I don't have anything new to add really. Just wanted to say this was not a good experience at all.

Yes, the second half and the finish was a disaster but I won't rehash all of that as other comments have well-covered that piece. First, I'll say I was drawn to this marathon for three reasons: 1) strip at night sounded fun 2) I'm a 50 Stater and needed Nevada 3) It was a great excuse to go to Vegas. So, because of #2 and #3 I'm glad I did this race! Ironically, regarding #1, I enjoyed the first half much more than the last half on the strip.

Yes, the first half went through a warehouse district but so what? All marathons have those stretches and in Vegas, you could still see lights and buildings of the strip from many spots on the course. Water stops were well-managed during the first half and I loved the bands. I was a little worried about the 4:30 cut-off when I signed up. I have to have a really good day to pull that off but hey, it was Vegas, so I took the gamble! From looking at the course map and reading some internet chatter, it seemed like the most important thing was to stay on that pace for the first half which I managed to do.

I thought the start of the full marathon went off flawlessly. The corrals moved fast. They weren't strictly enforced but with 3500 marathoners it didn't create the fiasco I understand it did with 38,000 half-marathoners. I loved seeing the start line action playing on the screen of the Mandalay Bay sign. I think they should have not allowed so many half-marathoners to register. A 3:00 cut-off on the half would have taken care and that and been more fair considering the 4:30 cut-off for the full is a little draconian. RnR is capable of putting on great events as I experienced in Nashville and Phoenix. I hope they can get it together for Las Vegas next year. Since they seem hell-bent of having so many participants, someone from RnR should talk to the Atlanta Track Club that stages 55,000 runners/walkers every year for the annual Peachtree Road Race.

They are strict about the corrals, and it takes an hour to get all the waves across the start line. You have to submit a qualifying time to get in one of the earlier waves. If you are 'not so serious' you automatically go to the last wave. Better luck next year!

Poorly organized, the full marathon to 1/2 marathon crush/merge was the stupidest thing i have ever seen in a major event. Crowds at the end were massive, no signage, food was terrible (green Banannas). Would not recommend this race.

I am an average runner (4-4.5 hrs marathon), so it is safe to say that I was running along with one of the largest groups of people. There is nothing useful to say about the first half, other than it was as boring as you can expect it to be. But as the group I was in merged with the half marathon group at the strip, it all became complete chaos for about 6 to 7 miles.

I could not believe how disorganized it became. I mostly blame the organizers, but I must say that most of my anger while running was directed to people who exercise no common sense while participating in these events. If you sense that people are getting past you from both sides, then you are just an obstacle. If you are slow or are walking, just stay on the right side of the course. Remember: It is a run.

I really hope the RnR people truly learn from these mistakes. These comments do not exaggerate or lie. It really was that poorly organized. The full to half merge was really bad. I spend the 7 miles weaving in and out of people. And after that my legs were too shot to make up the lost time.

Their apology email was a joke.

First, last and only rock n roll marathon.

We ran this race (the half-marathon) back in 2009 (its inaugural year) and we remember it being well-organized if a bit cold. This year was quite different, big problems in several areas. We cannot recommend the race at this point for anyone. Maybe again in a few years after the organizers learn how to handle a big race correctly.

Expo
We hated the expo. We arrived at around 3:00 PM on Saturday and it was so crowded that we left as soon as humanly possible after getting our race supplies. Every aisle was absolutely packed with people and it made us very reluctant to even look at any of the vendors. The purchase checkout area had a giant unappealing line. The expo location needs to be MUCH bigger for this many people.

Parking
We did not have to deal with this. We stayed on the Strip and walked to the race.

Gear Check Area
The gear check was WAY too far away from the start/finish area. Getting there required fighting my way though a huge crowd of people trying to jam through a couple narrow doorways into the building, so I never made it to my corral before the start. I had to actually run part of the way.

