The Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon & 1/2 Marathon is an annual marathon foot-race run in and around Las Vegas, Nevada. The race is one of the oldest marathons in the United States, having been run since 1967.
The marathon was organized by Al Boka since 1983, who sold the marathon in 2005 to Devine Racing, a Chicago-based race organization company that is responsible for several other races, including the Los Angeles Marathon. Zappos.com will be the title sponsor for this event through 2009.
Devine redubbed the race as "The Zappos.com Las Vegas Marathon", and updated the course to include the Strip. Introduced on December 4 2005, the new course marks one of the rare occasions that the Strip is closed to traffic. Prior to that, the course had run on the old Los Angeles Highway, beginning in the community of Jean, Nevada, and ending outside of the City of Las Vegas in the county's Sunset Park.
Additionally in 2005, the date of the marathon was changed from January to December to help ensure better weather.
In 2009, the Las Vegas Marathon was acquired from Devine Racing by the Competitor Group and incorporated into its successful Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series. Zappos.com and the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) have signed on as official partners for this event and the official name of the event was changed to Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and ½ Marathon powered by Zappos.com for the benefit off Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.
