Covered up on the Strip

I wrote this blog back in December of 2009, and it reminds me of how much I LOVE RACING! I have helped 100's of others run their first 5k, 10k, half-marathons, and even marathons.

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We were a unique group walking out of the Bellagio casino at 4am.

Hopped up on coffee, protein bars, and adrenaline we were headed to casino number 2 for the morning. Mandalay Bay. Upon arrival we felt a little more at home. We were surrounded by 27,000 other bouncing, bundled bodies dancing to music and jumping up and down in the potty line.

Fireworks went off and that was our cue to take our places in our respective starting corrals. I said good luck to Mom, Mrs. Kahran, Mrs. Tammy, LauraBeth, and Mr. Charlie while I went off to stand close enough to see the beautiful elite runners of the race. A sight I'll never forget. The start of the largest race ever in Nevada was about to take place! This was the first time they were closing down both lanes of the entire Las Vegas Strip. Cher sang the national anthem and a few moments later we were off! Even though I had 3 jackets, two pair of gloves, and two pair of socks, I was still freezing! It was 30 degrees and windy! So I decided to just keep running and hopefully soon I would warm up! There were definitely sights to see. Runners renewed their vows, I passed an elvis every 5 minutes, and I even saw a couple of speedos (they had to have been from Canada)! We went from Mandalay Bay all the way to downtown Las Vegas and back!

Afterwards Mom confessed one of the hardest parts of the race was not running into a casino and playing a hand of poker! I finished in 1:46 -an 8:09 pace! I was very pleased, but still cold! I waited for the rest of the crew to finish, but after 45 minutes some of the staff told me I was turning blue and that I needed to get in a medical tent or go get warm immediately (revisited medical tent at my next Rock n Roll half marathon). With the roads closed my only option was to run back to the Bellagio. 3 miles later (so 16.1 total for the whole day!) I took the hottest, most wonderful shower of my life! I was happy to have completed such a memorable feat, but I made a promise to myself that the next race I run will be somewhere WARM!