2021 Laughlin Half Marathon Race Recap - Laughlin, NV

Official Time: 1:59:13
Placement: 86th out of 337, 56th male, 12th in age group
Results:  Here
Race Website: Here
Weather: Upper 40's, slight wind from the north
Garmin Dump: Here
Previous Years: [2019]

Mile	Time	Comments
1	8:11	This mile went better than expected. Fairly flat
2	9:05	Slight uphill here -- keeping good form and being patient
3	9:26	Worst of the initial hills. Just focusing on getting it done.
4	9:33	Bathroom break for 20 - 30 seconds and then begin the downhills!
5	7:57	Making up some time fast!
6	7:59
7	8:14	Hill lets up a bit -- now I need to power myself
8	10:15	This hit me hard. Up a big service drive and my legs were shot
9	9:21	Slight incline here. I was desperately trying to get something going.
10	8:40	Could I salvage this race?
11	9:20	Back down to the dam. Just shuffling along
12	10:43	Running along the bike trail -- with some inclines. I hated this mile
13	9:49	Forcing myself to give it all I had.
13.07	0:35	Just get it done.
Total Miles: 13:07 1:59:12

Introduction

So way back in 2019 after completing my first Laughlin Half Marathon I decided to go for the double race medal and getting the Lake Havasu Half Marathon done.  If I ran both of them, I'd get an extra medal.  Having never been to Lake Havasu Arizona, it sounds like a cool plan.  The race was scheduled for April and it would be something new.

Unfortunately Covid-19 came along and postponed the race.  Early this year (in 2021) the race was scheduled to happen but I did not feel comfortable traveling.  With kind consideration from the race director, I was able to transfer the race entry to 2021's Laughlin Half Marathon.

When I ran the race in 2019, I had a great time and it was a challenging and unique course.  While the course is challenging, I wanted to do better on it and I put the memory of it in my back pocket to do again some day.  So I had absolutely no qualms about doing it again.  What's not to like: running, gambling, good food, desert scenery and all around fun!

The Race

The race started at 7 AM on Saturday 12/4/2021.  I found myself searching for the shuttle bus that would take me to the race site a little before 6 AM.  Memory served me correctly -- and the bus was in the same spot as it was last year.  I had picked up my bib at the packet pickup the day before, so I was pretty much set to run.  

The bus ride was fairly short.  It took us about 10 minutes to reach the high school where the race would start.  We had access to the high school gymnasium to stay warm in.  On the plus side, we had clean bathrooms as well.  The time went by quickly and there were plenty of people to socialize with.

The race started promptly at 7 AM.  We assembled out in the front parking lot, got some basic instructions and off we went.

The first mile of the race involves basically running a long lap around the school.  You wend your way around the school's parking lot before going down a service drive.  Whereupon  you do a lap around the high school's track and then returning back up the service drive.  

I hit the first mile in a pretty quick low 8 minute mile.  A bit too fast but on target given that the first mile was somewhat downhill.  I did take note that the next 2.75 miles were going to be challenging; I definitely remembered that from last year.

Those miles definitely are cause for pause.  It isn't a crazy ascent but you are definitely climbing.  Fortunately, you are still fresh into the race, and you've had a bit of a warmup.  I knew that the uphill would be short-lived and that I would get to the top and have some insanely fast miles coming back down.

I worked on maintaining my form, being patient and trusting that if I could just power through these miles that the sweet downhill reward would be just ahead.  I worked with some other runners so that helped.

I finally reached the summit of the main road at mile 3.77 -- just like I did 2 years ago.  I did realize that I had to use the restroom and at the top of the hill there was a porta pottie.  I had been flirting with whether I needed to go or not (#1) and I knew if I didn't go, I wouldn't be able to concentrate.  Fortunately the portable was empty and I took 30 seconds off my race to conduct my business.  

Concerning to me at this point was how out of breath I was. Had I gone out too hard?  The brief respite was actually pretty good for me.

I jumped out of the bathroom and I was immediately greeted with a beloved site: nothing but downhill for as far as the eye could see.  I took off down with this stretch with renewed vigor.  I had gotten through the worst part and the rest of the race would be comparatively easier.

The next 3 miles or so were a delight.  I was hitting 5K paces with ease.  My breathing was easy and I was just coasting along.  If only the entire race was like this.

I did about 1.5 miles along the main "highway" into town followed by a left hand turn into the Davis Dam / Pyramid Canyon area.  This is probably the prettiest stretches.  You can see the casino-lined town of Laughlin below you and after turning into the park's entrance you can see Davis Dam as a tiny white dot below.

