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Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 | 2 a.m.
The Zappos.com Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon will feature 14,000 fewer participants this year after water contamination issues and concerns of overcrowding drew complaints from runners in 2011. However, organizers contend the problems from last year aren't behind the dropoff in participation. Rather, they say, numbers are down because the 2011 race was the first to be held at night, and the novelty has worn off this year. The race, which had traditionally been held during the day, saw explosive growth when it moved to an evening start last year. In 2010, around 28,000 people ran in the marathon ...
Yeah ok I believe that!
Participation is down because we actually have runners who are running the race and not there for show. Many of those who got sick last year was a result of alcohol, over eating before the race and runners that had no business running even the half marathon.
Not that any one will care, but WHY is Clark County allowing a major portion of the entire Strip to be shut down just for some fundraiser event.
Unless there is something that was not reported in this article, there seems to be a major problem evolving for tourists (NOT RUNNERS).
How can people who need to CHECK INTO, OR OUT OF, a hotel do so? If they come to Las Vegas in a car, or from the airport in a bus or taxi, they WILL NOT BE ABLE TO get to the hotels or the airport. So, they will spend their first day in the airport, or their car - WAITING for the RUNNERS to finish this marathon.
This event has been touted as making millions of dollars for Hotels and Casinos(?) - and probably for Clark County GOvernment (in the form of fees?). But what about the people who are "JUST TOURISTS" - and are unable to move about The Strip while this event goes on.
WHY can't this event find another location to run in - in Las Vegas - where it will not be such a long, drawn-out, event that runs for 12 hours - until midnight.
This is exactly why Las Vegas gets hit for seeming to care more about MONEY, than their HOTEL GUESTS and GAMBLERS.
Has Clark County advised airlines to tell their passengers that they will NOT BE ABLE TO CHECK IN to a hotel for 12 hours on SUNDAY?
There are probably more reasons to move this event someplace else - perhaps even to use I-215, since there are alternate surface roads to use.
But, as usual, Clark County Government, knows nothing about Customer Service; and the casinos seem more than willing to sit back and take the money from RUNNERS - at the expense and convience of their other guests, including those who are TRYING TO get in, or leave, their hotels.
I forecast that this event will be viewed as injurious to Las Vegas tourist trade - and I hope that some writer from the LV Sun, or the LV Journal, will write about these unfortunate circumstances - as experienced by such tourists (not as seen by the RUNNERS).
The route for this marathon needs to be changed.
You must have missed the part that said "Last year, the Las Vegas marathon brought more than $100 million into the local economy."
Or where the Senior VP of MGM Resorts said the event is one of the 10 most profitable of the year for Las Vegas businesses.
Wow, there are some angry people here. Mus have had their Obama Stimulus check cut off or something.
We close the strip off for NY Eve without much trouble. This town still moves and the money is important to the people who WORK here...
This town was built for tourism and we know how to move people around for major events like this one. Life will go on and people will survive!
Sometimes I have to wonder if some of the people posting/ranting even live in Vegas.
This is not the first time for this event. The strip gets closed for other things and it does not stop people checking in.
Just about EVERY hotel on the strip has access from streets other than the strip. It is not like this was popped on them last night, it has been known for a year.
Other major cities also close many of their main streets for races each year. (New York)
A few hours of one day our of a whole life time. This is not going to ruin anyones life.
Glad they have decided to keep running this race here. Brings in Millions that support this town and keeps 1000's employed.
Let's see, participation is down 25% from last year and Mr. Cruz puts a positive spin on that. He's good! Perhaps the problems of last year turned people off, and there were problems much worse than the water.
Problem #1: At the finish, all you want to do is sit down and stay warm and you are TOTALLY exhausted. They so severely restricted the exits at the finish we were standing for 20 minutes shoulder to shoulder before we could get out. Plain STUPID and extremely dangerous to participants! The fire marshall should never have allowed this. If someone collapsed in that mass of people paramedics could never have got to him.
Problem #2: The course was so crowded that it NEVER opened up. Even at the finish line after 13 miles there were so many people in the road that we were still dodging around people. There's no fun in running that way.
So I decided not to run this year. I voted with my feet. Obviously a lot of other people voted the same way.
Socratic,
Las Vegas Blvd isn't the only way in and out of hotels. Tourists will still be able to get to their nearest watering hole. Your opinion is a bit irrational. See New York, Boston, San Francisco...All close down huge portions of the city to run an event that is bigger than the commerce that is done in the 12 hours of a Sunday day.
You mean a major issue from last year isn't the reason why people didn't come this year?! Seriously, what are these guys smoking?! LMFAO
Of course it was because of last year's BS! Maybe next year Zappos should force them to stage it downtown?
It's All Groovy!