Event Coverage
The New Las Vegas Marathon 2006
My Marathon Journal
By Rebekah M Bachnick
On the morning of December 10, 2006, over 15,000 runners braved the cold and wind to run the New Las Vegas Marathon in Las Vegas Nevada, USA. It was both a half and a full marathon- 13.1 miles and 26.2 miles respectively. The race began at 6:00 am, with the start and finish line marked right outside the Mandalay Bay Hotel/Casino. The starting temperature from McCarren International Airport at 6:00am was a chilly 30 degrees with 10-12 MPH winds. The temperature might have crept up to 55 degrees by eleven, but the winds picked up as well with 30MPH gusts.
The course took the full marathoners up the famous Las Vegas Strip, through downtown’s Freemont Experience, then jogged north again on Martin Luther King Boulevard. They crossed into North Las Vegas and headed east on Smoke Ranch then turned back down south on Torrey Pines Road. There was a brief trip on Flamingo then a small northern backtrack on El Camino before racers would head east again on Twain. There, they would pass the Rio and the Palms casino’s before crossing the Interstate 15 and come into the final stretch on Frank Sinatra Drive that would carry racers south towards the finish line.
Now how often have you ever thought about running a marathon? Never? Well let me tell you that less than a year ago I would have had the same answer. Now, I’m an active woman who loves sports- and not just watching them. I will be out there with the guys roughing it up any chance I get. But running just for the sport of it has never really been my thing.
I work at Costco, doing payroll now, but have been a pharmacy tech for over a decade. A year ago, this guy named Milton transferred in from another warehouse, and he loves to run marathons. I thought, “That’s cool- he’s crazy- but that’s pretty cool.” Did it ever occur to me that I might one day join him on a course? Nuh-uh, no way you’re going to get me to run 26.2 miles. I may be crazy…but not that crazy.
Well apparently, I guess I am. Milton wore me down and in a moment of insanity I agreed to register for the New Las Vegas Marathon, which is where we live. So once the weather here in Henderson/Las Vegas finally started to come down from its blistering summer temps I began to train. I ran, I biked I swam…and I’ll be honest and tell you that it was a challenge to make myself do that.
But, I stuck to a pretty decent training program of running 3-4 times a week 5-7 miles a day and then a longer run on the weekend that would push the 13 mile mark. Unfortunately, during the most crucial part of my training the month before the race, I got a nasty cold and went through a divorce. I didn’t get a chance to put in the 20+ mile run that all marathoners should when preparing for the big day.
Still, I had paid the fees, and had already committed in word and heart to doing this. So I was going to give this race my best shot. Now I have been told that I’m both stubborn AND competitive, so I figured those two attributes should help carry me across the finish line no matter how long it took me.
What follows are the highlights of a novice marathoner who willingly puts herself through hell, and is rewarded with one of the most amazing moments of her entire life. This is my journey….
December 10, 2006
3:15am
I wake up amazed that I have gotten any sleep at all. Between my excitement/nervousness and the neighbors’ damn dog, my 7:45 bedtime the pervious evening dragged to well past 9:00 possibly even 10:00. I get dressed eat my spaghetti breakfast and try to relax and get myself in the zone.
4:30am
I arrive at the Mandalay, and thankfully find a spot not too far from the elevators- this will be crucial after the race. I head down to the casino and wind my way towards the convention centers which are serving as holding pens for thousands of people. See most of us- myself include- are clad in shorts, with a long sleeve shirt or a sweatshirt pulled over their tops. But it is a very brisk 30 degrees out and the wind is beginning to pick up, so they don’t want to send us all into hypothermia too soon.
5:00am
Milton- the guy from work that talked me into this finally arrives. In the meantime I’ve had ample opportunity to check out all the people coming in. There is the Elvis
contingent- which I am told is always the largest in this city of course- and I have had a good many laughs as each group of Elvis’ pass. Pretty much all of them are running the half marathon (you can tell by the color stripe on their bibs) but a few are going the whole distance.
