Run It Fast®

Those of us that were lucky enough to survive the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon or Half Marathon (Full Story) earlier this month received an email from Competitor (company that puts the race on) today offering us $50 off the entry fee for Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona that takes place on January 15, 2011.

1. Offer was made via email today, Dec 13, for a race on January 15, 2012.  Very tough and short window for runners to plan and arrange travel/training.
2. $135 – $50 is still $85 to run Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona. Add in travel (gas, plane, rental car) and hotel and you are going to be down $500-$1,000 to run a race you didn’t want to run in the first place (or else you would have already signed up for it.)  $50 off is a small percentage of the cost it would actually take to run the race.
3. Almost all RNR LV runners that plan to run RNR AZ have already signed up and paid full price for it.
4. Offer was likely made knowing that very few could accept it.  That way Competitor can say, ‘Hey, we tried to make up for our mistakes at Las Vegas.”
5. Competitor/Rock ‘n’ Roll is not going to get the benefit of the doubt from anyone anymore.
6. Most runners I’ve talked to seem to agree. Insincere offer. Some deleted it immediately as they broke out the SMH!
7. Some believe it’s a way to fill a race that hasn’t sold out yet.
8. While some runners have sworn to me they will never run another RNR event even if it was free.
9. Runners by and large are whiners or running divas, but what went down in Vegas was absurd. After the merge, every runner’s safety and health was in peril unless you were an elite or at the head of the pack for either race.
10. The offer would have had legs if it had been for $50 off of any RNR race in 2012.

Competitor is right to offer something to try to smooth over what went down on December 4, 2011, but this offer is coming across to runners as an offer that most are unable to accept for a variety of reasons.

What happened that night in Vegas for sure didn’t stay in Vegas.  Competitor’s reputation, which was already mud among marathon veterans, is at an all-time low with almost all runners that were in Vegas.

40,000 runners ran that night. Those 40,000 runners have lots of running friends. Word of mouth is believable due to the heavy amount of complaints coming from an array of runners and stories on the news and in print.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Facebook page has been an endless ticker of negativity and hatred towards Competitor.

The CEO of Competitor, Peter Englehart, called me late last week and he did seem sincere in listening and wanting to find out everything that went wrong in Las Vegas so they could make changes for 2012.

I bet you can’t MERGE this offer with any other discount codes!!

Agree or disagree? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

How bad was Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas? Nightmare on the Strip: Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon Full of Sin

Dirty Rumors from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon

2011 Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon & Half Marathon Medals

[photo of runners trapped inside the Mandalay Bay. via A Trail Runner’s Blog]

Mental Floss compiled a list of  11 Ways to Cheat While Running a Marathon.  Instead of teasing it as advice we’ll call them for what they are…CHEATERS!

Here is a look at that list:

10 Biggest Marathon Cheaters/Ways to Cheat a Marathon (Full Article on Mental Floss)

1. Do Not Run Most of It: Rosie Ruiz (Boston, 1980)
2. Get Someone Else to Run it for You: Xiamen Students (China, 2010)
3. Have Your Manager Give You a Ride: Fred Lorz (St. Louis, 1904)
4. Skip Miles 13-23: Anthony Gaskell (London, 2010)
5. Blow off the Checkpoints: Roberto Madrazo (Berlin, 2007)
6. Grab a Bus: Rob Sloan (Kielder, 2011)
7. Skip Ahead to the Part With the Prize Money: Martin Franklin (New York, 2001)
8. Hop on a Bicycle: The Montreal Biker (2011)
9. Hop in a News Van: Dane Patterson (Arizona, 2009)
10. (and 11.) Split the Course With Your Brother (and Use PEDs): The Motsoeneng Brothers (South Africa, 1999)

Read detailed descriptions of the atrocity each runner committed to cheat a marathon at Mental Floss (LINK)!

I’d add attaching your timing/computer chip/D(B) tag to another runner’s leg or shoe to the list above.

I think we will always think of Rosie Ruiz when it comes to marathon cheating even if the sport has a 100 more cheating scandals over the next 20 years.  She is like the gold standard when it comes to cheating a marathon.

Perhaps marathons across the country should all retire her bib number (W50), not out of a sign of respect, but as a reminder to how awful it is to cheat a marathon.

