This is the first half marathon that I ran the entire race. When I hit the start line, I had to use the bathroom, so at mile 1 I found a port-a-potty. I had thought I would start walking at about mile 6, but I was feeling good so I kept running. At mile 6, my stomach started bothering me, so I stopped at the bathroom again at mile 7. After that break, I wanted to make up some time I had lost, so I kept running. By mile 8 I figured I'd run that far, I might as well go to 10. By mile 10 I figured I should just run the whole thing. Mile 11-12 were the hardest for me mentally, but the finish line was in sight. It helped to have Mandalay Bay in sight for the last three miles to know where the end was.

I walked around looking for my friend, but couldn't find her. Fortunately the hotel let me get a room key and I headed upstairs to warm up.


Since the Nike Women's Half, I hadn't run more than three miles. If I had continued to train, I think I could have been a bit faster.


This was a well organized race, however you can tell they haven't run this event for years. I hope next year they include a map of the start/finish area. Also, the bathrooms at the start/finish were great, however at the middle of the course, there were 1-2 port-a-potties spaced between miles which was definitely not sufficient.