5:40am
They heard us all out to the start line like thousands of cattle to the slaughter. Later I will reflect that the cattle have it better- at least they don’t suffer. We all huddle outside in the frigid weather trying not to think about how the wind is going to be a fight the whole time. Little do we know that the hardest part of the course is being socked by 30+ MPH winds.
5:45am
The DJ tells us a special guest has dropped buy and Robin Leach
5:50am
The Elite Women Runners are sent off with fireworks and music. I’m laughing to myself as they send off the wheelchair athletes five minute later with more fireworks, because I just KNOW there are hundreds if not thousands of tourists that have just stumbled off to their beds after a night of drinking and gambling and are being woken up with all the noise wondering what the hell is going on.5:59am
The excitement is building, the Blue Man Group
Sort of….
We back-of-the-packers are taking a little longer to get over the start line because everyone’s pausing to take pictures of the Blue Man Group. I chuckle as we slowly go past them, but once we get going, everyone is boogying now. I settle into an easy rhythm, knowing I’ve got 26.2 miles to go- that’s twice as far as I have ever gone before.
Mile 1
This is so cool. I was bummed because race rules had said no mp3 players
Mile 3
Yeah! Our first water/Gatorade stop. We’ll be hydrated every mile after this now with Gatorade
Mile 5
Still feeling great and my pace is pretty good. I came in at 1:15 but that is with the pit stop and about a 3 minute lag just getting across the start line. A little less scenery, but the Freemont Experience is not too far ahead and for all the time I’ve been here I have yet to be down to that area. Still lots of people cheering us on and it’s great. Just after mile marker 5 there is a little wedding chapel where marathoners are getting married. Some of them have come up with some great ideas of modified running gear and I wish I had brought a small knapsack with a camera.
Mile 6
Freemont is cool! The half marathoners have been with us until now, but they split off and head back to their finishing line. The entertainment all along the way has been great. I’m still running, but I force myself to start taking breaks because I realize I haven’t been pacing myself as good as I probably should be.
Miles 8-10
Yeah, they are bringing us through a lovely part of town now. Thankfully, police presence is very visible and the runners are making sure to stay together in packs. It drizzles on us occasionally, but one small miracle is that the skies don’t open up on us at least. Another photo op missed as some skinny older dude who obviously does nothing but marathons for fun, runs by dangling a bag of McDonalds in front of his friends. I watch as they share hash browns and think to myself ‘that is just wrong!’ Yeah- I’m jealous.
Miles 10-12
This is where the fun really begins. We are finally out in the wide open and the wind is really really bad up here. I’m down to half running and half walking, but this whole stretch is taking a toll on everyone and my pace has slowed up considerably. I’m beginning to feel tightening in my calves and my hips are starting to ache a little. What really disturbs me though, is that we have seen no food yet. No nasty energy goo, no energy bars or fruit…nothing. Thank god I had the sense to buy two at the Expo the day before, but I have already used them both up by now.
Mile 13.1
I’m halfway. At least they finally have energy goo! I greedily grab a handful and shove them in my pockets. Later I will be extremely thankful of my greed, because it will help me live through this whole experience. I’m elated and dismayed all at the same time. I look back and see how far we’ve come- but it also means we have that much further to go back. My time has definitely slowed and we are all cursing the damn wind. I have been running/walking for 3 hours and 40 minutes straight now. Pretty soon my body is going to start completely rebelling.
Mile 14
And the first major cramp hits. I pause several times between miles 14-15 to try and stretch out my left calf. It starts to feel ok and I walk it out a little, but every time I try to start to run it cramps again. This is where the real battle begins now. That 30+ hour winds are now against us and we have a long gradual incline to overcome on top of that. Those of us who are straggling are now being told we have to move onto the sidewalks because they are opening the streets back up. As they do this, we start to notice that the water stations and timing mats are beginning to disappear. Not a good sign- especially to someone who has brought no money or extra fluids.
