This was my first half marathon, but my second rock and roll marathon series race so I knew a bit what to expect. We drive to Vegas and stay on trip near the finish line so we can walk to our hotel without too much trouble.

On Friday we went to the Expo since it was suppose to be less crowded. We took the monorail from our hotel to the Las Vegas Convention stop and was let off right at the convention, which is nice. It's easier to to do this than driving or a taxi which we did last year. There was a huge line of people going inside, but someone with the event told us to just go ahead inside and don't worry about the line, which was nice. Once inside I headed straight to where the area to pick up our bibs was. The line for my coral was a bit long, but the guy at the next coral helped us out to help move the line along. The line was not bad at all, but it was nice to have them willing to take others to help move the line along. I got my bib with tracking, my gear bag which was nicer than last year. It was a draw string bag and plastic, but looked sturdy. I also got my runner perks wrist band, which we never used, so I don't know how well the different venues were at honoring. The goody bags were not filled with anything. There was a table with two items you could grab. One was samples of body wash and pain reliever powder. While it was nice not to have tons of ads and paper that you throw away, it would have been nice to have some more samples like bars or something. I then went to get my race shirt which the line was not too long and I had no issues with it. I tried on the shirt later. It's a bit shorter in length than I am use to, but still seems like a nice shirt.

Then we went to the rest of the expo with only one goal. I was going to buy a flip belt to carry my stuff while running since I did not have anything. I found them without an issue and there was no one there. I heard that other times they were busy with people checking out the belt. We wandered around looking at a few other booths, but I wasn't interesting in other companies so we left.

Come Sunday I decided to take the monorail to the MGM stop then walk towards the starting area. I figured most people would want to get there as soon as it opened and to see Macklemore and Ryan Lewis so I waited until 3 pm to leave since that's when the concert started. Everyone else seem to have the same idea. There was a huge line to get on the monorail. A nice couple saved my spot while I ran up to get my ticket and help me get a spot on the monorail. I didn't get to wish them luck because we separated once we got off, but it was nice of them to do that. The rails were crowded, but there was transit officers helping out. I got to the starting village as the last song was playing. I got in line to port a potty and then joined in my coral. It was hard to see where to go because I was so far back they had signs just against the fence. Then the volunteers moved and I noticed that everyone around me had 47000 numbers and I had 46000 number. So I asked one of them which one was 46 and he pointed to the one in front of him. I always assume you go behind the number, but I did what they said and saw others with the same number. So I just stayed there. The first coral was let go at 4:30pm. I did not get to start until 5:45pm. It took over an hour to get everyone through. I also some how got in coral 45, but at that point I didn't care, it was cold and I had to pee. Nothing like starting a race having to use the bathroom. About a mile into it and at the turn there was port a potties. There were lines, but I wasn't too worried about it. The area was next to the airport and smelled heavy of fumes, which didn't bother me, but I am sure others it did bother. There was a photo spot at the Las Vegas sign which I always wanted to see and I got my photo taken by the professionals. I hadn't trained enough so I took a lot of walking breaks and at first was worried I might fall behind and have to either pick it up too early or go on the shuttle. With all the bright lights sometimes I would look behind me to see if a vehicle was coming. The course from the Mandalay Bay to Encore is wonderful. There's all the lights, and crowds and just has a nice feeling. Once you get out of this area there were few people watching, but cops at every intersection. It's not a nice part of town, but I never felt unsafe.

The aid stations always had cheery volunteers mostly middle schoolers, but always were polite and cheering you on which was so nice to see, even if you are towards the end. Plus it was cold too. They did not seem to run out of water, gatorade or gu at the stops which was nice to see. I have heard of other races running out of water before. I've been to few, which is why I carry my own, but usually I go through it by the half way point.

The course is flat and no hills so it's not too hard. I no issues with the course so it's easy for those not use to hills. There was a point were we turned off Las Vegas BLVD and was going through a neighborhood, where you felt safe but there was no cops, or volunteers through this less than a mile area. It would have been nice to see someone at some point. This is where I was having a tough time. I needed a bathroom, my knee was bothering me and I felt like I had huge blisters on my toes on my right foot. I did finally get over it once I saw Fremont Street and the aid station of GU and gatorade plus bathrooms.

Once I got towards the finish my mood and pace was picking up. I tired to run a bit more and made sure I was running as best I could over the finish line. The race said the volcano at the Mirage would go off more then it usually does, but I never once saw or heard it, which was a bit disappointed. Once I got through I was given my medal, a space blanket, tons of stuff to refuel. There was chocolate milk, I was give 2 powerbars, pretzels and gatorade. I got my photo taken a few times with my medal and then met up with my husband.

The medal while nice and I do like it, the white paint on mine looks a bit crude. It's not bad, but doesn't look as nice close up as some of my other medals.

I had a great time doing this race and already signed up for the marathon for next year.