This is the best choice for a late-season marathon. Although I agree with comments about the corrals, walkers, and half marathoners, do not let them deter you from running this marathon. The only thing I would not recommend is the Mandalay Bay (host hotel).

Well organized race, fun expo, neat start. Pretty good tech race shirt. It was cold at the start but I have run much colder ones, so I was prepared. Support was good, with lots of water stations. Mile markers did seem to be off; I paid more attention to my GPS. Cheerleaders were encouraging. Elvi were cool. There were showgirls at the finish for pictures. Course was unremarkable after the first 10 miles on the Strip. They put all of the hills (mostly bridges) on the marathon course. I think it is hard for most marathons to find 26 miles of good scenery. Bands were OK. Some quit very early, while others seemed to be taking a break when we came by. They put the suicide genre band near mile 20 (appropriate). Always take online ratings with a grain of salt; there are always people who are rarely satisfied.

They did a fantastic job with organization, the course was great, the shirts were awesome, and the medal was heavy and beautiful.

Running on the Strip is always an incredible experience. It's SO much fun. Just watch out for the lane reflectors on the roadway. Treasure Island had their volcano show going as I ran by; it was awesome and a welcomed burst of warmth. The Strip being part of the course is what makes this race.

The starting line was very high-energy, with the band playing and the fireworks and the Jumbo-trons showing the start. I'm still smiling. The only (slight) glitch was that the sound system kicked out just as the national anthem was about to be sung, so it was only heard by the people way at the front of the start. Nothing is perfect.

True, crowd support was sparse along the course, but there were actually a LOT more people than I thought there would be out cheering, so it was great in my book.

And yes, people were not being honorable with their placing in the start corral. I started in corral 8, and I passed many walkers within the first mile (are you kidding me?), and very slow joggers within the first couple of miles. That was pretty ridiculous. The only way to prevent that would be to have people stationed at each corral entry checking numbers.

It seemed like the bands weren't every mile after the halfway point, but hey, it was better than nothing. And they were good too!

There were plenty of aid stations, plenty of water, and the volunteers were great.

I liked that the last six miles or so of marathon course were straight and you could see the Mandalay Bay (finish); it was kind of rolling hills over the two bridges. Very pretty. I just wish races (in general) wouldn't hide the finish line around a corner. I want to see it from far away - like a mile back would be great. Something for inspiration instead of having to wonder, "Where's the finish? I can't hold this (perceived) sprint any longer - where IS the finish?"

I thought the expo was great. Lots of vendors. It was very crowded but that's pretty normal. Lots of helpful and happy volunteers.

And I liked all of the hype with the e-mails beforehand. At some races, once you enter you never hear from them them again. It was exciting every time I received a well-timed e-mail from the race organizers. I looked forward to them and it helped spur excitement.

I can't wait another 12 months before I get to run this race again. This 2009 run was my 20th marathon, and definitely one of my top five favorites.

Rock and Roll did a great job organizing this race. The course was great and I had a blast the entire time. The slight incline from miles 8 to 20 was hardly noticeable and a PR is definitely a possibility here. I was disappointed with my 3:56 time but still ejnoyed the atmosphere and race experience. This is now THE choice for a Nevada marathon.

While the overall race organization was great, the corral assignments were obviously ignored by some participants. Passing walkers at the half-mile mark? Are you kidding me? Fan support was minimal, but that's what I expected in Vegas. Enjoyed the bands and had fun chatting with my friends and fellow runners.

An amazing marathon. The start line entertainment was the "Blues Brothers." Running the entire Vegas Strip was great - what a sight. Water stations were every mile on both sides of the road, which made access very easy. The crowds were plentiful for the full marathon, including live bands and cheer-leading squads. The course is flat, with only two very small overpasses. The inish line was good, with incredible post activities. Nice, heavy finisher's medal.

Once you leave the Strip (mile 10) this is the most boring marathon I have ever run.

The technology is very bad. The times at the mile markers were not synchronized with the time differences of more than 20 minutes. The flexible chips did not work and I know of three runners (including me) who have no times registered. Scary, because I don't know many runners that run this one. Regarding tracking, if you are an international runner, you won't receive the message due to your international cell number. No mail is sent to your Blackberry. This is like running a marathon 15 years ago.

OK, I was awestruck by running down the Strip and it was a very fast course (even if I wasn't). This was my first "Rock-n-Roll" race. I was completely under-whelmed by the on-course entertainment. Poor quality bands that were way too loud; it was almost painful to run by the speakers (and I'm not some 70-year-old with hearing aids). The Cyto-max was inconsistent between aid stations, tasted horrible, and didn't seem to work, as I cramped up something fierce anyway - even though I hydrated and drank sports drink at stops like I normally would. And there were hardly any spectators once we left the Strip. I crossed NV off my 50 state list, but this wouldn't be a repeat race for me. I couldn't believe the costs for add-ons like the pasta dinner ($35?? Child, please!), and even $5 to have a text message sent with progress reports (beyond the first one). Think I will stick with locally organized races.

Rubbish t-shirt considering the entrance fees.

They had Celine Dion singing all 15 verses of "God Bless America" in her fur coat whilst we froze to death waiting for her to get on with it at 6 a.m.

The organizers only had to really close one road - The Strip - for about two hours, so it was no big deal to organize.

Never managed to get warm again and suffered muscle injuries early on as a result.

No spectators out in the suburbs except for the die-hard few and the families; miles 11 - 24 had few medical facilities available to runners.

The isotonic drink was puke-worthy and most of it was left un-drunk throughout the course.

Wrong month of the year and too early in the morning !

Maybe it shined so brightly because San Antonio was so tarnished; but, this marathon had the best of everything of the ten full and dozens of half's I have done - including international ones (right up there with Stockholm '03!) What I liked best is that I did not have to jockey for position and stop/go with overcrowding and too many turns. This race had runners spaced out so that we could each get our stride early and keep it! Lots of eye candy, and a smooth route!