No, that is not Rosie and former President George W. Bush after the 1980 Boston Marathon. That is Rosie and the legit overall winner Bill Rodgers.

Pop Quiz: Who was the actual and legitimate female winner at the 1980 Boston Marathon?

The answer is Jacqueline Gareau with a time of 2:34:58.

Jackie also won the 1979 National Capital Marathon in Ottawa, Canada in 2:47:58 and the 1988 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota with a time of 2:43:27.

Here is the beautiful, colorful, yet simple finisher’s medal from the 35th Annual Rocket City Marathon that took place in Huntsville, Alabama on December 12, 2011.

The Rocket City Marathon is an extremely well run marathon that is put on by elite ultramarathoner Dink Taylor and his wife.

Timothy Agee ran it fast, finishing with a time of 3:18:44. Congrats to Tim on a new PR!!

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[Medal photo submitted by Timothy Agee. Follow him on Twitter @timagee]

Sweet finisher’s medal from the Latin Music Miami Beach 1/2 Marathon that was held on December 11, 2011.  (A Rock ‘n’ Roll/Competitor event.)

This was the third half marathon run by Shawna Block.  She finished with a time of 2:23:51.  She has lost 48 pounds since she started running and is an inspiration to many that it can be done.

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[Medal photo submitted by Shawna. Follow her on Twitter @ssulax33]

Here is the colorful and festive finisher’s medal from the 2011 Holualoa Tucson Marathon that took place in Tucson, Arizona on December 11, 2011.

A great race and super fast place to try to set a PR.

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[Medal photo submitted by Scott Stader. Follow him on Twitter @scottstader]

There has been a lot of filth to come out the the 2011 Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and 1/2 Marathon that took place this past Sunday night in Sin City.

A lot of it has been true while some other tidbits seem exaggerated, distorted, or simply false.

Here are a few of the more scandalous rumors that I’ve come across in the past couple of days:

1. “read the comments on the rnr page. Kate (Gosselin) didn’t run the race. She was on the sidelines and riding to the checkpoints on someones tomos scooter and at every checkpoint, the announcers gave platitudes to Kate and none of the other runners. Pissed many of the committed runners off.
   It was a paid appearance to garner support for a race and a charity that isn’t a 501c3 organization and like everything in Las Vegas, what happens there, stays there. Her bodyguard didn’t walk the entire course carrying a pink handbag. He was on a scooter pacing her for 3 miles and then picking her up and pacing the race to keep the shoe tag legit. When they came to a checkpoint at 500 feet, Kate jumped off as the crowd and contestants were too busy to notice. Kate made all the check points. She actually completed the marathon but she didn’t do it toe to heel. – Comment by Kim left on Reality TV Star Kate Gosselin Finishes RNR Las Vegas Marathon
2. Shenanigans by the Competitor CEO and his wife, in taking 1st Place AG for the Half! As exposed by journalist Don Pemberton – “calling Shenanigans on the CEO of Competitor Group and his wife. They ran the Las Vegas half marathon together, as a wedding couple, supposedly attended the run-thru-wedding chapel on the course, and somehow both managed to win their age divisions with a 6:31 avg pace. They wore each other’s bib numbers – technically you can be DQ’d for wearing someone elses number. They have NO split times for the 5k and 10k marks. AND – their bib numbers indicate that they should have started in the last corral. How did they manage to run a 1:25:16 half marathon, starting in the last corral thus having to weave thru all the walkers, and attend a wedding?!? SHENANIGANS!!!!!!!” – Marathon Maniac FB page
3. The bananas were green! 😉 – Stated by 578 running divas on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Facebook Page

The above are just rumors being floated out there and haven’t been verified except for #3.  Although, some have stated that bananas had turned yellow by the time the last of the half marathoners had reached them.

Everything else that we know went wrong and made this event sub-par can be found in this post: The Nightmare on the Strip: Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon & 1/2 Marathon Full of Sin

Have another dirty rumor from the most scandalous marathon of 2011? If so then drop it in the comments.

