I ran the 1/2 last year as a tune-up for a spring marathon in Cleveland. I thought scenery, course and staff were oustanding!!! This is VEGAS live it up and have a great time because remember your family is back home where it cold and snowing

This race was my first Boston qualifier in 1998. It's a great course for a PR if you can run fast without spectator support and little change in scenery from start to finish. Don't expect anyone in LV but the runners to know there's a marathon going on but the runners are the friendliest I've ever encountered at a marathon that is geared for a PR -- try chatting with the die-hards in Chicago at mile 18! Yes, it is a cold, long wait at the start, but thankfully, we can wait on the buses. Try three hours in a tent at Boston wrapped up in garbage bags freezing. This is a great race. I try to run it every year.

We also stayed in another hotel. However, we had no problem finding the Expo. The first half is up and down, but the last half is mostly downhill. The aid stations were well-staffed. The only complaint was being bused to the start line two hours before the race began. It was soooo cold, we took refuge in the local 'Sleaze-Eze' Casino until a few minutes before the race. Plenty of smoke-enhanced, drunken gamblers to party with! Start line served donuts!!! Other than those few oddities, not a bad course. Many 'serious' runners.

My friend & I ran in this marathon this year. The problems we encountered were in finding the packet pick up location. Since we did not stay at the host hotel, we ended up walking for 3 hours the day prior to the race just trying to find the expo and packet pick up. We were tired before we started. No one at the MGM Grand could even tell us where we should go. The registration info gave a location, but when trying to navigate the las vegas scene, this was not much help. Suggest packet mailing would be good idea.