The race became "real" upon reaching the bottom of the service drive.  I had forgotten that upon arriving to the bottom there were a few hills.  I thought there was maybe one, but I forgot the first one was quite long and steep and it was followed by a grind above the dam and up into Arizona, where the turn around lie.

My legs suddenly felt like Jell-O.  And while that mile wasn't too bad - pace-wise, every inch of it hurt.  My once easy pace was suddenly very hard.  And it didn't end upon reaching the top of the service drive to the top of the dam -- it continued.  I had conveniently forgot about this part.

My pace grew worse and I was dying to ask the front runners who were flying by me on the downhill how much further I needed to run.  Eventually, though, it did come and I turned around the coned off turn-around (and I was suddenly in Mountain Time and in the state of Arizona)  Finally I could recoup some of my time on the downhill back into Davis Dam Park.

Davis Dam

Unfortunately I was gassed.  I was in the marathon shuffle mode where every step seemed to take a lot of energy.  I was doing well, all things considered but my race at that point might as well have been over.

By the time I was down with the returning downhills and making my loop around the city park at the base of the dam, I was drained.  I kept willing myself forward and overall -- my miles splits at this point where still somewhat okay -- they came very hard-earned.

The next 2 miles are along the river walk bike trail.  It is actually really pretty.  To your right is a wall of dirt hills and to the left is the Colorado River.  You are surrounded by desert vegetation along the paved path  There are some stretches of hills -- particularly as you get near the edge of town.  And here I recorded one of my worst miles.  I just had nothing left.  I just wanted to be done.

The final mile is kind of cool -- you drop into north end of town and run along the bike trail before finally doing your last mile or so on the "Strip".  You are surrounded by casinos, a few spectators and businesses.  It isn't as cool as running at night along the Las Vegas Strip -- but it is a unique experience.

You do have one lane entirely to yourself and at this point I was intermixed with some of the 5K and 12K runners.  But it was a bit of a depressing feeling -- as I was being passed by many other half marathon runners who still had gas in the tank.

Finally the finish line drew near (the race is certified so I knew that I was going to have to run 13.10 miles) and I crossed under the finish line with a deep sigh of relief.

Conclusion

I really had visions of running this in 1:53 - 1:55.  While my training hasn't really been endurance-based, I felt I had done enough long runs leading into the race (each weekend doing 9 or 10 miles).  Also I was coming from 4500 feet elevation to about 500.

So I think not having a lot of endurance in me caused me to run out of gas at mile 8 or 9.  On the plus side, I did beat my time from 2 years by 2 minutes (more if you exclude the bathroom break).  Yet, I was still disappointed.  I was shooting for a strong end-of-year half marathon and I should've adjusted my expectations upon the course.

I grabbed some water (weird -- it was in a can of Liquid Death -- apparently they make water) and a banana and grabbed my medal.  The weather was absolutely perfect with only a bit of wind and I enjoyed just sitting on a retaining wall and watching runners cross the finish line.  The after glow of a race that was run hard (but not necessarily well) was just a joy.

After I recovered a bit, I ventured to my room -- I was staying at the finish line hotel -- the Tropicana of Laughlin, so it was a quick 10 minute shuffle and back.  I grabbed my camera, took some photos of the finish line and settled into a post-race rest mode.  I sat in the sunlight and enjoyed the weather and just people watched.

Post race refreshments included chips, cookies, fruit, water and beer.  They actually had a really nice spread of food and there was plenty to go around.

Overall the race was well worth it. I had registered ahead of time, so the price was reasonable, the medal was huge and the t-shirt was nicely designed.  I really enjoyed the course -- although it is challenging.  The views and the chance to run near the dam are unique and make this race travel-worthy (most of the runners were from California)  

There is definitely more downhill then uphill (at least according to my Garmin) but you really need to be prepared for the hills scattered throughout the course.

The medal's inner circle spins.

I really enjoyed the race and I would love to do this one again.  The organization was spot on and the mile markers were pretty accurate.  There was plenty of support and ultimately it was a pretty cheap getaway (all things considered), especially after taking advantage of the race discounts for the hotel.  It is a bit of a drive from Salt Lake City (7.5 hours) so it is a commitment.

