Steve Fey's Live From Las Vegas!

If you've followed me over on Living-Las-Vegas you may have read my report about running the Pittman Wash. Even if you haven't read that article (although you really should, of course) you might be interested in the existence of the Las Vegas Track Club. That there would be a running club in the blazing Mojave desert is probably a surprise to some. But, like any people who live in a less-than-hospitable climate, there is a determination amongst valley residents to soldier on with the run even when it's too hot to take a walk. It's sort of like the Winter Carnival in St. Paul, Minnesota: to Hell with the weather, we're gonna have fun, dammit!


Here, for instance, is a picture I took of a fellow club member running along a trail called the Pittman Wash Trail, in Henderson. I know, I've moved to the big city, but I still return to Henderson every Sunday morning to run this very trail. Of course, there's no thermometer visible in this picture, but I can assure you that the Pittman Wash experiences temperatures in excess of 110 degrees during the summer. Yet, my friend, and I, keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

The track club sponsors a number of events during the year. As I write, for example, the web site is advertising the annual "Forest Run Challenge" on Mount Charleston. That's one way to get by in the desert heat, of course: escape it by going up. I've run a race on that mountain, on a July morning when it was chilly as all get out. Trust me when I say that the cold alone is worth the entry fee. That race was the annual Notch Run, a four-mile grueling ascent at altitude that should be experienced if you want to believe it. (They used to run it downhill, until multiple injuries persuaded them to reverse the course.) They also sponsor a regular series of training runs, from informal to marathon level, that many runners take advantage of simply to stay in condition for a race now and again. 

So if you're a runner looking for some companions for our essentially lonely hobby, or if you're considering moving to our valley and wondering if you can keep up your routine of sprints and fartlek, you may rest assured that the Las Vegas Track Club is here to serve you.