Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas Marathon Review (2 of 3) Kids Rock Las Vegas

Since I’ve started running, I’ve tried to encourage my kids to be more physically active since they’re really not into any sports. Earlier this year, we all ran in Mickey’s Main Street U.S.A. 5K as part of the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon weekend. With the inaugural Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas Marathon, another opportunity presented itself with Kids Rock Las Vegas.

This event was part of a training program by Rod Dixon and sponsored by McDonalds and Springfield products. As part of the event, kids were asked to partake in an 8-week training program which would total 25.2 miles. Then on December 4th, all the kids got together at the UNLV track and ran the last mile together. Although the boyz and I did not complete the entire training program, it was a great event to keep them active and running.

It just happened to be the coldest morning of the winter so far in Las Vegas but that didn’t dampen the spirit of the hundreds of kids at the track. There were a number of schools that participated and they showed up by the bus load. On the infield, they had areas for all the kids separated by grades Kindergarten thru 6th grade. Members of the UNLV track team were there and did a great job warming up the kids and getting them to the starting line. My only suggestion next time would be to have the younger kids go first. Waiting over an hour for the younger kids seemed to make things a little harder on the kids AND volunteers.

The event started with the national anthem and a flyover by two military helicopters – we didn’t even get a flyover for the marathon!!! Just as they would eventually do in the marathon, the kids were started in waves. Not only did this prevent some crazy smashups but it also allowed more than one runner to jump out to a lead. Ronald McDonald was in the house and ran the first half lap with the kids and then stayed at the finish to high five the runners as they passed (yes, this was a big deal). After completing 3 1/2 laps, they had a entire finish area set up for just the kids. They got to take photos, receive a goodie bag and were treated to free food and drinks. The biggest deal of the whole thing was getting an actual metal medal!!!

I really thought it was cool to have Rod Dixon at the event. Not only was it his program but he personally ran with each age group. And he didn’t just run up front. He picked out a kid that was slow or struggling and ran the entire mile with them encouraging them the whole way. In between races he signed autographs and chatted with a bunch of the kids.

Overall it was a great event and I can only hope that it grows with more kids and schools participating every year.

Mickey’s Main Street U.S.A. 5K
Saturday, September 5th, 2009

The first thing to remember about 5K Fun Run’s are that they are Fun Run’s!!! Don’t ever think you’re going to PR a Fun Run. Most of the runners there are not runner’s and especially at an event like this, it’s all about location, location, location. With that said…on with the review.

I signed my wife and boyz up for this when I first registered for the 1/2 Marathon. We had ample time to do a little training and of course, buy appropriate running gear!!! When race time came, those training days seemed to fly by…just like our vacation.

The Fun Run started at 7 a.m. and the temperature was in the low 70′s but the humidity was around 80% so it was more than a little uncomfortable. There were approximately 4,000 participants at the event and the atmosphere was much more jovial than I’ve experienced at the longer distances. We took advantage of some of the free snacks and got in the corral well before it was time to go. There was a little concern before the gun went off as a runner not far from us fainted and had to be assisted by a medical team. To Disney’s credit, the medical team was there within minutes and before we started, it looked like she was doing fine.

A barbershop quartet, Mickey and Minnie Mouse saw us off promptly at 7 a.m. With the number of people there, it took a while to get going and when it did, the going was slow. That fit perfectly into my pace plan for us. I figured my wife and the boyz could run and have fun around 15-16/min. miles.

The course started at the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure and we headed toward Disney’s California Adventure. It’s important to remember when you run within the theme parks that some of the paths get narrow and keeping an eye on who’s in front and behind you is very important. There were many characters along the route and we (along with many others) stopped to take photos with many of them.

After looping thru California Adventure we were off to run in Disneyland. The interesting part of the route is that you get to see some of the back stage areas of the buildings and attractions – sort of behind the scenes access if you will. After several walking breaks and shoe ties, we headed towards the finish line – Main Street.

Now in other years, they’ve finished the race in a parking lot which provided ample space for handing out medals, refreshments and photos. Having the finish line at the end of Main Street was probably not a great idea. Now the atmosphere was great with characters, fans lining Main Street, the music and engaging announcer – it was just there was no room for anything when you were done!!! The crowd stacked up at the medal lines and getting to the bagels, water and Powerade was extremely difficult. While half the fun is just taking in the mass of sweaty humanity, we just tried to exit with all limbs intact as quickly as possible.

Overall, the experience was more than enjoyable and running with my family was a thrill. The medals are plastic, artistic and colorful and the same can be said for the shirts. The only thing that Disney officials need to work on for next year is thinking thru the finish line area.

