Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathon winners enjoy Strip spectacle — PHOTOS
Andy Wacker finally hit the jackpot in Las Vegas.
Ten years after the professional trail runner settled for second place in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series Las Vegas half-marathon and two years after he took third, Wacker won the event Sunday night on the Strip, finishing the 13.1-mile course in one hour, four minutes, 47 seconds.
The 35-year-old from Boulder, Colorado popped open a bottle of prosecco at the finish line in front of the Fountains of Bellagio to celebrate his victory amid fog, flashing lights and plumes of fire on closed-down Las Vegas Boulevard.
“I’ve been here a couple times, and I’m glad I finally got the win,” he said. “I ran this race 10 years ago and came back and ran, not quite as fast as I was hoping, but it was nice redemption to be back here 10 years later and still running basically as fast.”
Wacker averaged less than five minutes per mile (4:57) en route to edging Reno native Kevin Kirk by less than a minute. Kirk, a Yerington High School product, finished in 1:05:42.
“We helped push each other to a faster time,” said Wacker, a former All-American at Colorado.
The elite runner enjoyed the festive atmosphere on the Strip, where 21,000 runners and walkers competed in the half-marathon and 10-kilometer races. Both events started at New York-New York and finished at the Bellagio.
“It’s so fun,” Wacker said. “I saw people getting married. I saw people having fun partying on a rooftop yelling and cheering. It’s great to run down the Strip at night and have so many people cheering.
“Maybe they aren’t runners themselves, but they can enjoy the spectacle.”
Alice Wright won the women’s half-marathon in 1:14:10 in her first Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas race.
“The atmosphere was amazing, honestly. It’s like a party, and I love evening races,” said Wright, 29. “There were so many distractions with all the very iconic landmarks around Vegas. It was a good distraction.”
Originally from Worcestershire, England, Wright was an All-American at New Mexico and is now a professional runner for Hoka NAZ Elite in Flagstaff, Arizona.
She said she locked on to a runner on a 5:30 pace for the first eight miles before gutting out the rest of the race.
“Then it got really tough actually,” she said. “I actually started feeling pretty dizzy the last four miles. Honestly, it was menstrual cramps. I felt sick. I felt dizzy. I battled the mental aspect of it all.
“Those last four miles nearly killed me, but here I am to tell the tale.”
Ron Loewen, 34, of Surrey, British Columbia, won the men’s 10K in 33:37. He’s a coach of the Gritty Running Club in Canada and led a group of runners here for the destination race, where more than 90 percent of the participants are from outside Las Vegas.
“I loved the environment. There’s nothing like it,” he said. “It’s just loud all the way through. They’re super supportive.”
Katarina Tadich, 37, of Las Vegas, won the women’s 10K in 38:13. She works for lululemon, which held a yoga event on the Strip on Sunday afternoon.
“I had a lot of friends along the route cheering for me, so that helps,” Tadich said.
Countless runners wore bright neon-colored tutus, one crossed the finish line wearing a motorcycle helmet, and Las Vegas resident Nick Bones stopped in the middle of Saturday’s 5K race downtown to get a tattoo.
Mackenzie Mettille, 27, and Courtney Clark, 24, met in a running group in Ohio last summer and have been dating for the last six months.
After Mettille placed 12th in the men’s half-marathon, he anxiously waited for Clark to cross the finish line.
“I’m hoping to propose to her,” he said. “I’m hoping she says yes. I think she knows it’s coming at some point. She has no idea it’s right here, right now.”
Moments after Clark crossed the finish line in 34th place in the women’s half-marathon, Mettille popped the question.
“I’m very happy that she said yes,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if she was expecting it or not.”
Said Clark: “I certainly was not. But it was a good surprise.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
