Rock n Roll Las Vegas 5k Feb 26, 2022

This is the rescheduled 2020 race which is moving from November to February going forward.  Oh, and the Rock n Roll Marathon Series is now the Rock n Roll Running Series FYI.  Since travel is still so difficult we asked RnR for options but nope, we were either doing it or we weren't. 

I was amazed to even get to Las Vegas, we had tests, cancelled flights the day before we were leaving, a very last minute rebook with WestJet (bless every one of you beautiful bastards), then issues with the plane.  Honestly if I was looking for signs it wasn't supposed to happen, I wouldn't have had to look very far.  

However, we made it.  Praise be.  We had our return PCR tests in the afternoon just before the 5k (negative thank the lord) so that was a bit of a rushed stressful day.  Happily parking was easy at Binion's (I did my homework) and we got to the start in plenty time.  

The new 5k venue is downtown next to Fremont Street.  There's a huge amount of energy in this area and loads going on, it's exponentially crazier after dark.  We found George before the race for a Nuun meetup - how awesome!  I'm still loving every second of this getting together with other humans thing.

The new course is partly on the Strip passing bars, band stages and at least one (quite busy) wedding chapel.  The racetime wedding had several dogs involved, it was awesome.  The finish is right on the edge of Fremont Street Experience.  No complaints from me except for chafing thighs. 

Overall I would say it's a nicer route than the previous one, with quite a bit going on to distract you.  The logistics of getting downtown and back have to be considered but between the Saturday 5k and Sunday races you are getting a great tour of Vegas!  The stretch to the finish is very colourful.

I walked this one, so there's not much to say about my race.  Kev zipped around in 23 mins and did not even notice the chapel.  Being fast = missing stuff lol.  There were about 5000 runners tonight.

New bling hello.

I was hoping for a finish photo with Kev but FinisherPix wasn't around at the end, probably to ease congestion in the finish chute.  So.  I improvised on the way to the car.  No shame.

There was a big lineup for the Finish Concert (Symphonic Rockshow) now permanently on Saturday instead of the traditional Sunday pre-race so we didn't wait.  I'm sure it was awesome and the venue was nice, but I mean it was not Snoop Dogg.  I think RnR did a fantastic job bringing this back after the hellish last two years so that is not a complaint.  

All in all, fabulous.  I have no memory of putting this on my bib incidentally.  It must have been a rare moment of optimism.