Three Degrees of Hell will be a HELL of a good time!! Sign up for one, two, or three of these trail races! Run three of the races and earn up to four medals!! You earn one medal for each race and a fourth if you do all three!! We …
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Three Degrees of Hell will be a HELL of a good time!! Sign up for one, two, or three of these trail races! Run three of the races and earn up to four medals!! You earn one medal for each race and a fourth if you do all three!!
We are sticking with the “Lucky in Vegas” theme with the numbers 7 and 21! This race begins on the 7th month at 7 PM. Runners will either run a 7K or 7 miler during each race. If you run all three, you will have run a Lucky 21K or Lucky 21 miler!
The first race takes place on the trails in beautiful Bootleg Canyon at 7 PM. The second race takes place at 7 AM on the trails in the breathtaking Rainbow Gardens in Las Vegas. The final race takes place at 7 PM at majestic Whitney Mesa in Henderson (about 15 minutes outside of Las Vegas).
All 7 milers start at 7:00
All 7k’s start at 7:17
Every runner will earn a very unique medal at the end of each race. A fourth medal will be given to those that complete all three. We also will award overall prizes for each race and for overall winners that complete all three races when times are averaged. We will also be doing 1-7th place for both distances, male and female.
There won’t be shirts handed out this year, but ALL runners will get a kick as* race buff!
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Brutal series of amazing races
Overall Production: The Three Degrees of Hell is a series of three races held in the blistering heat of a Nevada summer. These are not PR courses and are more … MORE
Overall Production:
The Three Degrees of Hell is a series of three races held in the blistering heat of a Nevada summer. These are not PR courses and are more about the experience than pushing for record times. But they are quite the experience! This year they offered a series of 7K or 7 mile runs each starting at 7 o’clock with 12 hours in between (so, 7PM, 7AM the next day and 7PM that night). Lots of lucky 7’s in Vegas. You had the option to only run a single race, or to run the whole lot. Most people committed to 36 hours of pain, as the vast majority completed the whole series. Total participation was about 150 with a handful of people ballooning the numbers in individual races. And to make it even more awesome, the last race ends at a public pool. So they put on a big pool party with pizza and kegs of beer. Quite the way to finish such a brutal series!
Packet pick-up:
Packets consisted of the race bib and a few freebie gels and ads. Runners reused the same bib for all runs, so there was only a requirement to check-in once. All pick-ups happened at the race, opening about an hour before, and without so few racers there was virtually no wait. Super easy.
Swag (Buffs):
The race company opted to not do t-shirts but instead gave out custom buffs that they’d printed beautiful scenery from southern Nevada on. It’s a unique piece of swag, and will certainly be something that is practical and useful for future training runs and races. In fact, I used it in each of the three races in the series. It definitely helped in the heat – especially when you can stuff it with ice!
Pre-Race Administration:
The first and third races were done in public parks. There was plenty of accomodation for rest rooms – especially considering the smaller size of the race. The second race was more out in the middle of the desert, and thus required porta-potties to be brought on site. It might have been nice to have added one or two more, but it really wasn’t a problem. The rest of the pre-race admin was pretty smooth.
The Courses:
Race 1 – Bootleg Canyon (7PM, Friday):
The first race occured in the canyons in Boulder City, not too far from the Hoover Dam. This was BY FAR the hardest of the three races. Temperatures in the evening are always hotter than the morning, and it was upwards of 101 degrees. However, it was fortunate that the canyon actually provided a ton of shade. However, the trail was extremely technical and single-track almost the entire way. Quite a few people fell as it was just really difficult, and tiring, to run the trail. The first half of the run was small rolling hills and switchbacks that progressively climbed. At about the 2.5 mile mark we hit an aid station and then moved to a less technical trail that was also mostly downhill. Speeds were much faster at that point. Still, a very slow course, but a huge sense of accomplishment once complete. We also had an earthquake during the race, so that was interesting! One last note – total distance was definitely short of 7K (none of the distances were accurate in the whole series). It came out to about 4.1 miles.
Race 2 – Rainbow Gardens (7AM, Saturday):
The second race was run out in the desert just east of Las Vegas. While you were only maybe 5 miles from shops and town, you really felt like you were in the middle of nowhere. The race was run on a wide dirt road, so it was a nice change from the single-track of the day before. The run was relatively flat with a large 1/2 mile long hill at the mid-point. That climbed sucked on tired legs, but really wasn’t terrible. They had an aid station at the top and then the return trip was relatively easy. The one knock on this run was that it was completely exposed to the sun (no shade like the night before). So while the temperatures were only in the mid to high 80’s, it definitely felt much warmer that the first race. Again, total distance was a little short coming in right at 4 miles.
Race 3 – Whitney Mesa (7PM, Saturday):
The last race was run in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson on a small Mesa that is surrounded by houses and businesses. This race was the only one that had any paved surface, although it was mostly trails as well. While the other races were more in the desert, this one was definitely in town. There was only a little bit of climb, to get on top of the Mesa, and then it was largely flat again. As an out and back, all of that climb turned into downhills later, which was great. While the run initially takes you past some houses and businesses, once you ascend the Mesa it offers some spectacular views. This was probably the easiest race of the bunch, except for the fact that the distance was actually slightly long at just under 5 miles. And the best part? The race starts and ends in the parking lot of a community pool (more on that later).
Water and Aid Stations:
For most of the 7K runs they offered one manned aid station throughout the run. There were always a couple of extra unmanned stations with water, ice and small kiddie pools full of really cold ice water. It was common for people to stuff ice in their pockets, buffs, sports bras – whatever. It’s all about keeping cool. They also did a good job having EMS available throughout. However, fortunately that was not needed for anything more than a few cuts and scapes.
Crowd Support:
As these were run on remote trails, there wasn’t any crowd support. But the volunteers were great.
Finisher’s Medal:
Triple Dare (the race company) usually does wooden medals with layered wood to give it a 3D pop. These were no exception and were excellent medals as usual for them. They offered a unique medal for each race and a fourth if you completed all of the three races. I always like Triple Dare’s medals, as they’re just so unusual compared to what you usually get. These are no exception. Great medals! I’ll post pictures.
Post-Race Snacks:
Snacks are always a plus at Triple Dare races. They always had multiple fruits (oranges, bananas, watermelon), drinks (water, Heed, Gatorade, Monster energy drinks), and energy bars and granola. The final race was a big party afterwards, with pizzas, shots and a couple kegs of beer. It was definitely festive.
Results:
My one knock on this race is that they weren’t very fast in posting results. With so many races in such a short time, I’m sure it will all be posted tonight or tomorrow. But they were not as prompt as I’ve seen with other events. Not a major deal though.
History of the Event:
This is the third year that they’ve run this event and some of the locations have definitely changed over time, as well as the distances. Previously it was 5Ks and 5 milers, and those have been lengthened. Changes in BLM requirements to run races on their trails have caused them to have to adjust. But I have no complaints about their choices this year. Great trails, even if not the original ones they’ve always used.
So would I do it again?
The day that registration opens for the 2020 race series opens I’ll be signing up. My legs ache right now, but I’m very happy and proud to have finished this. Plus, it was just such a great community event. It was a great party with great people that happened to go through some shared suffering together. Triple Dare always impresses, and I’m making a point to try and attend as many of their events as I can. This is definitely the best race company in the Las Vegas area.