Mile 16
Little do I know that this will be the last water we will officially receive on this race now. I am down to a painful, fast hobble. I’m trying to do everything I can to distract myself from the discomfort- singing, thinking about the journal I’m going to write about this experience, making up really really bad military styled running songs. Right now I’m thinking it’s pain that I feel, but as I keep going, I realize that what I felt at this stage of the game was mild compared to what’s in store for me.
Mile 17
At least there are only single digit miles left to go. But the next 3 miles are brutal.
Mile 19
I’ve had no water or Gatorade
Mile 20
I get my Gatorade and down it while gagging on some energy goo. I think that hey, maybe things are looking up- I have no idea how wrong I am. It’s well past noon…almost one I think. And the racecourse is no longer clearly marked.
Lesson Number One: Memorize the route before the race, take a map of it with you, and if possible, drive it so you become familiar with it.
I walk east on Flamingo, take a pit stop and the lady-in very bad English-tries to tell me I need to go back I’m too far. I double back several blocks, but see no sign of the course changing and assume she was wrong, so I head back east on Flamingo and come to Jones. I see no one race officials or volunteers only a few fellow race stragglers in the distance, and we are all wandering around lost. I call Milton who had finished two hours ago, and he confuses the hell out of me. I know it’s because I’m probably not as coherent as I could be right now, but then he’s also trying to give me directions not really knowing where I’m at. I end up heading south on Jones, because at least I know the general direction I need to be going.
Around Mile 22.5
I am waaaayyy off course and know it- I just have no idea where the hell I went wrong and if I can even make it back onto the course. I have been cursing the race officials for about two miles now. I call Milton while getting into a verbal fight with some punk ass kid who tells me I need to walk about two miles back the way I came to get on the course…oh HELL no. Milton is clueless as to what I should do and by now I’m pissed.
I understand they needed to open the streets, but they still could have kept the course well marked because I’m not the only one out here wandering lost. At least I know in what direction I need to be heading- I need to keep going south and now east. Problem is, is that I need to get onto Frank Sinatra Drive which runs behind the casinos. There are only a few streets that actually connect to it however, and I am nowhere near any of them. That dilemma is what starts to wear on me emotionally because I’m already backtracking again.
In between trying to figure out what the hell Milton is telling me and arguing with this kid that I finally tell to F*** off, I’m doubling back again, heading back up the street I just came down. Milton finally tells me to just go ahead and take Tropicana east and to call him when I get closer to the Strip. So I once again, I retrace my steps and turn onto Tropicana and have a clear view of what lays before me.
This is where my true mental battle has begun. Every block is going to be a struggle to keep walking.
Mile 23.5
I call Greg, who bless his soul, has come down to cheer me on at the finish line. I’m in agony, I’m lost and I’m totally alone. You know those stories about people who get lost in the wilderness and walk for days to find help? I am feeling a little like that right now and I’m thinking to myself ‘I voluntarily did this?’ I look at my last remaining goo pack and decide to forgo it. I feel like I’m about to hurl- not a good sign- and I know that if I try to suck on the goo it will send me over the edge. If I start puking now I’m going to be in worse trouble than I already am.
I’m not in a great part of town again, and this time I’m alone. I’m about a mile west of the Orleans, and Greg is trying to talk to race officials at the finish line to let them know that people are getting lost because they haven’t left markers up and how the hell do I get back? He can hear the pain and defeat and frustration in my voice and finally says that if I need a ride to call him back.
Mile 24.5
I’m at the Orleans with cell phone in hand, and ready to call Greg. I’m freezing, I haven’t had anything to eat or drink in miles again and my body is starting to shut down. But, I look up and see the Excalibur, the Luxor and the Mandalay just down the street a little further. I’m almost there- I can do this. I shove my cell back into my little pouch and continue my stiff legged limp down the street. I know I am drawing crazy looks but I don’t really give a crap right now.
