When Races Are an Epic Fail

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This past weekend was the Rock N’ Roll Las Vegas Strip at Night Marathon/Half-Marathon (you may recall that this was on has since been crossed off my racing bucket list). This race sounded like a really cool experience- racing the Vegas Strip under the lights. However, most who completed the race would probably agree that it was not the glamorous experience they imagined.

Unfortunately, in the racing world, there are times when a race is simply an epic fail. This most often occurs as a result of poor race organization. With the sheer size of the Rock N’ Roll events, I was surprised that the organization of the Vegas event seemed to be such a failure. You can visit the Facebook page for Rock N’ Roll Las Vegas to get a taste of the disorganization to which I am referring. 

When you are charging up to $155 for the half marathon and $175 for the full marathon, I think it’s unconscionable that there was sub-par medical treatment for racers (unbelievable) or a serious lack of porta potties. Other complaints included running out of race shirts at the expo (keep in mind they were expecting 44,000 participants), lack of water at some water stops (water from fire hydrants was actually used for some of the water stops!), and lack of corral enforcement.

I don’t blame the runners for their anger at the Competitor group for there lack of empathy. They released a message apologizing for inconveniences, but honestly that doesn’t mean much to someone who forked over a serious amount of money to travel to Vegas to participate in their event. In fact, many runners feel so strongly that they are demanding refunds for their entry fees.

What are your thoughts on the issue? Did you race the Strip at Night? Have you had a similar experience?