Hoover Dam Marathon offers a gorgeous run along Lake Mead. Absolutely beautiful. However, keep in mind that it is NOT flat. As an out-and-back x2 course, you run the same 6.5ish miles 4 times. That means going up and down the same hills repeatedly. You run through 5 short tunnels each of those 6.5 miles as well. Roughly half of the course is rail-trail. It's not technical but it's rough (fist-sized rocks have "submerged") so you need to watch your step if you are a skimmer. Biggest issue in 2015 was that it was incredibly windy. 20mph sustained winds, probably gusting up to 30mph on the ridges. That made it incredibly hard when the wind was in your face -- and many of the tunnels create a "wind tunnel" effect. It took me a good 15-20 minutes beyond my normal hilly course time due to the wind. The t-shirt and medal are fine -- nothing too exciting but perfectly ok. Aid stations were plentiful. Age group awards were only a generic certificate so lacking in that department. Overall, I recommend but just be prepared for the possibility of very strong winds, some hills, and somewhat rough trails.

This is a fantastically well-organized event. The race director has been doing this one for years. It's held in a park with 99% on a paved bike trail -- almost pancake flat -- along the Cedar River. The aid stations are frequent and well-stocked. The finish line food is phenomenal -- BBQ, beer, pizza, snacks, you name it. The shirts are your usual tech race shirts but medals are large with color and age-group awards are placques. There is also race morning bib/shirt pick-up. The only slightly tricky part to this race is that traffic can back up getting in to the park so one needs to arrive rather early. I highly recommend this race. Vicki MM#5526