Distance runners will cover a shorter course when the Rock ‘n' Roll race series returns to the Las Vegas Strip in a year, tourism and event officials said Tuesday.
The marathon was cut to a half-marathon under a three-year, $450,000 agreement approved by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board.
Elizabeth O’Brien, managing director of North America for Rock ’n' Roll, called it a next chapter for the event.
She said a three-day health and fitness expo will be held ahead of the half-marathon, now set for Feb. 27, 2022.
The contract through hometown Las Vegas Events also includes Rock ‘n' Roll Las Vegas races in 2023 and 2024.
The event traces its origin to a marathon run since 1967 in and around Las Vegas. It moved to the Las Vegas Strip in 2005 and became a Rock ‘n’ Roll series race in 2009, featuring music and entertainment along the course.
Held in November in recent years, it has attracted tens of thousands of runners annually for fun-run, 5-kilometer, 10-kilometer, 13.1-mile (21.1-kilometer) and 26.2-mile (42.16-kilometer) distances.
The unusual nighttime race begins and ends on the neon-lit Las Vegas Strip, and includes the downtown Fremont Street Experience casino mall.
Races in 2020 and 2021 were canceled due to the pandemic.