Run... don't walk away from this marathon.       The start is terrible as you navigate through two miles of walkers because there is no organization in the corrals.  The fun of running the Vegas strip is there for the first few miles and then you are out in the desert with little lighting, poorly marked miles (they could have lit them -- It's Vegas baby).  Don't expect it any better at the end where the narrow lanes on slanted broken up black top made for a dangerous finish where you could not accelerate and you are sharing the path with the 4 hour pace half marathon participants (visualize meeting the walkers you dealt with at the start now making the finish path more narrow as they walk into the end of their race).  The chute after the finish was way too long with no mid point exits.   They could have shortened it up to allow more of the final run to take place on the strip instead of in the dark in the desert.    I ran Eau Claire Wisconsin (with ~200 runners this year) and NYC (with +50,000 runners in 2013) and both had better energy and NYC handled the crowds of runners much better.     I am not affiliated with Eau Claire in any way but for a good marathon with as many music stops as RNR and great community support head to Wisconsin..... no gambling but an amazing event and of course NYC is amazing.\n\nPros:   Running through  Freemont Experience (1/2 mile),  Checking Nevada off the list.\nCons:   Everything else.  Log jam of runners for first few miles, boring once you leave the strip (most of the route), poorly marked, not the safest last mile to the finish, too long a finishing chute after receiving medal.    Did I really pay that much for all this?\n\nIf you have to do this race it is flat and will not challenge you too much so enjoy that part of it.