2019 Laughlin Half Marathon Race Recap - Laughlin, NV

Official Time: 2:01:40
Placement: 8th out of 19 in the 50-54, 73 out of 161 male, 103rd overall
Results: Here
Race Website: Here
Weather: Low 50's, sunny.
Garmin Dump: Here
Previous Years: First Year for me

Mile	Time	Comments
1	8:50	A few laps around the high school. Felt sluggish
2	9:19
3	9:51	Long stretch of uphill
4	9:15
5	8:27	Finally some down hill. Heading into town
6	8:25	More fast miles
7	8:42
8	10:17	Suddenly have to switch gears to uphill running
9	9:21	Heading into Arizona
10	8:57
11	9:24
12	10:17	A bit of a climb here. Pretty gassed
13	9:32	Giving whatever I had left for the final mile
13.11	0:57
	Total Miles: 13:11 - 2:01:39

Introduction

As part of my 50th birthday celebration, I opted to go on a bit of a road trip: to Laughlin Nevada.  Laughlin is a small gambling town at the bottom part of the state, where California and Arizona meet.  You can literally cross a river and be in Arizona and with another short drive be in California.

I've been to Laughlin before on another road trip and I was pretty excited to come visit again.  I didn't really have a chance to enjoy it last time on account I was in the throes of bronchitis.  This time, I had a smidge of a cold / bronchitis, but I was able to enjoy myself much more -- plus I was doing a race!

Laughlin is about a 7.5 hour drive from Salt Lake, so I took Friday off and headed out as soon as traffic thinned.  I had to be there for packet pickup, so I left with plenty of time.  I managed to swing by Mesquite, NV and get in a quick lunch.  It was nice to be able to split the trip up a bit.  The weather was absolutely pleasant down there.  I had come from the low 30's to the low 60's and I managed to switch into shorts before lunch.

Packet pickup was at the Tropicana in Laughlin.  I had checked into my hotel since I had gotten there early and made the roughly 1 mile walk to the hotel.  It was a pleasant walk and I showed up soon after the area opened.  Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea.  I expecting an hour wait to get my bib and race supplies, but the line moved exceedingly fast.  I was in and out in about 20 - 30 minutes, which is acceptable.

The Race

I didn't sleep particularly great the night before the race -- as usual.  I was over stimulated, yet tired, from my drive, and I was in a strange bed.  I didn't have much pre-race anxiety.  I knew I could cover the distance and I knew where and when I needed to be but I slept fitfully, but slightly better than normal.

I was up at 5 AM and prepared myself for the race.  I made the 1 mile drive to the race start.  I was going to attempt to park in the Tropicana, where the race was held, but they had already blocked most of it off.  I found the best parking situation was at the Colorado Belle.  All I had to do was cross the street and it was easy in and out (highly recommended for anyone reading this).  I had to fumble around to find the bus's location.

The nice thing about having the bus stop at the casino was that the bathrooms were within immediate access inside the casino.  I quickly made a pit stop before jumping on a very nice coach bus.

The drive to the race start was about 15 minutes.  I wasn't pleased to be surrounded by the smell of Ben Gay that another runner had applied (it makes me nauseous) but the drive was quick and easy.

We were dropped off at the Laughlin High School.  They were kind enough to open the gym so we had flush toilets and a place to stay warm for the roughly 45 minutes wait before the race.  The time went by quickly.

We were all assembled in the school's parking lot just shy of 7 AM and after some brief announcements and the Star Spangled banner, we were off and running.

The first 3 miles of the race aren't that great.  It was a lap around the school's parking lot, then we hopped on the school's track for a quick 400 meters around the oval:

There were some beautiful views of Laughlin in the distance.  It looked so far away but in reality it was probably about 5 miles.

After doing our loop we worked our way to the service drive.  It is a long, slow uphill run in the high desert.  It was super pretty if you enjoy such things and I loved the smell of cresote that came off the desert plants.

I knew the first couple of miles were uphill and I just focused on getting through those miles.  Despite having a cold, I was feeling pretty good.  I wasn't too worried to see a few 9 minute miles pop up.  The first 6 I was going to run pretty conservatively.

Finally, we reached Highway 163, which is the main highway from the north to come into town.  Laid before me was a glorious downhill.  I immediately picked up the pace as I let gravity pull me forward.  I could see in the distance, Davis Dam, the race's signature view.

My pace immediately dropped from 9:30's to 8:15's.  I felt like I was going pretty hard though and I tried to make up some time.  The weather was absolutely ideal and I was loving the high desert scenery.

You can see Davis Dam in the distance

This was my favorite section of the course and as we descended into the Davis Dam Park's area, I knew I was in for a visual treat.  I hadn't explored the area so it was all new territory for me.

Arial view of the service road

After reaching the bottom of the service road we had to run a solid mile uphill.  After the quad pounding my legs had just taken, my pace came to a crawl.  While the hill was intense, it w was fairly short lived but I definitely paid a price.