Start Corrals
There was no map of the start/finish area provided on the web site, which caused huge confusion before and after the race. There was no corral management at all, so many people were in the wrong corrals, which caused the race to get off to an ugly start. People were frantic because they could not get to their corrals on time, which were too small to begin with. There was simply no room for anyone to maneuver, stretch, or relax before the race. Except for the first few waves, the waves were not started properly and everyone just started to run at the same time in a giant mob. The waves were certainly not started a minute or two apart or at pre-determined intervals as advertised before the race.

A ridiculous number of rude walkers snuck into early waves and blocked the fast runners, which caused collisions and bad feelings. Many idiotic runners were sending and receiving text messages and playing with their iPods during the race.

Volunteers, Water Stops
The volunteers on the course were great: very helpful and friendly. Water stops were large, convenient, well-organized and well-stocked. No problems at all in this area.

Finish Line
The finish area was so jammed up that I was actually unable to run to the finish line because it was blocked by non-moving people. People needing medical attention were unable to get through the crowds. The post-race food was somewhat limited - all the bananas were green and inedible.

Medal
This is a really nice medal, one of my favorites.

Course
I really enjoyed the scenic night-time run on the Strip - especially on the return run southward. This was probably the biggest positive aspect of this race. Between the 16th and 25th miles, the overcrowding was not so bad, so I was able to relax a bit more and run my race without dodging other runners. There were a few dark areas between the 17th and 19th miles, some of which were oddly lit my blinding lights, which were a big surprise coming around turns.

Price
This race was rather expensive, but understandably so in order to create the cool night-time course on the Strip. We registered early to get a nice discount.

Bands
The bands were OK, although it seems that there could have been one more band added between the 9th and 11th miles. Because of the distractions caused by the over-crowded conditions and continuously weaving around people, I did not pay as much attention to the bands as I would have liked.

T-shirts
The t-shirt is OK, but a black short-sleeved t-shirt is kind of weird. If it's so warm that I'm wearing short sleeves, then it's also probably too hot to be wearing black. This is why most short-sleeved race shirts are white.

Overall, a disappointing experience.

I along with everyone else, had the worst race experience that could every happen. I signed up at the earliest possible time to take advantage of the price and knowing it would be at night, not wanting to miss the opportunity. And to think that I passed up the CIM to run this makes me even more sick than what I felt at 17mi.

For a RnR run, where were all the bands? There were more spectators last year in the morning than there were at night.

RNR should be giving every full marathon runners that participated in this event a apology and a free pass to another event or the bad press will keep on coming. Don't need to write any more comments as everyone before me have already done mine.

A lot of runners had some issues with the crowds but for a race with 44k, it was to be expected. I didn't like merging in with a sea of slow half marathoners at the 13 mark of the full. Apparently the corrals didn't go off as planned and everyone surged sending the whole field off at once.

The race never ran out of water but vols, apparently a lot of them left as it was getting colder according to the CEO response.

The course is fantastic however the corrals need to be enforced. They do a great job at their other events so why not here?

The medal was awesome however the post race food was a cold green banana. It's not my first race and I've had sub-par food at other bigger races so I packed my own food.

Every news station and paper in the area has been covering this story. RnR has apologized and is listening. I'm willing to give them another shot!

By far the worst running event I have ever attended. Others have summarized the problems. An experienced runner, I was seriously sickened by *something* during the race. The crowds were dangerous. I dodged walkers for four miles. I read that they are hoping for 65k people next year. Where are they going to find 65k people that haven't already heard about this absolute debacle??

This is the worst marathon that I have ever run in. It's my 11th full marathon, and I have to say it's TERRIBLE!!! I would not recommend this to anyone, not even my enemies. Just so unorganized! The merge at mile 13.1 was a disaster! I must have plowed over 100 people in the race. Which I was not proud of myself, but the 1/2 marathoners should have just stayed in their lane instead of getting in our lane We've already ran 13.1 miles, and then now we have to dodge you idiots. I would say a majority of the people I plowed over were women, whom started in the wrong wave. They probably lied about their finish time, so they could move up, and for what reason to move up to a faster start. I'm hoping that it ruined their experience, and next time if they run again, they will put their true time and run with the correct time. I would not waste my money or time ever again with a RNR Vegas marathon! Save your money, this race is not worth it!