Taking a turn: Competitors practice driving their Land Rovers over an obstacle course at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Lake Las Vegas. Photo by Ryan Jerz.I’m in Las Vegas to follow and cover this year’s Nevada Passage adventure competition. The 2008 Nevada Passage is partnering with Land Rover’s G4 Challenge and serving as a qualifier event for Land Rover’s worldwide adventure challenge.

Today was the introduction of the athletes to the media and a practice session with the vehicles on a course Land Rover set up at Lake Las Vegas’s Ritz Carlton Hotel. As the media watched, competitors took the Land Rovers around a course testing it on rocks, driving over rugged terrain, and tilting the vehicles up to 30 degrees as they rounded a turn. The goal was to...

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The minutes leading up to the start of a half marathon (or marathon) are some of my favorites of the whole event. Runners in little more than light, airy shirts and shorts huddle anxiously awaiting the gun, their arms and legs goose-bumped as much from the anticipation as the chill morning air. Some spend this time toying with their wrist monitors, others jump or jog in place, and others scan the crowd, looking for familiar faces, or size up the competition.

I like to think about numbers. Ninety divided by 13.1—average mile: 6 minutes 52 seconds, that’s all. 6:52, 6:52, 6:52…I obsess over it. If I repeat it enough, I have to remember it, and if I can remember it, maybe I’ll finish in 90 minutes.
At the first Reno Rock-n-River Half Marathon, May 4, more than 700 runners and walkers had their own goals. Some just...

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Mel Meier encourages her Chihuahua Ox across the finish line. Photo by Charlie JohnstonIt’s a rat! It’s a furry remote controlled car! No, it’s a Chihuahua, running as fast as its four-inch-long legs can carry it. About 150 of the diminutive dogs raced Saturday and Sunday in the ninth annual Bully’s Sports Bar and Grill Chihuahua Races at the Pyramid Way and McCarran Boulevard location in Sparks to raise $2,100 for the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

As a newcomer to this odd spectacle (if any Chihuahuas are reading this, please don’t take any offense, I am referring to your owners) I had no idea what to expect. The images that haunted my thoughts leading up to the event were of a bunch of ear-piercingly yappy, shivering canines swarming around the floor...

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Golf Digest: Recently named Edgewood Tahoe as one of the 50 Best 19th Holes in America.Relaxing with a drink and a good meal after a round of golf is a something many of us have done in our time. A time-honored tradition, if you will. Often, a course is remembered by that experience, especially since so many of us would like to forget the round of golf we played leading up to that. So we appreciate a good “19th Hole.”

Sure, it’s not everything to just have a drink at a nice place afterward. We all want to at least give it a shot on a great course as well.

Enter Edgewood Tahoe.

Already a fine course that has served as the host of the Celebrity Golf Championship for years—one with gorgeous views of Lake Tahoe, including a hole or two right on the...

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The playground at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas. Photo by Joyce HollisterEverything’s a learning experience at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas.

Maybe you think this translates into “museum” or “cultural center.” OK then, it’s both. But the preserve’s indoor and outdoor attractions offer lots of fun for all ages.

My husband and I dropped by the preserve earlier this spring. The preserve is located on the site of the original springs where Las Vegas began—the words mean “the meadows” in Spanish. We both like history and found plenty to interest us, yet we could see where non history lovers—a.k.a., kids—can enjoy learning about Vegas’ ancient and recent history, culture, and natural history through ingeniously designed displays and hands-on exhibits.

Take the children’s playground, for instance. Little kids can crawl on a huge rattlesnake or play peek-a-boo inside the rib cage...

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