What do you get when you combine 44,000 runners, 40-degree temps and the world-famous Las Vegas Strip…at night?

A little bit of craziness.

A whole lotta fun!

Despite the harsh reviews I’m reading on the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and ½, I give the event an “A.” Why? For starters, the marketing behind this operation is pure genius. It is a well-oiled, send-you-an-eblast-with-everything-you-need-to-know machine. The expo was crowded, which added to the excitement, but extremely organized. And hey, any race that gives me a women’s technical shirt that fits (finally) gets two thumbs up from this runner. Race-day logistics were smooth, and could have only been slightly improved at the Finish Village. If participants would have followed directions a bit better (that is, marathoners to the left, halfers to the right, walkers in the way back), I’m sure there’d be less noise on the official Facebook page. And to those who scoffed at the unofficial volunteers handing out plastic cups of beer downtown…lighten up, it’s Vegas baby! Here we had rodeo cowboys, caged tigers, running Elvi (male and female), erupting volcanos, naked runners, Sponge Bob Square Pants running, a downtown Transformer cheering and elite athletes competing all in the city of sin and glitz. Frank Sinatra and the boys would have been proud…

Here’s my color commentary in 13.1 bullets:

1. Brrrr. It was in the 40s at race time. Nippy. But then, it is December and we could be in Buffalo. Thanks Mother Nature, for keeping the rain at bay until the very end.
2. Cars. When you have runners and cowboys (NFR time) jockeying for hotel-casino parking slots, it’s going to be dizzying in the garages. We parked at MGM and hoofed it to Mandalay Bay. With the exception of the biting cold against our soaked clothes on the return trip, it was a good move. We were outta there in no time.
3. Cheap Trick. Just cool.
4. Course bands. Just so-so.
5. Wheelchair racers. WOW. Talk about inspiring! I thought of you just as I was about to whine at mile 10.
6. Fans (and tourists who stepped out of casinos to an unprecedented sight). Running partner Mike Myers and I didn’t have a support posse, but gratefully accepted cheers from every bundled up fan we passed. Best sign: “I like your stamina. Call me.”
7. Volunteers. No volunteer should ever be criticized. Whether they’re handing out water or asked to clap, I admire and appreciate them. Thank you for keeping us safe and hydrated. You looked cold.
8. Neon. You couldn’t beat the novelty factor, but I’d prefer a morning run. There really is nothing like racing up and down the middle of the most famous street in the world under the neon. I’ll never forget it.
9. Runners. The racers (I encountered) did Little Miss Manners proud. I didn’t eat one elbow and no one yanked off my shoes or running skirt. Best runner: the guy who ran with a transistor radio in hand and rocked the Strip old-school style.
10. Metro. In force. Friendly. Impressive. Even taking photos of the runners…nice hometown touch.
11. Medal hander outers. They were smiling, congratulatory and personal. After 13.1 miles and in a haze, I slipped past Joe Volunteer to have Miss UNLV drape bling around my neck. What can I say. I thought she might let me wear her tiara.
12.  Bananas. They were green. They were plentiful. They were piled high. Did you know you can fit 24 of them in your post-race foil wind cape? Perfect…lunch for the week.
13. Finish Village. 44,000 exhausted runners within a few acre parking lot…difficult to manage and keep happy…glad we weren’t in charge. You did well in our opinion.13.1 Vegas Baby. Pretty sure none of the other Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathons have a caged tiger at the start. Grrrrr….

RMFR

- By Tara Maras

Please gobble responsibly.

With a race shirt slogan like that, how can you not strap on a turkey leg hat and trot smiling to the finish line in pursuit of Turkey Day 5K bragging rights?

That’s exactly what we did. Well. Sort of.

Cool as the shirts were for the inaugural Lifetime Fitness Turkey Day 5K in Vegas, running partner Mike Myers was an ORB loyalist and sported his logo shirt. (The hand resembles a turkey, don’t you think?). I debuted a running skirt that was heading for the Goodwill bag. Turns out, it’s an easy, breezy way to run. And hey, Thanksgiving Day calls for a skirt! We opted for beanies in the crisp 44-degree air, but we’re definitely eyeing turkey hats for 2012.

But enough about fashion already.

As downtown residents, we jumped at the chance to kick off Thanksgiving weekend in our own backyard. Fremont East was the place to be for packet pickup, and though it lacked organization (they’ll do better next year), there was excitement in the air. More than 700 moms, dads, kiddos, stroller goers, dogs dressed as turkeys and yes, even real runners, happily awaited a delayed starting gun. Actually, it was a starting gobble, which really made the wait worth it.

And then, we were off. Our slow-going, chatty, crowded first mile was followed by a now-we’re-running-I-can’t-talk-I’m-breathing mile two. By the final mile, after trading our standard “you good?” we kicked it to the finish line situated between Don’t Tell Mama (our favorite piano bar) and The Beat (Las Vegas’ best coffeehouse). We clocked in at 24:50 and earned “first couple to cross holding hands” rights, as announced by the commentator. No trophy for that, but a great way to start the holiday in our neighborhood race filled with community spirit.