View of the road going up.

Upon reaching the top of this mean old hill, we headed west and then crossed the Davis Dam walkway.  To our right was a beautiful view of Laughlin and to the left, Lake Mojave, a man made lake that was a result of building the dam.  At least it was flat but my legs were starting to feel the strain of the race.

This was another enjoyable stretch and I caught a bit of a second wind as I crossed into Arizona -- but it was short lived, as we had another mini hill to summit:

Again this one was just long enough to have me cursing under my breath but short enough that it didn't totally derail my race.  It was a relief to see the turn around as I knew all the up hills would now be in my favor.  My turnover immediately increased as well as my motivation.

I had seen some of the runners that were behind me (due to the out-and-back nature of the course) and I knew my positioning wasn't all that bad.  While I knew I was out of contention for an age group award, I was hoping for a sub 2 hour finish.  Even though it was a hilly course, the elevation was under 900 feet.

Finally I was in the home stretch and I did a crazy loop around the park and got to see the base of the dam.  It was a nice park, about half a mile total, but there were plenty of turns as we circled the park and made our exit to the bike trail.

The bike trail was about 2.5 miles long and hugged the Colorado River.  There were a handful of other non-runners on the trail who were cheering us on.  But this too was flat.

Arial view of the bike trail.

I knew I was getting close to downtown Laughlin, where the finish line was.  I kept looking at my Garmin praying that the miles would go faster. My legs were pretty much spent at this point.

Finally we reached the edge of town and we ascended a small hill and crossed over the bridge that lead over the freeway.  I could smell the finish line, even though I still had a solid mile to go.

So far, where to run on the course was clearly marked, but coming into town there was one spot that wasn't clear and I would've wound up in the same spot, regardless of which turn I took.  Fortunately, I took the correct one -- despite not having many runners to tail off of.

Finally, I hit the Laughlin streets.  They had blocked off an entire two lanes of traffic.  Traffic isn't that bad in Laughlin and in the wee hours of Saturday morning, there weren't many cars on the road -- other than probably other runners' cars.

It was a treat though to run down the Laughlin strip, surrounded by casinos to my left and right.  It wasn't as glamorous as say Las Vegas, but definitely a unique experience.

I crossed the finish line in just over 2 hours, acceptable given the course and the fact that I had been fighting a sinus infection / cold for most of the week.

Conclusion

I had had high hopes that I would've crushed this course and gone 1:55.  But given I was a little sick and it was a hilly course, my time wasn't completely unexpected.

The course measured 13.11 and is a certified course.

Post race refreshments included water and chocolate milk.  There were some bananas as well and beer (I handed my coupon to someone else).  I wound up sitting on a wall for about 10 minutes collecting myself.  I had carried my own hydration and had gone through about half of it.  The aid stations were well manned and at appropriate intervals (about every 2 miles).  So I was in better shape than in some of my previous halves.

I really liked this race -- a lot.  The course was stunning and new to me, and it was a treat to run in two states.  While I've done some racing / running in Arizona, it was kind of unique to cross a state line and a different time zone (even if it was just a half mile).

There were plenty of good views and the organization was great from start to finish.

I liked the medal. It was heavy duty and nicely designed.  The logo on the front of the t-shirt was really cool and one that clearly advertised that I had run a half marathon.

I paid about $85 for the race at the Las Vegas Marathon expo.  Definitely on the pricey side for a half marathon, but given that I signed up about 2 weeks before the race it was about what I expected to pay. I did save some money by signing up at the expo. That being said, I did have the unique experience of running on the Laughlin Strip and finishing in front of a cheering crowd.  I felt I got a great experience

I am definitely penciling this one to do again next year.  Will have to see what the budget is like and my energy level after a full season of racing, but I had a great time in Laughlin all weekend long and this race was the icing on the cake.

Laughlin Nevada - Weekend Recap

Introduction

While my blog is mostly about running, I do like to recap my adventures of my trips to races.  Mostly I just like to capture these moments for myself.  However, maybe you are bored at work or something and you like to read about my adventures (or maybe you are my mom and like to hear these stories).

Either way, on my way down to the Lost Dutchman Marathon we passed through Laughlin Nevada.  I've been to most gaming towns throughout Nevada but I have never made it down to the southernest part of the state.

Laughlin itself has fallen on hard times since the Great Recession.  And when I got there it sort of showed.  A lot of the hotels were in dire need of updating and it just struck me as worn out and tired.

To me, Laughlin is a place where senior citizens go where you don't want the expense and the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas, and yet you still want the Vegas experience.  Hot weather, gambling, and cheap buffets.  Just like Vegas used to be.

