World’s largest running party back on Strip with 30K participants

The world’s largest running party returns to the Strip this weekend with some new elements. But the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series Las Vegas will showcase the same start and finish lines that debuted last year to rave reviews.

The start line village for Sunday’s half-marathon and 10K races on closed-off Las Vegas Boulevard again will be located on Toshiba Plaza, outside of T-Mobile Arena. The start line is in front of New York-New York on the Strip, and the finish line is in front of the Fountains of Bellagio.

“It was absolutely amazing,” race director Nicole Christenson said of the changes implemented last year. “The start line and the move to T-Mobile and Toshiba Plaza was incredible. It’s the perfect way to bring runners into the boulevard. And the finish line in front of the Bellagio fountains is, in my opinion, one of the prettiest finish lines in the world.

“And it’s not just a finish line. We’ve actually transformed the finish line into its own party. We have DJs and MCs all through the secure zone and a dance floor with a huge disco ball, so people can dance their way through the secure zone.”

‘Destination event’

More than 30,000 runners and walkers from all 50 states and 60 countries are expected to take part in the half-marathon and 10K races, as well as Saturday’s 5K race in Downtown Las Vegas. Seventy-five percent of participants are from outside of Las Vegas.

“This truly is a destination event,” Christenson said.

Lululemon’s “Yoga on the Strip” returns for the second straight year at noon Sunday, when 400 Rock ‘n’ Roll participants will take part in a race-morning yoga session in front of New York-New York.

The start line village opens at 2 p.m., and the half-marathon and 10K races will start at 4:30. The Blue Man Group and Golden Knights cheerleaders, among others, will appear at the start line for the races, which will be run entirely on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Runners will start in the southbound lanes before turning around and passing the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. They will continue in the northbound lanes into downtown before heading back south on the Strip to the finish line.

En route to the finish of the 13.1-mile trek, runners can see their images on the 100,000 square-foot LED screen on the side of Resorts World.

A new addition to the crown jewel of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series will be an official after party at LIV Las Vegas nightclub at Fontainebleau at 8 p.m. Sunday, when all participants will be welcomed into the club in their running attire.

The 5K race is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday in downtown with more than 6,500 participants, starting at Bridger Avenue and Fourth Street. The race will finish on Fremont Street.

Entertainment at each stage

The event will feature a new entertainment experience with different themes for each of the nine stages on the half-marathon course, including Noches en The Strip, Honky Tonk Country, Vintage Vegas, Taylor Swift and Born & Raised.

“We’ve essentially reimagined everything. All of the stages that we’ve had in the past are transformed into really unique experiences,” Christenson said. “For Honky Tonk Country, we’ll have live line dancers and a country band. We’ll have a stage called Born & Raised, which is a tribute to all the acts that have come out of Las Vegas, like The Killers and Imagine Dragons.

“Every year, the stages will be different. As we start to cement pieces of the event that we don’t want to change — like the start line could not be better and the finish line could not be better — we want to make sure that we can still bring newness to the event every year.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.