Las Vegas Marathon prepares to make inaugural run

The inaugural Las Vegas Marathon will take place this weekend, as organizers look to create a signature race like in other major cities.

More than 6,000 runners are expected to participate Sunday in three races, with the 26.2-mile marathon starting at the Red Rock scenic route, down Charleston Boulevard and into downtown Las Vegas. The race will end at Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard.

The other two races are the 13.1-mile half-marathon and the 7.02-mile run, named and distanced after Las Vegas’ original area code. Of the three, about 2,500 have signed up for the marathon, about 2,000 for the half-marathon and more than 1,600 for the 7.02-mile run.

The goal of the course was to highlight the variety of areas the Las Vegas Valley has to offer, according to Joe Jurisic, race director with Brooksee, a Salt Lake City-based urban race production company.

“I recognize a lot of the attention goes just toward the Strip or even the downtown corridor, but some people don’t know about the Red Rock scenic loop and Downtown Summerlin and being able to run through Symphony Park and the Arts District,” Jurisic said. “These are all things that we wanted to highlight as landmarks of our city that may go unrecognized by tourists.”

At 4 a.m. on race day, Charleston eastbound between Red Rock and downtown will begin to be shut down to vehicle traffic for several hours. All three races will start at 6 a.m., with Charleston and downtown roads scheduled to reopen by 12:33 p.m., according to race organizers.

Las Vegas has hosted the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon for several years on the Las Vegas Strip, with a half-marathon, 10K and 5K offered.

Brooksee saw the demand for a full marathon and has been working on it the past three years. The plan is to make it an annual event.

“If you look at any other sports destination city, they all have a city signature marathon,” Jurisic said. “The L.A. Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, New York City. We deserve it. It’s a bit unusual for us to be without a marathon, especially a city signature one.”