Kudos to Lifetime Fitness for bringing the Turkey Day 5K to Vegas, and specifically to downtown. Gotta love the Web site, logo, t-shirts, volunteers, post-race bananas and bagels, plus quickly posted results. I would have loved a little turkey bling in the form of a finisher’s medal, but with a slogan like “please gobble responsibly,” all is easily forgiven.

RMFR

This year has been a struggle. From weight gain to lethargy, I’ve had some real running issues this year. One of the main things that’s plagued my routine is a week left ankle. There isn’t a sharp pain but it goes week sometimes on my runs and the day after always presents soreness. I tried a couple of cheap drug store compression ankle braces but there was always something wrong with them. They were often too thin, didn’t give my ankle enough support or had irritating seams that caused discomfort or worse, blisters. Disgusted with my options I found my saving grace, CEP’s RxOrtho Ankle Brace.

When I pulled it out of the box, it was immediately apparent that this was the brace for me. The first thing that I was immediately drawn too was that it was a complete sleeve – no heal cutout!!! On every other brace I had purchased, that heal cutout was a major issue. It never feels comfortable and there’s no way to prevent chaffing, even wearing it over the sock.

The other thing that impressed me were the silicone ankle supports on both sides of the ankle brace. Once you slip it on, you can immediately feel the support for your ankle. By providing an ankle measurement, this ankle brace fits snug and the compression material hugs your foot and feels just like a regular compression sock. So it fits well…how does it perform?

My first run in the RxOrtho ankle brace had high expectations. I was coming off a bad bought of ankle weakness and was itching to run again after taking a couple of weeks off. After warming up for a mile and getting the kinks worked out, the brace worked like a charm. That extra support I needed for my ankle was there and the discomfort was nonexistent. It felt so good that I actually put in a couple more miles than I was planning to. I was able to wear it under my sock with no slippage and the breathable fabric made it wick the sweat away easily.

The key was going to be the day after. Even though there was a little soreness, it wasn’t like days before the ankle brace. I’ve used it on numerous short and long runs with no complaints.

If you’re having ankle issues, I highly recommend CEP’s RxOrtho Ankle Brace. I really don’t know what I would do without it.

RMFR

I love running early in the morning. With the changing of the seasons, it’s getting lighter later and darker earlier which means most of us are running in the dark. It’s a goal of mine to make runners more safe on our nation’s roadways and you’d be surprised how many people I see and pray for their safety. I’m not talking about somebody just out for a leisurely jaunt, I’m talking about serious runners that I see on a consistent basis. From what I’ve seen, I’ve come up with some suggestions:

Against Traffic. Run against traffic when you’re running on the road. Most roads have a shoulder or bike lane and you should stay near the edge (away from traffic) if at all possible. Running against traffic let’s you see oncoming cars and cyclists. Those running with traffic will never know if somebody didn’t see them before it was too late.

Warning Signs. Watch oncoming cars and cyclists. Is there a car coming around a curve wide and fast? Is there a large group of cyclists riding 2-3 wide? Does that car making a left turn see you approaching the intersection? Be aware of your surroundings. Expect the best…prepare for the worst.

Anticipate. When you see the warning signs, anticipate what actions need to be taken. 99% of the time when you take action first, you can avoid many of the dangers. Car’s coming wide and fast? Move off the road or to the extreme side in case they don’t correct their actions. Car doesn’t see you? Make yourself seen or get out of their eventual path.

Reflective Clothing and Lights. If aware started with an R, this would be first. I consider this the most important thing runners can do. Make people see you. While you may wear bright colors, they lose their impact with no light. Find clothing with large areas of reflective print – the tips of your shoelaces don’t count. Use a headlamp or carry a small flashlight. I run with a small flashlight – not to light my way but to make sure cars and cyclists can see me from a distance and know I’m there. Blinking lighting is also another option. Most units are small and unobtrusive.

Enjoy Silence. Music is great but don’t use it in the dark. When one of our senses is dulled, the others take over. You can’t see as much in the dark and using your ears is important. You may hear an obstacle before you see it. Save the tunes for your car or at work. You’ll thank me later.

We’re looking at creating and offering reflective running wear either in partnership with sponsors or on our own (let us know if there’s any interest). As part of the running community, I pray that you all be safe and tear it up on the pavement.

RMFR

I couldn’t have been more depressed this year when I waited too long and was denied entry into the 2011 Disneyland Half Marathon. Having participated in four of the last five races (missing the inaugural race in 2006), this weekend became an annual family vacation that we all looked forward too. We had already booked our room so we simply moved our reservation to Halloween weekend to make sure our kids (and my wife) got their “Disney fix” for the year.

We usually go to Disneyland at least two times a year and we’re hard core. We’re at the gate when it opens and don’t leave until the last firework has been shot. That’s a long day anywhere but when it’s Disney, there’s a lot of walking involved. One a normal race weekend, we run the 5K the day before and then I run the half marathon the following day. Both days we hit the parks immediately afterwards. No rest for the weary they say!!!

