Expo: This race was part of the Rock N’ Roll series. They usually have a pretty big expo and the Las Vegas show was no different. It was in the Sands Convention center behind the Venetian (good, central location). 
There was tons of booths (read: opportunities to spend money) and free stuff.
Susan and I got 2 free pictures for our memory books. You know, if I had to time to make a memory book and not lose the picture under the seat of my car.
Race Start: I stayed at TI (Treasure Island, but you can’t call it that because it’s super not cool). It’s toward the north end of the strip. It doesn’t seem that far, but it did end up taking us almost an hour to walk to the start. 
Along the way… 
The strip is closed for the race, so everyone was walking with us.
We saw the marathoners run by as we went…
Finally… we got to the start and took pictures. 
That’s how I run (see below), just like I’m punching my arms straight out in front of me. This discourages others from running directly in front of me and spraying me with snot rockets. Don’t copy my form, it’s a trademark move.
Course: The half starts at 4:30pm and you start right on the strip. By the time we were a mile in the sun was going down and the lights were going up!
It’s super fun to run down the street!!! The course is super flat, but it was windy Sunday night. Super WINDY! I didn’t mind the wind because I was so distracted by my blisters from my too-high-heels, lack of sleep and hangover. I went to Vegas for a good time and knew I’d pay for it during the race. Totally.Worth.It.
Finish: I finished in 2:11, pretty much my worst half time in years. Oddly enough, 2 hours is the amount of sleep I got the night before and 11 is the number of drinks I had. So, I’d call it even Steven.
Reader Courtney spotted me at the Finish and took this picture. She blogs at 3x a Charm Runner
Best Race Course Bonus: You can get married right on the route and a bunch of people do! It’s also the race with the most marriage proposals! How cute is that?
After Party: Team Refuel gave me 2 VIP bracelets so Susan and I hit up the VIP tent after the race. This is one of the best perks because they have food and a place to sit 
I met a Team Refuel friend, George too! He has run dozens of RnR races!
Susan enjoyed some wine, but I opted out since my stomach was hurting. Apparently vodka and running 13 miles isn’t a match made in Heaven. Noted.
After the race we trekked back to TI, showered and just went down for food there. We ended up getting Pho. The food was GREAT (dessert not so much).
The dessert menu had a dozen warm chocolate chip cookies. Susan sweet talked them into giving us half a dozen. She had high expectations since she is obsessed with the warm choc chip cookies from Grand Luxe. Unfortunately these were NOT GOOD. Skip this if you go here. They weren’t warm, the chips were milk chocolate and they were mediocre at best. 
Then, we intended to have ONE DRINK and call it a night. But, one led to more.
Run, Rally, Repeat. 
{Dress is from BCBG Max Azria via Nordstrom Rack}
Overall: Not my best race, but BEST.RACE.WEEKEND.EVER.
what happened to your wedding ring?
Sounds like a great fun weekend. Glad you had fab time M!
Maaan, I wish I had your number this past week. The friend I came with was not into drinking, so I had to drink alone, randomly, in bars. Like a creeper. And I still finished the windy marathon in over 4 hrs. :[ Wah! I guess that’s what you get for 3 marathons in 36 days. But hey, I’m a Maniac now. 😉 Glad you had such a blast!
1) drooling over the pho. yum.
2) that dress! THAT DRESS. that is all.
Who needs sleep when you can have drinks!
Amen!
I love that you carbo loaded with pho, best idea ever.
I can’t believe you went out partying the night before a half-marathon and still managed to complete it in a decent time! Vegas is Vegas! Looks like a really fun race. My favorite time of day to run is when the sun is setting and it becomes dark out, so that must have been really cool seeing all the lights on the strip start lighting up. That dress is awesome, love BCBG.
Looks like you had a super fun time even if it wasn’t your best race. I ran the full marathon as my first full this weekend! It sure was windy, but it was fun. 🙂
Girl, you are H-O-T in that dress. And the sunglasses are super adorable. Congrats on HAVING FUN! And congrats on finishing the race, too. 🙂
Sounds like you had an awesome time! I think anyone that runs a half marathon is great, no matter what your time! I love love love that you can get married on the course!
This post made me laugh!! I love that you finish time matched up with your hours of sleep and number of drinks! Sounds like a super fun weekend with a race thrown in for good measure!!
Nothing worse than looking forward to warm yummy chocolate chip cookies and then be disappointed! You look great in that dress. Sounds like a fun weekend!
looks like such a fun weekend!! LOVE that you partied and had a great time and used the race just as a fun run 🙂 Vegas RnR is def on my race wish list within the next few years!
Who cares what your half time was, you ran in Vegas! That’s pretty awesome. Also – your dress is so hot! Lookin’ good mama!
What happens in Vegas…
That is awesome. Sounds like you did have a GREAT weekend!
The Kidless Kronicles
You’re a machine. Night out, no sleep and yet you ran a good race. Wow! I’m seriously impressed. Well done. 🙂
I would say your time rocked since you had so much fun and didn’t let the whole ….”I can’t have a drink b/c I am running a half marathon tomorrow”…hold you back. Way to go and to having fun…..oh, and looking good in that dress!
Looks and sounds like SO MUCH FUN! Good for you!! 🙂
oh my gosh, this looks like SOOOO MUCH FUN!!
I LOVE the later race..because you get to see all the lights. Thanks for sharing all the pictures. What I’d do to be able to run the 1/2 there one day!!
That dress is hotttt!
Love the little wedding booth!! Cute dress!
you look amazing FYI