Mile 25
I am heading south on Valley View now and Milton calls me. I am on the west side of the freeway across from the Luxor and at a loss as to how to get over onto the east side of the 15 Freeway. He tells me I can’t get to Frank Sinatra
Milton arrives, picks me up and gets me to where I need to be. He’s probably just taken about a quarter mile off my distance…but I figure that with the long walk back from the finish line, through the hotel/casino to the parking garage I will have made that up easily. Besides, with all the backtracking I have done, who knows just how far I’ve gone now anyway?
He drops me off behind the Luxor, which is where I was at on Valley View…just on the wrong side of the freeway, and Greg comes down to meet me. I can tell from the look on his face he didn’t really know just how much pain I was in until he saw me limping/hobbling along. I’m almost in tears at the sight of him- my only cheering section for this, my first marathon (and quite possibly my last). He says he is almost in tears just watching me.
We talk as I painfully push on. The entire lower half of my body is one giant cramp. I can’t even begin to explain the pain in each step and unfortunately, I have had nothing to take my mind off the pain the last ten miles or so. But with Greg there to talk to me as we walk the last ¾ of a mile, the pain starts to recede a little as he tells me of some of the funny things he’s seen while waiting for me the past three hours. It’s amazing what a little distraction can do for you.
Mile 26
I round the corner from the back of the Mandalay Bay and there it is…the finish line. There is still a small crowd of people there, and at the sight of me pathetically hobbling along, they start cheering and encouraging me on. Greg gives me a hug and tells me how proud he is of me doing this and then moves off the course to let me finish. I suck it up and manage to find it within me to do a stumbling jog across the finish line.
The emotions running though me right now are so intense that I break down and cry. People are congratulating me, a man with a microphone comes over and shakes my hand, and another places my finisher’s medal around my neck.
The trip back to the car is long and slow, and yes, it is still painful. I greedily suck down a bottle of water and talk with some marathoners who give me some very helpful recovery tips on the way back. Greg hugs me back at the car, tells me once more how proud he is of me for finishing and then we part ways.
I barely manage to get out of the car back at home, and I have this sinking feeling that I am going to be seriously paying for this for at least the next couple of days. After eating, I shower, take a long soak in an Epsom bath, and take plenty of drugs. I lay on my electric blanket- which is cranked up to 9- with ice packs on my knees. I call a few family and friends to tell them I finished, and then after crying a little more at the emotions still running through me, I close my tired eyes and become completely dead to the world by 7:30 pm.
December 11, 2006
The combination of heat/ice/soaking/food/drugs/12 hours of sleep has done a remarkably amazing job in helping my battered body to recover. Oh I’m still in pain- don’t get me wrong and think that I’m up for anything more than shuffling around short distances at a time. And I’m reduced to wearing socks with sandals because my feet are too swollen and blistered to get back into shoes right now. But at least I am not in the agony I was last night.
Was it worth it you ask?
At mile 24 yesterday and ready to quit, I might have said no. But today, as I glance over at that medal sitting on my desk and think of what I accomplished- yes, it was worth every tear. I learned who I was in those 26 miles and I realized just what I was capable of. It was the most incredible experience of my life.
Will I do it again?
Heh, we’ll see about that. Milton is already trying to talk me into the L.A. marathon. I think this time around I really need to stick to my training and now that I know what to expect.
Lesson Number Two: Expect the unexpected and be prepared- mentally, emotionally, and physically.
My official finishing time was actually 8:33:02 (didn’t realize it took me 5 minutes to get across the start line in the beginning) and I was in 6003rd place. I didn’t come in first. I didn’t even come in under the time I had hoped to. But I did something even more remarkable- I persevered when I was lost and alone, and at my mind and body’s limit.
I crossed that finish line.
You can overcome any obstacle if you put your mind to it-but only if you have the goal fixed firmly in mind. If you can visualize it, and never lose sight of it, you can and will accomplish whatever you set out to do.
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