I’ve always wondered how far we really walk on a typical day at Disneyland so I wore my Garmin one day on our vacation and the result surprised me. During the course of a 13 hour day, we walked exactly 12 miles. 12 miles!!! On any other given day if I had to convince my kids that we were going to walk 12 miles, it would never EVER happen. I specifically did not tell them I was tracking our distance because I knew the mere mention of how far we had gone would have landed us in the hotel before you’d know it.

Even though I didn’t get to race in the Disney Half Marathon this year, I did nearly get all my miles in with my family in one fail swoop. If I’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s register for your favorite races early or you’re going to miss out.

RMFR

A while ago, I had a really good friend of mine from college come to Las Vegas on business. We spoke beforehand and promised to contact each other when she arrived to meet up and catch up. Our original plan was for me to head down to the Las Vegas strip and we’d meet and have a few drinks. Well, there were a couple of issues with this plan: my work demands and those of my family. As hard as we tried, we just couldn’t get it to work. Add to this the fact that my parents were also in town, the demands on my time were stretched extremely thin.

Ready to succumb to defeat, the running spirits intervened. She had been running in the mornings before her conferences on the strip and I had happened to mention I was going for a long run on Saturday. Well, one thing led to another and we finally scheduled a running date up in Red Rock Canyon for the predawn hours the next day.

Navigating the strip in the early morning hours is a little different from other cities. The streets are not desolate and in fact are filled with the previous nights partygoers finally returning to there wherever they came. Lisa was ready and we headed up into the foothills of the Spring Mountains and up to the canyon in the still sunless sky. I love running while it’s dark and watching the sun rise. It has to be the biggest high I get from running and in Red Rock it’s tenfold.

We setoff from the entrance planning to run to the high point of the loop and then back – 9 miles total. Among the dark shadows of the red and gold sandstone, we talked and ran, talked and ran. There were no interruptions by waiters or struggling to hear one another over a driving beat from the DJ booth. We covered topics from college to what has happened since we last got together many years ago. We arrived at the summit just as the sun reached the top peaks and had someone take the photo above. Now that’s a souvenir that no casino could provide. Learning that a bike race was headed our way, we quickly setoff on our return trip.

While many of us have experienced runs like this before is irrelevant. The point of the story is this: never will I meet an old acquaintance for drinks again. You better hope your a runner because that’s where we’re going if you want to get together. Lisa and I shared a lifetime of memories and stories in the hour and forty minutes running together than we ever would have been able to share anywhere else.

Next time you come to Vegas, bring your running shoes and then give me a holler.

RMFR

Our friends at Phoenix.org are giving away a free pair of Altra Running Shoes. All you have to do is click on this LINK and then comment on the post.

The Altra zero-drop shoes were born out of the minimalist movement and the barefoot running craze. Altra’s zero-drop shoe design means no raised heel which allows for correct fore-foot form while still offering the protection of footwear.

I personally haven’t run in these but you know I already added my name to the entry list and encourage you to do the same.

RMFR

ORB shirts are making their way across the country and we appreciate all your support. With winter coming, we’re hoping to get some long sleeve shirts completed but don’t want to do that until our initial shirts are all (or nearly) all gone. There’s only 10 shirts left but the mediums are all sold out. Click here or visit the Running Shirts link on the navigation bar.

The shirts have already made an appearance at the Women Run the Cities 10 mile and 5K in Minneapolis and now we were sent this gem of Michael Myers dawning the gray and orange on the Golden Gate Bridge.

After hearing of Patrick Makau’s record-setting performance (2:03:38) at the 2011 BMW Berlin Marathon, I could hardly wait to see the replay of the race on Universal Sports. I set my DVR to record the scheduled 2 hour replay since I was going to be out of the house at the time. The race weighed heavily on my mind the entire day. After scrambling home feeding the kids, I plopped myself down on the couch for two-hours of riveting race action in the first marathon major of the season.

Everything started out OK, then the wheels fell off. After a commercial break, the announcers come back and take us thru the final recap of the finish. What? We’re not even 10 minutes in and you’re showing me the finish? No drama? No strategizing? What a colossal disappointment! The broadcast was only 3o minutes long and was in no way representative of the world record performance displayed by Patrick Makau.

Now I’ve done some research and it seems that the live feeds from the lead vehicles didn’t work – thus no “meat” to the race. My question is why no backup plan? Why on a tape-delayed broadcast wouldn’t you make the viewer aware they were only getting a snippet and to not expect a quality program? In my judgement, Universal Sports dropped the ball…BIG TIME!!!

As runners, we don’t have a lot of options when it comes to viewing running events. If Universal Sports wasn’t around, we’d all be crowded around computer screens watching live feeds at ungodly hours. While I usually applaud Universal Sports for their dedication to our sport, I must stand up and boo loudly on this occasion. What a disappointment.

RMFR

ORB is excited to announce that the first “official” Team ORB rocked the shirts and the Women Run the Cities 10 mile and 5K today in the Twin Cities. Congratulations ladies and we’re proud of you!!!

RMFR