1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

How to avoid events like Rock and Roll Marathon?

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by DoubleUp, Nov 17, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. DoubleUp

    DoubleUp Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2008
    Messages:
    440
    Location:
    Scottsdale
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    7
    This weekend we arrived in Las Vegas to find the entire strip was closed down, as well as most of the feeder roads. It took over 90 minutes to get from the airport to our hotel (Treasure Island). It was very frustrating. I saw emergency vehicles stuck in traffic as well, I hope no one suffered because of the marathon induced gridlock. I am shocked that las vegas city council thinks this is a good idea: Shut down the roads that provide transportation for the most important revenue source in the city. :grrr: Why not hold this race out at Red Rock or someplace???? I could go on but I will hold my tongue ;)

    Anyway, enough of the complaining, my question is: How to avoid this in the future? Is there a good website that tracks when the worst times to visit are (due to events like this)?

    PS: Is this the right thread for this?
     
  2. saintpauljeff

    saintpauljeff VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2008
    Messages:
    2,521
    Location:
    Minneapolis, MN
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    999
    How to avoid Las Vegas the weekend of the Rock 'N Roll Marathon? Don't go that weekend.
     
  3. DoubleUp

    DoubleUp Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2008
    Messages:
    440
    Location:
    Scottsdale
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    7
    That is my intention. the question is how to determine when this and other.events are held.
     
  4. VegasDiva

    VegasDiva VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2009
    Messages:
    3,104
    Location:
    Calgary , Alberta , Canada
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    16
  5. KellyLovesVegas

    KellyLovesVegas Earthling/retired space nerd

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2012
    Messages:
    1,848
    Location:
    San Antonio, TX area
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    81
  6. WichitaMuskie

    WichitaMuskie VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2014
    Messages:
    1,131
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    15
    It may be a pain for those trying to get around, but if you're running it's a fantastic event. I've run one marathon ever, and it was in Las Vegas. Wouldn't have it any other way.
     
  7. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2003
    Messages:
    29,787
    Location:
    A nice place
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    110
    The convention and visitors authority has a master calendar and lasvegasadvisor.com does a great job with what's up.
     
  8. chef

    chef Resident Buffetologist

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2002
    Messages:
    5,573
    Location:
    Illinois
    A little history. Until a few years ago, the Las Vegas marathon was run on the southern outskirts of town, usually miles away from the action. However, the outlying areas of Vegas do not lend themselves well to a customer-friendly product. The routes that were utilized sucked and the fact it was early in the morning, like most other big cities didn't help either.
    As a way to increase participation, the powers to be (which became the corporate savvy Competitor Group) came up with a brilliant concept - "Run the Strip at Night".
    The truth of the matter is that large cities embrace marathons because of the money they bring in. Why else would they go to all the trouble of shutting major thoroughfares down.
    Nearly all put these events on early in the morning on a Sunday, so as to cause the least inconvenience. However, with the "Run the Strip at Night" being such a huge hit among marathoners, it has continued to be run at that time, creating the traffic gridlock.
    I ran this event the first time it was staged at night and genuinely felt bad for the problems created to non-marathoners, which is about 98 percent of everyone else. It seems odd to cater too such a small group of the population, but I guess money talks and it is a showcase event for a city that likes to be on the forefront of everything.
    I would never run it again, mainly because it has become a designer-type race, Competitor Group sucks and nearly all big-city marathon registrations fees are rip offs. But, I was one of several thousand runners that year that caused log jams and for that I apologize to the visitors and residents of Las Vegas.
    Please don't let my criticism of the marathon discourage anyone from running it. I'm just sharing my personal opinions.
    I still run long distance, but not in Vegas. This past weekend, it was a 50K on Antelope Island in Utah that did not inconvenience a sole.
     
  9. MikeOPensacola

    MikeOPensacola El Jefe

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2012
    Messages:
    10,689
    Location:
    USA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    180
    Annual CCA (Casino Collectibles Association) Show at South Point
    Long Overdue Stay At The Golden Nugget
  10. Krh2o

    Krh2o MIA

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2013
    Messages:
    592
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    103
    Also think the hotel's should have sent something out to their guests warning them of the closure and difficult access to their properties. I'm sure a lot of people were coming in and didn't know about the marathon. Not a good way to start a trip, and it could have been alleviated had people been given a heads up.
     
