The 2018 Rock & Roll Las Vegas was my third attempt at the race. The first two times ended in my body betraying me (muscle cramps in 2015, got sick in 2016). This race went much, much better. And it's a race up and down the strip, with all the lights and everything. What more could you ask for, right?!

Rock & Roll has always done well with their expos, and the Vegas one is one of the biggest ones you'll attend. The convention center is full of local vendors, national vendors, and lots of randomness. The day I was there, Paralympic legend Alana Nichols was going to be making an appearance, which was pretty awesome. The expo has everything you'd want in an expo, lots of swag, some cool other stuff to buy (including those shirts w/ the names of all the runners on it). Big fan of how they handle that.

For years, the race day experience started with a pre-race concert. My first two years were Kid Rock (meh) and Snoop Dogg (far better than expected).The 2018 race had Capital Cities as the band, with the stage moved from near the course to *well* off the course. This is also where the portajohns were, which was pretty inconvenient compared to years past.

Considering the size and scale of the race, the corrals were as expected. There were less speakers along the corral area than in years past, which made it a little tough to feel engaged with what was going on at the start line. Also, with the wind being a little breezier than usual, they started more than one corral at a time. What's usually a VERY organized corral area seemed generally uninspired compared to previous years.

The run itself is spectacular. It starts off a little slow, going south along the strip from Mandalay Bay toward South Point. The turnaround is right by the end of the airport, and at that point you head back toward the city and past the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. Once you get back onto the strip the crowds are pretty solid, and the bands are really good. The 2018 race felt like there was a little less entertainment on-course though.

Some highlights on the course are the KISS tribute band in full costume and blinking K-I-S-S lights, the Bellagio fountains seemingly going off a little more often than usual, and the Mirage volcano doing the same. The tough part is the final run in prior to Treasure Island and the lack of anything there to look at or listen to.

My only other gripe is the finish area being long. I get that it's needed with 30,000 runners on course between the 10K, half and full marathons, but once you get past the part with snacks and whatnot it's a HIKE to where you can exit out and see loved ones.

In all, the 2018 edition of the Rock & Roll Las Vegas was another fun race. I felt like it lacked a little bit compared to previous editions (possibly to do with Iron Man purchasing the company?), but the organization's traditionally been good at reevaluating what they're doing and fixing things that people don't enjoy. Would definitely run it again one day.