I did the marathon, and the course was tough, but the beauty of the canyon was amazing; it helped to forget the long uphills. They had the best volunteers at the water stations, and they were sufficiently supplied. There were no spectators because the course is on a scenic drive. Most participants do the half marathon. I'd recommend this race to avoid the big crowds. Don't expect a PR for your marathon; just enjoy the solitude.

This was a small marathon. I have to admit, the beauty of the red rocks was breathtaking. I actually enjoyed this smaller marathon even though I prefer bigger city marathons.

Pluses:
- Amazingly well-stocked aid stations every 1 to 1 and 1/2 miles. They even had an aide station 0.5 miles from the finish!
- Scenic and breathtaking views of red rocks
- Good and plenty of post-race food
- Bathrooms were enough I felt even though there were only about 1 bathroom every 1-2 miles or so, with more at the halfway point, but I never had to wait

Negatives:
- Registration was at the Red Rocks casino. I would rather have a packet pick-up at McDonald's or Walmart than a smoky casino, but I guess this is Vegas . . .
- The half marathoners start from the opposite end and actually run towards you once you hit the 10-11 mile mark, but I actually kind of enjoyed this as they were cheering you on for about 2 miles (I would consider this a positive, but others might disagree). You could pass but you kind of had to pick your spots
- Wait for the buses at the end of the race. I know this might be tough to gauge or control, but if you were in a hurry after the race to be somewhere like for a flight or something, you might try to have someone available to pick you up at the finish line.

Like I said overall I really liked this marathon and would recommend it just for the spectacular views. Support was great along the trail as well.

Recommendations:
- Hold the packet pick-up somewhere else. It was helpful to know where the buses were going to pick you up, but you really can't miss the casino. There have to be more interesting places/easier places to hold the packet pick-up like a running store or something
- Allow for race day packet pick-up. Some of us travel a long ways for these races and to demand that we pick up our packets the day before for a SATURDAY race is kind of absurd. Some of us can't take Fridays off whenever we feel like it.

I would recommend it for anyone doing a Nevada marathon. It isn't USATF certified, but you won't PR here or Boston qualify. Too many really steep hills.

If you are looking for a well organized event and a very challenging experience, look no further. This marathon will definitely test your endurance. As an athlete herself, the race director does a great job taking care of all the details and this event takes place on the most notable natural treasure among the Las Vegas community, Red Rock Canyon.

Plenty of fluid stations, nice finisher's medal, and tech tee.

There is really nothing to complain about with this event, but my only suggestion for change is: Offer two separate medals, one for the full and one for the half finishers. I know this becomes a cost issue for many race directors, but an easy way to overcome additional costs is by using the ribbon to identify the date of the event rather than imprinting the date on the medal itself. So the medal would be generic to the full or half and the ribbon would provide the date of the event. This would allow two separate medals.

I was not looking for a PR; I had been on the DL for a month, so I was going to walk it. Once I got out there I was welcomed by the climbs and awesome downhills. I finished a half-hour sooner than anyone expected to see me! My mom and husband really enjoyed the scenic bus ride. I will be signing up for the 2011 race.

I ran the half-marathon, and it was great! The stars were the course, the weather, and the hot breakfast at the finish line. It should be apparent that this is a hilly course and there are essentially no spectators. But if that suits you then everything else is perfect.

Beautiful, red-rock canyons! Only about 300 meters of flat running, though - the rest is either up or down!

Every step is beautiful... and every step is difficult. Organization and volunteer support are superb. HammerNutrition provided great products. A glorious, difficult run with friendly, supportive organizers and runners. And the t-shirt was beautifully, thoughtfully designed.

My only suggestion would be to host the Friday packet pickup in a larger room, somewhere more accessible. And add more potties at the start and along with way.

Okay, even a quick look at the course profile will tell you not to look for a PR at Red Rock. But the course is awesome, the organization was first rate and the small field of runners was a fun departure from the events I usually run. If you show up to Red Rock not ready to run hills, you are in for a very long day - and the downhills can beat you up as well. I had a great time and Red Rock will be on my list for 2011.

One of the most beautiful courses that I have ever run on. Breath-taking. It was also a treat to see Anheuser-Busch's running team - I think they set the course record in both the marathon and the half. It was fun watching these guys battle; on the out-and-back, you can see them as they return. I was on the bus that carried these guys back.

This marathon was simply breathtaking in both senses of the word!

A: The red mountains looked like they were painted onto the blue sky. It was just surreal. Also, the orange cones helped us feel secure on the one-way road shared with all the cyclists, rock climbers, and tourists. Those attending the aid stops were attentive. I also liked getting "high fives" from the 1/2-ers coming the other way, because I sure needed that support then!

B: Hill training would be helpful. Altitude adjusting would've been a good idea for me, especially since I was coming off several weeks of a respiratory illness and I had little training during that time. I wanted to quit after Mile 2 because I was gulping in all that cold north wind and I got a big headache. I planned on giving up about 10 more times after that!
What kept me going was the aforementioned 1/2-ers, the grandpa volunteer at the turn-around, my husband who'd parked just ahead and come down to walk/jog with me, and the volunteer at the top of the hill who told me "just finishing this is amazing." In other words, all the usual characters that make marathoning worth every step!