Disclosure: I am a member of the Rock 'n' Blog team for 2017. In exchange for helping to promote the races, team members received free entries to the races. All opinions are my own, and race reviews are not required by Rock 'n' Blog.

This is my third year doing the 5k and half marathon "Remix Challenge." Due to the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas, several aspects of the race weekend were altered at the last minute (well, within the weeks leading up to the race). Overall, I think the changes were positive, and improved the race weekend experience. In addition, I'm impressed at how quickly the big pieces were rearranged to accommodate the races and local security concerns.

Registration: The 5k races for Rock 'n' Roll are among the more expensive, and the Las Vegas races are the most expensive in the Rock 'n' Roll series. In 2017, you could buy a 2018 5k entry for most races during the pre-sale period for $30. (The pre-sale race runs from just before the race weekend to I think a week afterwards.) Otherwise, the price goes up rapidly (I think up to $70). I do not know whether this 5k was available on Groupon, but sometimes Rock 'n' Roll races do show up on Groupon a few weeks beforehand. You could also register at the expo. Per Rock 'n' Roll series policy, you must pick up your own bib. (Long-time runners may recall that you used to be able to pick up friends' bibs with their ID, but those days are long over--and in the wake of the violence in Las Vegas, I doubt that would have been allowed anyway.)

Expo: speaking of the Expo, I was really excited for this year! Las Vegas had one of the better expos, and it was by far the best of the seven 2017 Rock 'n' Roll Races I have run so far. Like the other Rock 'n' Roll expos, first you get your bib, then you pick up your shirt and gear check bag, and then you enter the Brooks (clothing sponsor) area with the Rock 'n' Roll specific Brooks gear (and Moving Comfort, and some other products), then you enter the expo proper. The usual suspects were all there (all the race's sponsors and series sponsors, like Geico and Toyota), but also a few new ones like Science in Sport (SiS), the new official gel of the Rock 'n' Roll series. The expo had a few vendors with night-themed things like lights and visibility gear. There were also some rarely seen vendors like Sparkle Skirts, and a bunch of end-of-year clearance gear booths.

Starting line and course access: the race did everything possible to tell runners to expect it to take a long time to get to the starting line. In the years when I have taken the monorail, I left at least an hour for travel on the monorail, in addition to time before the race to meet with friends. (The monorail is awesome, but it's not designed for a Vegas weekend crowd plus 40,000 runners.) Patience is the key in getting around Vegas. This year I drove with a friend and we were running late. Even though we had been told at bib pickup, at bag pickup, over the PA system, via email, etc. that THE ONLY BAG for gear check MUST be the clear plastic one we got at packet pickup, a ton of people apparently still showed up with non-compliant bags. Seriously guys,there was just a major shooting--in the area where the Rock 'n' Roll concerts are usually held, just up the road!--and you don't follow directions? I'm not impressed. That said, since I arrived late (the race had already started) and wasn't carrying a bag or a pack, the security line went quickly--even with the hand-wand metal detectors. Being late meant we missed out on the glow sticks passed out by SLS, but Brooks was on hand giving out blue glowstick bracelets. We jogged over to the corrals after heading in the wrong direction (the finish line is now where the starting line used to be), and security looked at our bibs and ushered us into the corrals. We were not the only late arrivals.

Course: This is NOT the #StripAtNight race. This is the warm-up 5k/shake-out run. It doesn't go down the strip, and it never has. (The strip is shut down twice, exactly, per year: New Year's Eve, and the Rock 'n' Roll marathon/half-marathon/10k. Las Vegas isn't going to shut it down for a 5k.) Even though the maps and such in the app were not changed when the course was, they were changed online, the changes were emailed to registered runners, and the information at the expo accurately reflected the course. In years past, the majority of the course was within the Las Vegas Festival Grounds with just a little bit on the streets of Vegas; the part within the Festival Grounds had light-up stuff to make it more interesting. This year, the course was mostly outside of the Festival Grounds, with just the start and finish inside. It's not nearly as exciting as running on the strip, but it's no worse than most urban 5k races. There were aid stations with just water, and several DJ stations along the course.

Post-race: the usual 5k Rock 'n' Roll chute stuff like water, pretzels, bananas. Not exciting, but hey guys, it's a 5k--you don't need a giant buffet. The beer area was set off to one side and had, per usual, only the sponsor's beer, Michelob Ultra. I didn't care, since I don't like beer. In year past, there was DJ music post-race, and the main concert was on Sunday before the big races. This year, the concert was moved to Saturday after the 5k. This was great because it meant more rest time prior to the longer race. (It's hard to be on your feet for several hours and THEN run a race.) I loved the Goo Goo Dolls!! It was so great to see them in person, even if I couldn't stay for the whole thing.

Swag: pictures don't really do it justice, but I think the 5k medal is really nice. It's one of my favorite 5k medal designs. The technical shirts, which you pick up at the expo, are Brooks, and the women's sizes run small (just like they do in every other Brooks style). I wear a size 12, and need an XL in the women's specific designs. If you are a larger body or have a bigger chest, you're much better off choosing a "unisex" (read: men's) size; those fit more like a traditional tee shirt.

In general, I like that the Rock 'n' Roll series has 5k events at more of the race weekends. Lots of runners want the bigger race experience, but aren't ready for a half marathon yet. The timing was generous, and allowed a slowish walk, enabling more people to participate. While this race as a standalone is expensive, and the new 2018 TourPass scheme does not have an unlimited option (meaning you either register separately for the 5k at whatever the price is, or use one of your ten races in the ten pack--making the race price just under $70), it's a good destination option for those who want to come to Vegas but aren't up for the longer race distances. I suspect that participation will drop under the new 2018 TourPass scheme, as fewer TourPass holders will do the Remix Challenge (and since they won't be running, they won't be bringing along their new runner friends and family).