On the road with the 33rd Las Vegas International Marathon

	As the race started I noticed that we had the whole road to ourselves. Only an obnoxiously loud motorcycle with a cameraman spoiled the desert solitude as we began our trek. But after a short while, he was gone and all you could hear were shoes on pavement and bits of casual conversations between runners.
	From time to time the clouds gave way to morning sun. As we churned our way along, conversations became less frequent, there was time to think; time to day dream of this place two hundred or four hundred years ago. Then back further still to 100 million years when this was an ocean floor. It's easy to get lost in your thoughts and the rhythm on a distance run.
	Our on-again, off-again sunshine was off when we came past the half. By this time we had gotten acquainted with Darren Hagen of Saskatoon (I'll show you a photo of him later on at the finish). He's a cold weather triathlete and was enjoying the warm winter break in Nevada. There comes a point in all of our marathons, where Kathy, Laura, and I have to run our own races. Kathy and I wished Laura well a few miles back. By about 14 miles Kathy and Darren were pulling away me. I'd see them at the finish.
	Aid stations were sparse at the beginning of the course. No doubt due the logistics of trucking things into the middle of the desert. But it wasn't a problem.
	I generally make it a point to to say "thank you for helping today" on the way by. We're getting closer to the city now.