I am 47 and I felt like I was one of the youngest ones there.

Laughlin 

We rolled into Laughlin, making the epic drive from Reno to Laughlin all in one day.  On the way in, we had stopped at the Suncoast Resort for a delicious buffet.  By the time we rolled in it was pushing 9 pm (if not later).

I was worn out and tired of driving -- as it takes over 8 hours to go from Reno to Laughlin.  

Also, the last 90 minutes I was driving in pitch darkness and almost swerved off the road when a raccoon or something jumped into the middle of the road.  It is so easy to lose control of your car going 75.  Luckily, the varmint saw me coming and got out of the way, but it was white knuckle driving.

Finally, after passing through Searchlight NV we reached Laughlin.  We came down a massive hill and it was a joy to see the lights of their "strip" below.

We quickly found Harrah's of Laughlin where I had scored some $21/night rooms.  I was feeling horrible -- I had a touch of bronchitis and I was just exhausted from driving.

We made the long walk from the parking lot to check-in.  There obviously was a problem with our room as the lady checking us in was talking with her supervisor.

The last thing I wanted to do was wait ... I just wanted to clean up and go to bed.  

The check-in lady explained that there was a hole in the ceiling of our room and that the room was under repairs.  Uh oh.... then she said she would give us a free upgrade to a suite.  Score!  

When we got to the room, it was an epic upgrade... it was at the top, with a view, and it was huge!  Normally the room goes for close to $80 a night, so I was thrilled.

Harrah's -- like the rest of Laughlin, needs some updating, but overall it was a pleasant stay.

In the morning, we had two free buffet passes for the breakfast.  Harrah's definitely has a premium breakfast that we enjoyed.  It was nearly noon by the time I felt like eating and the place was a ghost town.  They have a good variety of food and it looks like the buffet, much like Laughlin, was once used for bigger and brighter things.

I had talked about doing some hiking, but I felt like garbage -- like crawl into a hole and die garbage. So we tried to find me a doctor.  There were only two in town -- and one didn't take our insurance.  Both wouldn't take an appointment and both said it was at least an hour wait, possibly longer.  I even rolled into one office and looked at the other sad sick saps and decided no way.

I wound up buying some cough syrup (expensive!) from the hotel gift shop.  Luckily, it helped immensely.

So I wound up walking around the city and poked around in the half a dozen or so casinos.  I tried to  to enjoy the atmosphere but I felt drained and horrible.  I sounded like an asthmatic smoker -- even walking at a good clip caused me to cough and wheeze like crazy.  Luckily, I didn't have a temperature, but I just felt drained.

I wound up gambling some but I had zero -- and I mean zero -- luck.  Insert money, press a button a few times, and walk away with pennies.  Seriously.  I saw people winning but clearly I was having no luck this trip.  Eventually I just sucked it up and continued my moaning and watched other people play (which isn't much fun)...

We wound up eating at Harrah's for dinner.  We were already at the hotel and I didn't feel like moving.  The buffet was pricey for dinner but not too bad.  There was also an army of Koreans there -- obviously touring the state and I wound up chatting with a few of them (I am fascinated by their pop culture) 

In the morning, we wanted to try a different buffet.  Shari had heard that the Tropicana had a free buffet when you signed up for their player's club card.  Turned out that was false -- you got 10% off.  The buffet, at best, was average.  We should've gone back to Harrah's.

I felt horrible -- despite having a decent night's rest.  I was still coughing up a storm, I was broke, and to be quite frank, I didn't see how I was going to run anything this weekend.  I could hardly walk with coughing and hacking up crazy amounts of yuck.

We talked about simply returning home.  I was leaning towards just leaving that day and driving until I felt tired and getting a room.  

After some serious hemming and hawing we opted to continue to Arizona.

Conclusion

First off, Laughlin's rooms are cheap.  There is free, covered parking (unlike Vegas now) and the food was actually fairly reasonable.  They weren't exactly giving it away, but it wasn't a ripoff.

I had had much higher hopes for the gambling.  Neither one of us had any luck.  Most of the casinos had newer games though.  We didn't have any problems finding games we wanted to play.

I'd definitely stay here again especially if I wanted something more quiet and cheaper.  It looks like there is some hiking and I was dying to run to the California and Arizona borders so I could claim running in three states in one day.... but I could hardly walk down the hallway let alone run.

I also would've loved to have seen Crystal Gayle -- she was playing.  But I would've ruined the show with my incessant coughing.  Maybe next time!