OK! It has taken me forever to post about this. I was waiting to get my race photos back, but since funds are a little scarce right now, I needed to wait.
On Sunday, December 6, 2009, I met my sister and dear friends Jone (from San Francisco) and Jim and Jen (form my running club) in Las Vegas to run in the inaugural Rock & Roll Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon!
I flew in Saturday morning, met my sister and friends and hit the expo at the Mandalay Bay to pick up my race number. I was again running with the Running Elvi and I brought my outfit with me as we were all meeting at 2:00pm for photos at the finish line.
Rockin' the Expo
All the Running Elvi at the finish line!
Call me Elvita!!
After finish line photos, we paraded through the expo for more photos!
After a great pasta dinner with the Team Challenge Georgia folks, I went to our room and got things ready for the race.
At 3:30am the alarm went off and I got up, got dressed, had a little breakfast and headed out to meet the other Elvi and the 100 wedding couples who were getting married in the run through wedding. The weather felt cool but not to bad as I walked over with a few other runners. I had a blanket and some hand warmers to keep me warm, but since it wasn't to cold I went ahead and beat the rush at gear check and checked my stuff. BIG MISTAKE!! We were inside for about 30 minutes and when we came out, the temerature had dropped about 20 degrees! It was FREEZING!! There I had all my warm stuff checked away and I froze.
The starting line was quite the spectical! 2 showgirls and 2 white tigers were on each side of the starting line as well as the fireworks, and the Flying Elvi skydiving out of the sky! There was a bridge crossing over the starting line which has the Blues Brothers totally swinging out!! I danced across the start!
The race was super crowded at the start even though they tried to stagger the corals. I was running with Jen and she was going pretty fast. I had to stay with her though because my Garmin decided to freak out. Crowd support was not what I had hoped for, but I understood as I was freezing and I was running. I would not want to just stand out in that cold! Running up and down the strip was a blast. I felt good for the first 8 or 9 miles then I felt like crap. My legs were so cold it was hard to get them moving. I slowed down my pace and kept Jen in my sights in front of me. When she would walk, I would catch up. In the last 3 miles Jim jumped in to run Jen in.
The last mile there was a little more crowd support. I saw a TV camera and ran over and gave a Whoo Hoo!! to it! The newscaster then said "This would not be the Rock & Roll marathon without Elvis!" I cracked up and went on my way. These distractions were helping me forget how tired and cold I was, but I looked up and Jim and Jen were gone! I picked it up a little in hopes to catch them, but I when I saw the finish line I just went for it. Waiting for my medal, I saw Jim and Jen cross the finish line. How the heck did I get in front of them? I finished in 2:17:20, not a PR, but not bad considering the cold and that I was in full a Elvis costume, holding a blow up guitar the whole way!
I got my post race photo with a show girl, picked up my food and gear and headed back to the hotel for a nice hot shower and a nap before I met up with my sister and Jone for dinner. Jim and Jen headed back to SLC after the race.
We had a great time! Next year I hope it is a little warmer though.
Me and my sister and me and Jone!
The bling!