The 2011 Death Valley Trail Marathon was technically cancelled by the race director due to 70 MPH winds up in the Titus Canyon. However, that didn’t stop a group of us from meeting and deciding to hold the marathon ourselves.  About 40-50 runners went over to the canyon there in Death Valley, braved the winds, and ran a memorable marathon that none of us will ever forget.

[Medal photos submitted by Joshua Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter @bayou]

Desert Racing Part 1 – Unofficial Marathon by Lisa Gonzales

This was supposed to be an epic running weekend for me. It didn’t turn out quite like I’d hoped and I’m still a little unsure of how I feel about it.

I didn’t work on Friday so I’d planned on leaving around noon so I wouldn’t have to drive in the dark through Death Valley and I could see what the landscape looked like. Well, that didn’t work out because my apartment complex decided to change my flooring on Friday and they didn’t finish until after 1 so I didn’t leave until 1:30. When I left my refrigerator and stove were still in the living room and I’m hoping they moved them back otherwise all my food will be bad. 🙁

There wasn’t much traffic so I was making good time. Then I saw flashing lights in my mirror. Damn it. Yes, I got a ticket and I never drive fast usually. So I ended up being even later and I was hoping this wasn’t a sign of how things were going to go for the weekend. Ha!

The desert was pitch black and the rode was just a two lane road so it was a little scary and I was nervous about breaking down or getting lost but I eventually made it to the hotel and checked-in. As I was leaving registration, I turned around and I recognized someone in line behind me. It was Joshua Holmes from Run It Fast (@bayou and @runitfast on Twitter and here on Facebook). I introduced myself to him and then left to put my stuff in the room. As I was carrying my stuff in, Joshua came by and we made plans to eat dinner together. So I dropped off my stuff, notified the family that I’d made it and headed back down.

The Furnace Creek Ranch has a restaurant, saloon, and a cafe. We decided to eat at the cafe. We had a 20 minute wait and sat outside. The night was beautiful and clean and a little cold. When we got to our table, we ordered (black bean burger for me) and talked while we waited. I noticed the man at the table next to us was wearing a Leadville jacket and looked closer and realized it was the FatCyclist! (@fatcyclist). When they got up to leave, I asked if he was Fatty and introduced myself. A little later, he came back and asked to take a picture with me. So last weekend, I got to meet Macca and this weekend I got to meet Joshua and Fatty. I am a total running geek, I know, but is that not cool or what! 🙂

So dinner was good. Good food and good company. Later that night I was thinking how if my day hadn’t gone awry, I probably would have gotten there early, grabbed a sandwich to eat in the room, and not met some very fun & inspiring people. Things were looking up!

I set the alarm for 4:30 and went to bed about 9:30. I slept pretty well that night. I woke up on time, ate, and started getting ready. I checked Twitter first and then finally checked my email. That’s when the things really went south. There was an email from the director that the race was cancelled. Cancelled! I swear I thought it was a mistake or a bad joke. How could it be cancelled? The director said it was because of extreme high winds along the route. It hadn’t seemed windy the night before so I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. I got ready anyway and headed down at 6 to check in to see what was going on.

At check in, we found out it was true. It was cancelled. We still got shirts and bibs but it wasn’t happening. I immediately started thinking about what I should do. I’d planned on running a marathon and that’s what I intended to do. I just didn’t know how or where. I finally decided to just head out from the hotel and run on the roads. It wasn’t the race I’d planned and certainly not the views I’d planned but I needed to get in 26.2 miles. I figured if I ran out 6.5 miles and then came back, I could refill my water bottle and hit the restroom at the hotel if I needed to. But that meant I had to be back before check out at 12 so I hit the road.

The run out wasn’t a whole lot fun. It was pretty windy and it tried to steal my hat quite a few times and there were a couple times when it blew from the side and pushed me so I was running diagonally but it wasn’t too bad. I did get to see the sun rise over the valley and that was beautiful. The road wasn’t very well traveled which I liked but also made me a little nervous. That was another reason I didn’t want to go too far from the hotel. If something happened, I didn’t want to be too far from help. Or get lost. Which I’ve been known to do. After I turned around on the first loop, I heard chimes. I thought “Oh my god it’s not even hot and I’m hallucinating in the desert!”. Then I realized it was my new phone telling me I had a message. Ha! It was a message from Joshua saying that some of the runners where going to go ahead and run a modified version of the race. Dang it! But I was too far to get back in time. I saw the caravan of runners go by me and some of them waved and honked. I waved back and kept running.

