Valley of Fire 2012 Marathon, Half, 10k and 5k!

We signed up quite late to enter the Valley of Fire race. We only really wanted to run it if we got a medal for finishing, and they weren't sure they had enough as they ordered them early. Soon as they confirmed on Facebook, we entered!

I decided to enter the 5k. Firstly it was cheaper, secondly, I hadn't ran a timed 5k before. Only a 10k in which I got 37mins in Bristol, UK. I looked at last years results and the winner finished in 24mins, all the more reason! I'd never won a race before due to British racing being highly competitive. I was slightly out of shape and thought this would be a good confidence boost!

Aleta decided to go for the 10k! She didn't want to do the 5k because I was running it! It was only $5 more for twice the distance so pretty worth it! She had already ran a full and half, so why not carry on in reverse!




The course was REALLY hilly, we didn't realise this until we arrived... We made some ramen and beef jerky the night before to get the carbs and protein in. We'd also been drinking a lot the day before too. We slept for 3-4hours but woke up at 2am! We set the alarm to wake at 5am but no joy getting back to sleep! lol. We left just before 6am as our race started at 7:45am (5k and 10k) together. After a sleepy start, we drove 55miles to the Valley of Fire! The national park looked really cool, pretty much a huge valley with lots of mountains! It was $8 entry for locals otherwise $10.

I decided to leave everything in the car and collect my phone for pictures afterwards. Aleta took hers with her. After some warm ups, we waited at the start line. After a quick kiss, we were off! I knew I was running the shortest distance, so the pace was easy, just STAY AHEAD! I flew off the start line and drove up the first huge hill! It was pretty much straight away! A good 800metres I think. When I or to the top ahead of the pack, I looked round and nobody was in sight! WTF!?! I used to do a lot of hill running, but I thought I'd have company. I haven't lead a race for longer than a couple minutes so it was a weird feeling!

It was smooth sailing until the halfway point when I saw the sign to turnaround. I was looking for the timing strips but didn't see any, I asked the guy weather 5k carried on, and he said yes. Turns out he was WRONG!!! Kinda wasted 20secs and energy. Anyway started heading back, and last hill was a bit of a beast but not too bad. I got to the top and sailed down it for a sprint finish! I WON!!



Almost a good couple of minutes ahead of 2nd place! I got my medals and some snacks, then ran back to the car to get my camera!

I snapped a few pics and vids and recorded Aleta finishing her 10k! I collected my award, it was a golden cowbell! pretty novell and cool! i almost got aleta and I free technical t-shirts because i won! awesome!! Aleta did really well, especially for the hilly course!! Her route was the same as mine but the turnaround was much later. We got a some pics with our medals and decided as we spent on entry we'd explore a bit! We met a guy from Sheffield, UK! He came 2nd in the half.

Finishers Medal


1st Place 5k Cowbell


We climbed up the rocks and took some more pics. The park looked really nice!! After a while, we decided to had back home. We visited a couple of yard sales and got a buffet from Sunset Casino to replenish the store! Awesome day!!

Monday Night Football (MNF) @ Goldcoast Casino, Las Vegas

During the NFL Football season, many of the casinos in Las Vegas hold Monday Night Football events! These are usually coupled with cheap alcohol, hotdogs and a prize raffle!

Goldcoast is a casino off the main strip on Flamingo. They have a sportsbook, gambling, bowling, restaurants and various other events!

We usually head down there for MNF to get some cheap food, enter the raffle and watch the game! Before you go in, make sure you grab a members card. It's a B-Connected Card that also works in many casinos owned by Boyd Gaming in Las Vegas and even some other states! This will get you two free raffle tickets for the event. I've won the last 5 times in a row, so it's totally worth it! Here's some of the prizes I've won!

As well as the half time NFL trivia... You can also win $100 at half time and at full time! For gamblers, they get more raffle tickets based on how much they have put into the casino. Some of the other prizes are: Goldcoast gift pack, show tickets, guitars, signed memorabilia etc.

The room itself has 2 big projector screens and 7 LCD screens. There aren't many people in, roughly 80-100 each week.

The food has gone up recently but still good! Hotdogs $1.50, 6 Wings $3, Pizza Slice $2.50, Jalapeno Poppers $2.50, Nachos $1.50, Corndogs $1.50. Bring mayo though, only ketchup and mustard here! They have onions, relish, sourkraut and jalapeños too!

Drink specials include Jack Daniels and Jose Cuervo shots @ $1.50 each!

Here are some of the prizes we've won!

and a T-Shirt and Baseball cap! :)

Really Big Free Series Half Marathon (Boulder City, Las Vegas, NV)

I first heard about the Really Big Free Series via. the Runners World website. I used this site quite a lot when I ran in the UK for various races. The best part of this race is that it's totally FREE! You have the option of either running the Full or the Half Marathon. 13.1 and 26.2 miles respectively.

After a break from running for a bit and because Aleta had only run one race before (A free marathon on the UK on the Isle of Wight), we decided on the Half Marathon!

The race requires you pay $50 so they get their sponsors on board, then you will be refunded 4-6 weeks afterwards. Providing you START the race...

Pre-Registration

We headed up the Lake Las Vegas the day before the race to pre-register. The queue was HUGE for the Half Marathon, but pretty empty for the full. We decided to register here, rather than on-line, as we left it until the last minute. After waiting for around 20-30mins, we got registered and collected our free T-Shirt as well as some other free goodies! We also found out about The Spartan Race Series here! Something to definitely attempt very soon!

Race Day!

After around 4 hours sleep we headed towards Boulder Beach, just around from Lake Las Vegas. The Marathon started at 6am, the half, 7am! We were outside around 6:40am but the queue to get into the place was HUGE!

The parking cost $10 and was good for 7 days. We parked up and made our way to the start line. The race was delayed around 30 minutes, so we didn't worry about on time in the end! Everyone was released in waves every minute for the next 10-15minutes or so. We left on wave 4-5. The weather was good, and we were ok once we warmed up! We ran until about mile 5 and started jog/running from there. The drinks stations were roughly every 3 miles and had Gatorade and Water.

Both Half and Full marathon take a journey alongside Lake Mead and go back on themselves. Once we got to mile 6, we made it to the turn around point! I decided to wear my Shape-Up's for the race, bad idea! I took them off here and decided to run the rest barefoot on asphalt... It was actually pretty comfortable until the home stretch!

We pushed on and saw some really good sights on the way and took a bunch of pictures! I was really proud of Aleta, especially as she's been sick for some time! We made mini jogging bursts until the home stretch taking a break here and there. When we arrived to the home stretch, the running surface hadn't been flattened very well, and the bare feet were suffering a fair bit! We managed to push on and finished the race in a time of 2 hours 47 minutes!

We were presented with our medals and grabbed some free Water, Bananas and Oranges! Most of the runners then went into the lake to cool the legs and feet off. Really well organised race and I didn't expect the amount of free goodies we received!

Medals!