Registration was available online until a week before the race. Some registration was also available at the expo. Price increases were advertised via email and social media so runners could take advantage of the best prices. The 5K could also be part of a Remix Challenge- run the 5K on Saturday and any of the other distances- 10K, 13.1, 26.2, on Sunday and earn an extra medal.

Swag included a race specific tech tee, Competitor Magazine, fruit snacks and a sample of something similar to BodyGlide. It also included an awesome Medal post race. Note- size up on the tech tee, they tend to run small. Post race swag was a little disappointing with a bottle of water, a banana, pretzels and an Oatmega bar. But that could just be my opinion.

The expo was held in the Las Vegas Convention Center and was pretty big. It opened with an awesome selfie station followed by the amazing organization I love from Rock n Roll. Bibs, shirts, Brooks, expo! There were a variety of venders at the expo- most expected- Roll Recovery, Garmin, ProCompression and few surprising ones- like nail polish. The Rock n Roll Las Vegas merchandise was great and I was unable to leave empty handed.

The race is run on Saturday night and this year's race started at 6:00 PM.

The 5K was a loop course with the start and finish in the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. The corrals were split into color groups and then divided by pace.

Due to a serious backup on the monorail and then a slow entrance due to security checks ( not complaining just a fact- thank you for the added security) a lot of people were running super late getting into their corrals. My original corral had already started by the time we got into the grounds. I was joining a friend for her race so it didn’t bother me but it something that people need to be aware of for the future. We left our hotel more than an hour before the race started but were still late.

The 5K does not run the Strip, instead it takes you on an out and back course through the streets just to the side of the Strip. Rock n Roll does their best to liven it up with music stations- speakers, live bands and DJ’s along the way and lighted mile markers but it isn’t the showiest course. Watching how all the other runners tried to light up the night is fun though. Some people are very creative.

The race only had one aid station at mile 2 and that is my biggest issue. It wasn’t exactly cold out there and security was making people dump their water at the gate so another water station at mile 1 would have been awesome. Or even moving the one station to the center divider between both sides of the race so it could supply both sides with water would have been great.

Coming back into the festival grounds, you ran zigzag through the back lot adding distance. In a daytime race this might have been frustrating but watching the line of glowing and blinking runners was kind of fun. At mile 3, runners ran under the awesome, giant guitar guy and then they could sprint to the finish.

Post race- There were food trucks, a beer tent and places you take selfies or pictures with friends and some lighted props. The concert was taking place that night instead the next day. The Goo Goo Dolls took the stage to rock at 7:45.

All in all it was a good race and was a great way to pump runners up for the main event to come the next day. I had fun and would definitely run it again. However I now know to bring a light for the middle mile. And dress more festive.