Las Vegas Marathon drops 14,000 entries this year...

Following last years record entry of 44,000 entries for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half-Marathon and Marathon, there is a drop of 14,000 this year. With an entry fee of roughly $160, that's a loss of $2.24 million in income.

In 2010, there were 28,000 entries and this mushroomed to 44,000 in 2011 but it resulted in huge criticism of the event. Some people complained of severe overcrowding while hundreds felt ill after drinking the water which was dispensed in plastic cups scooped from large open bins of water.

Just a year ago, some were calling for the race to be expanded to 60,000 entries but the 14,000 drop suggests that most people thought otherwise. Last year, the race was run at night and the organisers explained the drop by saying..."We couldn’t replicate the novelty again"........as if last years problems had nothing to do with it ;o)

There's probably a lesson in there for all races organisers...commercial or otherwise. Grow the event carefully and look after the people that enter.

The Las Vegas race is among 27 in the national Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, operated by Competitor Group. Last year, the Las Vegas marathon reportedly brought more than $100 million into the local economy. A spokeman for MGM Resorts International, said the event is one of the 10 most profitable of the year for Las Vegas businesses and the event allows the tourism and hospitality industries to extend the weekend by an extra day helping to pull revenue in a month that typically lags in profitability.

The Competitor Group are due to hold a Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon in Dublin on the 5th of August, 2013.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and 1/2 Marathon flops

Some time back, I had a post about a new Half-Marathon coming to Dublin next summer as part of the European Rock 'n' Roll race series. These are commercially organised events which are very popular in the USA. On Sunday the 4th of December, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half-Marathon turned out to be a bit of a flop.

Just to give you some idea of how expensive it is to enter, the Half-Marathon costs $130 (~€95) with a late entry fee of $155 (~€115). The full Marathon costs $140 (~€104) with a late entry fee of $175 (~€130). With some 44,000 people taking part, that would mean that they took in some $6 to $7 million on entries alone.

As it turned out, things didn't quite go to plan as they were obviously way too many runners and it was badly organised. Here are some of the media reports...
....water was pumped from a nearby fire hydrant with hoses into a plastic lined garbage cans. Event volunteers then wearing plastic gloves would dip cups into the cans and pass them off to runners.The water tasted metallic and stale.
.....The photos, snapped with cell phones, show thousands of people pouring into Mandalay Bay hallways unable to move. People report being stuck for nearly an hour with numerous people vomiting and passing out.
....."We had heard that lots of people collapsed, Inside the hotel was horrible."
......It was the capstone to a race with 44 thousand people that runners say was too large with too little planning.

Video report from a US TV channel  in this LINK

Let's hope the Dublin Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon goes better!