The Big Finish

Hello gentle readers,

(From Cory:)

It is with some muscle stiffness and a touch of chafing that I bring unto you the story of our day. But first we must go back in time; back all the way to September and Labor day weekend when JoAnna suggested we do the Las Vegas half marathon. We started training that next week. We ran 3 days a week, alternating between 3 and four mile runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and doing larger runs each weekend. By the time all is said in done we ran 195 miles in preparation for today's 13.1 mile odyssey.

Because the first 5 miles of the race ran down the strip, the start time was 6:07 am. This, my friends, means we were up at 4 am and on the road at 4:30 am. parking was a mess, as usual, but we managed to get to the starting line with about 5 minutes before the buzzer. It was surreal to hear Robin Leach welcoming us to the race. As we took off the casinos let off fire works and we were surrounded by Elvi (plural for Elvis, note the shiny cape in the picture to the right.)

We split each mile in half; the first half we walked briskly the second half we jogged. As we walked by the starting line at Mandalay Bay we saw they were wishing us good luck.

(From JoAnna:)

At other races I've been in there have always been more spectators, but with us taking off in what could arguably be considered the middle of the night, we were happy to at least see many of the casinos wishing us the best of luck. They actually closed Las Vegas Boulevard for a few hours, which probably explains why we started so early in the morning. As we made it down The Strip, the few people out cheering for us appeared to have been up all night in their uncomfortable dress shoes, still sipping bottles of beer.

I love to see the get-ups people put together for these things. In addition to the plethora of Elvi, we saw some people wearing remnants of costume from the Santa Run (held yesterday), a handful of folks in holiday-related gear (like reindeer antlers and hats with mistletoe), a woman in a sparkly red dancer costume, people in flamingo and Nemo hats, and a woman dressed in some goofy clothes wearing white strappy platform heels. There were a lot of people running for charities or in memory of people, and I always like to read the t-shirts the people have made for these races filled with funny and inspirational messages about why they're running. I read an article once about how marathons should be kept sacred for elite runners because "the common man" has tainted this sport that is about athleticism and endurance for something it isn't: fun, achieving unsurmountable odds, doing something good for other people. Cory saw a shirt today that said "If it was just about running, I wouldn't be doing it." It's a philosophy that keeps so many feet plodding on ... just one more step. It is truly inspiring to see so many people who clearly aren't "runner shape" complete a 13.1- or 26.2-mile foot race.

If it wasn't fun, why would we do it? In the city that is Las Vegas, what would a marathon be without a place to stop and get married? In addition to the folks in Elvi gear, there were women in veils and guys wearing tux shirts who stopped ever-so-briefly around mile five to get hitched. If we'd known, we would have renewed our vows for our fifth-year anniversary. Only in Vegas ...

The sun never came out in the city today, so it was a little chilly, but it was decent weather to run in. Once we turned a corner around mile seven in downtown, we started heading back along Industrial and Frank Sinatra, the roads that run parallel along the western side of The Strip. We conserved our energy throughout the race, so we brought in the last half-mile at a really strong pace. By our clock, we finished in about two hours and thirty-six minutes (this accounts for time running and not stopping to take pictures, so our official time was a little longer).

We had a blast doing this together, and though we could stop here, we're now considering the options of running others located in other locations near ours. Who knows where our next adventure will take us?

Stiff hips and happy smiles,
Cory and Jo