  11. M_ILIS

    M_ILIS VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2012
    Messages:
    1,954
    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    41
    Check the thread I posted in the Getting There and Getting Around forum. https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?126139-Marathon-Disrupting-Strip/page2

    The marathon website did a great job of giving detailed directions of how to get to each property during the closures. Yes, traffic was very slow on Frank Sinatra Drive, but as long as you were aware beforehand, it wasn't too bad. I can see myself being totally frustrated like the OP had I not known ahead of time.
     
  12. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

    Joined:
    May 4, 2009
    Messages:
    23,220
    Location:
    TN
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    For every trip, we start out by checking the monthly calendar at a few hotels. MGM properties are easy. If we see high rates on certain dates, we usually avoid. If concerned, we then search for the calendar of events for that date. Hotel rates go high for a reason, and for reason alone we avoid going. We are always comped,but know that high rates mean better rooms are harder to get.

    As to taking an hour to get there. This would have been a great day to take the tunnel. Especially for TI. In fact, I could make an argument it is almost always better than local roads heading up there.
     
  13. tvon

    tvon VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2004
    Messages:
    1,756
    Location:
    Boston, Ma
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    15
    has an added bonus of finding when hotel prices are low. Big conventions=higher prices all over town. Remember when CES and AVN were the same weekend? woof!
     
  14. Bo333

    Bo333 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2010
    Messages:
    1,758
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    130
  15. DoubleUp

    DoubleUp Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2008
    Messages:
    440
    Location:
    Scottsdale
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    7
    Thanks all for the helpful links, I have bookmarked them all ! As for the marathoners, they run for charity, and more power to them. Please do not take what I wrote as negative against these runners. My criticism is mostly directed at the "powers that be" - I have not spent a lot of time thinking about the costs and benefits, but I hope due consideration was made to the impact on tourists as well as emergency vehicle access to a densely populated area. As for myself, I will avoid this and other strip closures more carefully in the future. (Yes there are others!)
    I also want to note that I have been reading and it looks like my flight delay coming in put us right into the worst possible time (around 5pm Sunday) and traffic was perhaps not as bad at other times.

    Cheers!
     
  16. runningonthehub

    runningonthehub VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2012
    Messages:
    1,069
    Location:
    Chicago
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    59
    Before booking your trip, you could have simply come on this web site and asked what was happening on the dates that you wanted to go to Vegas. I am sure someone would have been able to tell if the marathon was being run.
     
  17. runningonthehub

    runningonthehub VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2012
    Messages:
    1,069
    Location:
    Chicago
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    59
    Your criticism should have been with yourself for not doing your homework. There is no excuse for not knowing that a major event like the marathon was going on.
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2015
  18. miniwhale

    miniwhale High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2013
    Messages:
    769
    Location:
    GA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    30
    That really sucks what you had to go through. I could not imagine getting there, ready for VEGAS and having to sit in a cab for 90 minutes. I had seen a lot of posts about the race, and I probably noticed them more than many since I just ran my 7th RNR LV half marathon in a row. (not to brag by any means, at my turtle pace, lol) I started training and running for these races solely for the purpose of squeezing out another trip to Vegas each year. Prior to 2009, I had not run close to a mile!
    The first night race was the first weekend of December and caused a lot of gridlock to the Rodeo folks in town, some even missing their own competition, from what I heard. The last 4 years have been this time of year. We usually catch a cab at Flamingo after the race and the last couple years we have had to wait at least 15-20 minutes for a cab to come through, let alone enough for the whole line. I would MUCH prefer to go back to the morning race! But I think they are thinking about all the revenue they could get from the runners if they could party on Saturday night. Otherwise, we would be in bed by 8:00. (or at least I would)
    I really felt bad for those that were in the cab line with show tickets or dinner reservations. There was a group of girls that wanted to go to Rio and they told them it would take 90 minutes to get there from Flamingo!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.