Disneyland Health & Fitness Expo
Friday, September 4th, 2009

With so many things going on this past weekend, I thought I’d break up my race review into three parts: the Disneyland Heath & Fitness Expo, Mickey’s Main Street, U.S.A. 5K and the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon.

The Health Expo started at 2 p.m. on Friday. Not wanting to fight the initial crowd with my wife and kids, we decided to let it play out for an hour before we went and picked up our goodies. Over the last two years, the Expo has been very well orchestrated. There were never long lines (unlike the Indiana Jones Adventure or the Finding Nemo Underwater Adventure) and I could breeze in and out within a 1/2 hour. Not this year!!! Turns out the lines at the Expo would give the Disney attractions a run for their money.

The confusion started when we arrived at 3 p.m. and noticed a strange line forming outside the main event hall and into the lobby. Since I knew the layout of the Expo from the previous years, we ventured into the hall to where we were to pick up our bibs and t-shirts. Arriving at the end of the hall, I noticed that the bib pick-up was no longer inside the hall. The long conga line that snaked thru the Expo was the line for t-shirt pick-up.

After retracing our steps back out into the lobby, we finally found our first volunteer who told us the bib pick-up was in a separate hall outside and downstairs. At this point, the conga line was outgrowing the lobby and was spilling outside. Now, I’ll give Disney credit for dressing up the ramps leading to the bib pick-up with a track carpet and Disney character silhouettes – but that’s about where my praise ends.

Wandering back up to earth’s surface, we joined the aforementioned conga line without much glee. Just when we thought there was a little hope with the line moving at an incredible speed, we were again halted in our tracks only to learn they snaked the line around a couple more exhibits. I’m still trying to put my thumb on why they separated the bib pick-up and shirt distribution. With the bibs you have multiple lines. That breaks up your participants into several smaller lines where handing out the t-shirt at the same time should have been a simple task. Every other race I’ve been to has done it like this (and so did Disney the 2 previous years).

My suggestion to the Disneyland Health & Fitness Expo representatives would be this: if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Go back to the old ride because this new one doesn’t beat the original.

Overall the vendors and race wear were top-notch and I need to give a shout out to my new friends over at iFitness for the Mini Sport Belt I picked up!!! It’s a small running belt, big enough for your cards and phone, and it didn’t move an inch during the race!!!

It happens every time I travel to run in a race. “What did I forget?” On the eve before I pack up the family to spend 5 well earned days in the California sun (and smoke), I know I’m going to leave something behind. I procrastinate and pack the night before (opposed to my wife whose been packed for 3 weeks). This always leads to me scrambling to get my running gear together.

[x] Shoes
[x] Socks (different kinds for different conditions and moods)
[x] Shirt and shorts (warm and cold options)
[x] Band-aids and Vaseline
[x] Garmin and sunglasses
[x] Clif shot gels and Tiger’s Milk energy bars

Yep, I’m ready…or am I? I’ll lose sleep over it tonight although I know that anything I forgot will be readily available at the expo. Feel free to comment if I forgot something obvious. I’ll be back on Wednesday with race reports of Mickey’s Main Street U.S.A. 5K and the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon.

A lot of visitors to this site don’t comment on the posts but here’s your chance. Let us know which upcoming races you have planned and how things are going. I’ll start…

09/05 – Mickey’s Main Street U.S.A. 5K
09/06 – Disneyland 1/2 Marathon
09/19 – Recycled 10K (pending)
12/06 – Rock ‘n Roll Las Vegas Marathon
01/10 – Walt Disney World Marathon 

There’s only 7 days left until the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon and I can hardly control my excitement. That and the fact that my wife and kids have been packed for nearly 3 weeks now.

To be honest, I’ve never felt more ready for a race in my 3 years of running. I’ve put in over 250 miles over 4 months and am injury free – not a sprain, nick, bruise or blister (tempting fate? yep!). I haven’t missed a training run, I’m running faster and I’ve dropped over 20 pounds over the last month and a half.

I’ve checked the weather and temperatures in Anaheim are supposed to be in the low 80′s with lows in the low 60′s – perfect!!! Now my only concern now are the wildfires that are wreaking havoc in the L.A. Basin. I’m hoping for the residents of Los Angeles and for race weekend that the cooler temperatures will help assist putting those out.

Training for the Mickey’s Main Street, U.S.A. 5K basically stalled and fizzled out once the kids started school. Since it’s not a competitive race and all we have to do is finish around 15/miles (which is basically walking fast), we’re not that concerned. Of any race I’ll ever run, the goal of this race is the journey with my family, not about finishing times.

Hope your training is going well for your fall races!!!