The park, which sees more than a million visitors each year, is set up perfectly for a half-marathon as its Scenic Canyon Road, which begins at the Visitor Center, follows a 13-mile course through many of the park’s most scenic and memorable vistas.
Las Vegas Featured Half Marathon
The course is paved throughout the entire race, and features some fairly big changes in elevation — it starts at 3,880 feet above sea level and reaches a peak of 4,771 feet around the half-way point in the race, before descending again in the second half of the race toward the finish.
The half marathon starts about 2 miles from the visitor center and follows a gradual uphill in its first 6 miles toward the summit overlook area, between White Rock Hills and Turtlehead Mountain. After the half-way point, the race begins a steep downhill (what race organizers say is a “screaming downhill”) along the scenic road toward the finish line.
Because no parking is available at the race start & finish line areas, runners will be transported by bus from a pickup area in Las Vegas (the Boca Park shopping village, across the street from the event’s host hotel, the Suncoast Hotel and Casino).
The course will remain open to car traffic during the race, and the lane for runners will be marked by cones.
