When I thought about running in Las Vegas, I was taking the same approach that I took last month in Arkansas, just completing a 20-22 mile long run. I researched the race and didn’t find very good reviews about it; all the opinions were mixed (www.marathonguide.com), which killed my motivation. Then I found a very good deal including flight and hotel and decided to go just about two weeks before the race.

This whole year I have been training consistently in order to have a good race in Houston next January. As part of my training I ran a marathon in Arkansas (4:16) last month and a half marathon at the Stennis Center (1:55) just one weekend before going to Las Vegas. I am going to be honest, after running that half, I felt very tired, my legs were sore and didn’t have any energy. The whole week felt nervous thinking about my upcoming performance in Las Vegas…but again I convinced myself that it would be just a training run.

I took a flight at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday; arrived at 4:00 p.m. in Las Vegas, with only one hour to make it from the airport to the expo and pickup my bib number. My first disappointment was a "cotton" short sleeve t-shirt, and a bunch of paper in a goody bag. What at shame, the organizers need some advice from the PBP race directors. They kicked us out at exactly 5:00 p.m. turning off the lights from the hall, I barely had time to buy a few gels for the next day. The Mandalay Bay Hotel is a huge place, so I had to walk a lot to get my pasta dinner…after a long walk I found "Heaven" in Vegas (a real Buffet), full of any kind of food including a complete line with Pasta. (Yummy…) after eating like a horse, I was ready for bed.

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and was ready at 5:30 a.m. in the starting line. In Vegas everything is a party including the marathon that begins at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. After a little pray, I was ready to run, wondering if I could finish in one piece. When the gun went off, a fireworks show began, I almost fell down because was looking in the sky…that boosted my running spirit. Without thinking, there I was running down the Las Vegas Strip with many people cheering, partying, gambling, etc, etc…

The first seven miles I ran trough New York, New Orleans, Paris, Athens, Venice, Egypt, Rio De Janeiro and Saudi Arabia at the same time, at eight minute pace. I was so embedded in the surroundings that I missed the first two water stops. Suddenly we were running in Las Vegas neighborhoods. I needed to slow my running down a bit so I asked a runner next to me to pace each other for a 3:40 marathon time, by coincidence she was looking for that time.(There were no pace teams there). I ran with her until the first half, because I couldn’t keep up the pace any longer (8:20), I slowed down to 8:30 so I could handled the run until mile 16 where I found a small but substantial hill that made me reevaluate my running, slowing down more and I wanted to quit at mile 18. At that point the course began rolling down again, I let the gravity do most of the work, extending my skinny legs longer…I was able to pick up some speed when hitting mile 20…then came the philosophical question "Be or not to Be?" Run to the finish or Call it a day? I evaluated my body…legs feeling tired but strong, stomach working fine so far, and my spirit was strong as a rock. I decided to run and go for a PR, focusing on my stride, breathing and running form. At mile 24 I was ready for a 3:45 finish, I couldn’t believe it, but it was happening, my excitement was growing until I hit a turn and I was running uphill again…I decided not to push my body because I didn’t need an injury so close to the race in Houston. I slowed down as much as I could without walking, the last mile was a war zone…almost everybody cramping, stretching, walking and some like me jogging to the finish. For the last 0.2 miles my running spirit came back and I was able to sprint to the finish line with a wonderful 4:49:52 PR.

I never felt so happy after a race like that day. What began as a training long run ended as my best marathon time, number 12 in 12 different states so far…and counting.

After the race, I did something new; I got in line for a free massage, which was really good and alleviated most of my soreness for the day. Later I was able to walk around the strip for some sightseeing before taking my flight at midnight the same day. Yeah…I had to work on Monday so I can continue paying the registration fees for the marathons J . © Kili Garcia