The run back after the turnaround for me was pretty nice because I had a great tailwind. Sometimes, it was even pushing me along. I figure the winds were about 30-40 mile per hour headwinds with some higher gusts. I still think they could have had the race though. As I got closer to the hotel, I heard bells and I thought it must be my phone again so I ignored it but it turned out it was a cyclist and I had to apologize for being clueless! Doh! Anyway, I made it back to the hotel, dropped off my jacket, refilled my water bottle, hit the restroom and headed back out. I was feeling pretty good but I have to tell you that I was thinking of calling it quits at 13.1 miles. I thought why not? I could so an easy run and then race hard at the R&R. But no, I signed up to run a marathon, I was going to run one! So out on the road again and back in to the wind.

I felt good as I started out for my second lap. It was still cool and the wind felt good but my head was playing mind games with me. You don’t have to run a marathon today. People will understand if you bag it at 15 miles. No one’s watching you, just walk a little. Seriously, what nut runs a marathon on her own? I gotta be honest and say that I almost gave in and quit at 15, then again at 20, and…I was seriously considering stopping at 22 miles. But once I hit 22, I thought “What’s 4 more?” and I kept going. My legs felt good. My left foot was bothering me a little because of the road camber I think but otherwise all other systems were good.

So I made it back to the hotel and my watch said 26.05 and I had to run around the parking lot til I reached a marathon. I looked down and it said 26.22 so I crossed my “finish line”. My first unofficial, unsupported marathon. I had my own mini celebration but it cut it short so I could shower and pack before check out time.

After, I checked out, I sat in the lounge chairs in the sun on the patio for a while, grabbed a bite to eat in the cafe (comfort food – meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, and a roll…yummy) and headed out to Vegas and the expo to pick up my bib for the R&R. The whole drive to Vegas I debated whether or not to bump up to the marathon for Sunday’s race. I still hadn’t thought to much about the race cancellation but I was bummed not to have one more official marathon for the year. Dang it.

The Expo was CRAZY. So many people and it felt like I had to walk forever to get there. I got my bib & shirt and got in line to switch to the marathon. But I eventually decided to stick to the Half and left to explore the Expo. The only thing I really wanted to see in there was if they had any bibfolios and to stop by the Altra booth (@altrazerodrop). I saw Jeremy there and talked with him for a bit which was a lot of fun. I never found any bibfolios so I actually made it out of the expo without spending a dime! Miracle!

After the walk back to the car, I was pretty tired and ready to get to the hotel but it took me over an hour to get out of the parking garage. Insane! Made it to the hotel, checked in, went out to find some food, and then finally kicked back about 8.

Long, long day. Not the day I’d planned but not a total loss. I have some regrets but it is what it is. One good thing about the day was that the run wasn’t as fun as a real race and there was nothing to keep me from quitting, I DID NOT QUIT. I did not walk. I did what I planned to do. I think that was a good training run for the 12 HR. At least I’m hoping it was. 🙂

[originally posted on Lisa’s blog Run Like a Coyote]

Read the 2nd Part of Lisa’s Weekend Adventure: Desert Racing Part 2 – The Strip at Night

It was a trainwreck on Sunday night in Las Vegas at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon & Half Marathon but a few survived…and some of us even received a medal for finishing.

For the rest of you? You can expect to receive your medal in 4-6 weeks according to the Competitor Group. Running out of medals at any event is a disaster, but it was the least of the disasters Sunday night (Full Story).

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[Marathon medal photo via Kate Gosselin.  Half Marathon photo submitted by Lisa Gonzales. Follow her on Twitter @runlikeacoyote]

The St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, Tennessee is always a great race for a super cause, the kids of St. Jude battling life-threatening cancers.

Here is the finisher’s medal from this year’s race that was held on December 3, 2011.

Congrats to all of the finishers of the full and half marathon that day. Special Run It Fast congrats to Jonathan and Leah Harrison who completed their first full marathon together at SJ. Well done!

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[Medal photo submitted by Marathon Maniac Scott Stader. You can follow him on Twitter @scottstader]