Upcoming Races: Strip at Night, Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon

It’s been many many years since I’ve been to Las Vegas. The last time I was there, I was 25 — prime partying age. But unfortunately, I just could not hang. I was visiting a couple of friends. It was August — so hot. The desert heat and time difference made it difficult to keep up with my buddies. I even fell asleep in a strip club. Seriously. When I woke up, I was alone on the couch, while my friends were all taking shots at the bar.

I’ll be heading back to Sin City this weekend. Maybe I’ll try to redeem myself while I’m there. But what I’m really hoping to do is PR at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon (aka Strip at Night).

I’ve been signed up for this race since January, and have been looking forward to it all year.

It’s a night race! The course runs along Las Vegas Blvd., and apparently is the only private event to shut down the strip. I imagine there will be a great crowd (of runners and spectators).

Rock ‘n’ Roll usually offers something called the Remix Challenge, where participants run a 5k on Saturday and then a half or full marathon on Sunday. I decided to give it try — it’ll be my first time doing their remix challenge.

A few friends wanted to join me on this race — a couple of them will be doing the half marathon on Sunday, and the other will be running the 10k, also on Sunday. It’ll be nice to have company on this trip. Hopefully we’ll have time to see a show, check out an awesome restaurant or two, and do whatever else people do in Vegas…

And then the first weekend in December, I’ll be heading up to Delaware for the Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon. My friend, Jen, and her friend, Emily, are running the half, too — we all signed up at the same time. And I just found out that my aunt and uncle will also be participating in the race. They’re doing full marathon though.

My aunt said she ran this race a few years ago, and what she remembers most about it is that it was cold. Great. I guess the course and beach views weren’t spectacular enough to be worth remembering (I actually don’t even know if there are beach views — doesn’t say in the course description on the website).

A few of my non-running friends will also be going up the beach with me that weekend. I doubt they’ll wake up early and come out to cheer me on, but I’m sure they’ll up for celebrating with a boozy brunch afterward. Ha.

The Rehoboth Beach Half will be my final race of the calendar year. After completing it, I’ll have 12 states under my belt. Woooo!

I’m still finalizing my 2016 races. Deciding which ones to do has been tough because of limited vacation time, and also, I’m unsure of how much physical stress I can put on my body (a couple of these races are in one weekend, and the other races are super hilly and challenging). I’m close to finishing though, and will share next year’s line-up soon!