Red Rock Canyon Half Marathon 2013
Just completed the Las Vegas Red Rock Canyon Half Marathon. Here is my first attempt at a race report on this forum...
Venue: Absolutely beautiful. Red Rock Canyon is a national conservation area. Very scenic and mountainous. Amazing colors. Snow on the peaks. Zero auto traffic. Thirty minutes from Las Vegas airport (and the strip). Race is run on a Saturday morning leaving Saturday night before your departure out on Sunday open for whatever...)
Course: On paved road - "Scenic Canyon Road" Single loop (almost). Run at moderate altitude - race starts at 3900 feet. Lots of climbing with the maximum elevation at 4770. First half is a lot of up and up. After mile 5.25 the net is mostly gentle down the rest of the way home. That said there are 2 - 3 substantially steep short uphills. There is one downhill section that is very steep!. Two competitors fell. Race organizers refer to this section as a "screaming downhill". I feel it in my quads this morning. Heart rate was very high the first half at a slowish pace for me - likely due to climbing and altitude, so maybe not the place for a PR. Lots of portable bathrooms present at the start, on the course and at the finish.
Temp: 50. Minimal sun this year. No rain. PERFECT. There were some wind gusts at the zenith of the run.
Support: On course support was reasonable given the relatively few competitors. Aid stations were every 1 - 2 miles. Water and Heed. End of run snacks were plentiful (I am a mid pack to back third pack runner - so at many events there is a half cookie and a smashed banana waiting for me when I finish).
Finishers medal is awesome. The age group awards were little trophies that were made of and resembled little rock formations - pretty cool.
Personally I had a great race by following the heart rate closely and not frying the legs in the first 5 miles. Then cruised all the way home down hill. Not a PR due to venue, course and no taper as I did this as a training run for the Jan OS.
I would recommend this race to anyone - I did this race because a member of our local running group was in Vegas for business and he organized. It was totally worth the trip out from Ohio!
-edward