazing!

I did not PR but I am 35lbs over what I am use to so this was a good get me back and going race.

A nice down hill. Not one that is painful but one that is nice.

I live right by the course so I trained on the course.

Do some downhill running prior to the race.