In 2014 the overall entrants exceeded 38,000 participants with only 3,208 runners completing the full 26.2 miles. 25,251 runners finished the half-marathon, 2,194 runners completed the 6.555-mile course while the balance ran a 5 kilometer (3.1 mile) race the day before the main event. Many of the short distance runners were costumed. The Monte Carlo Casino promoted a ‘run-thru wedding’ during the race. While a high volume of entrants is necessary to carry the cost of closing the Las Vegas Strip for more than 12 hours, the paucity of actual marathoners distinguish the Las Vegas event from other big city venues such as Boston, New York, Chicago, London, or Berlin where the number of marathon finishers range from about 20,000 to more than 30,000. While successful as a commercial, for profit venture, this race falls short of the original vision to make the Las Vegas Marathon a world class, competitive running event.