The mark of MOB Traffic is a decade of planning experience and a ‘can do’ attitude. 

On the morning of the inaugural Las Vegas Marathon, more than 6,300 runners had signed up to participate in the return of a full marathon inside the City of Las Vegas, with some signed up to run the full 26.2 miles, others a 13.1-mile half marathon, and yet others a special 7.02-mile race that paid homage to the state’s area code. 

While this might seem small compared to the 30,000 participants who sign up for established marathons, the writing is already on the wall that the Las Vegas Marathon is poised to become a nationally recognized event. Mayor Carolyn Goodman even issued a proclamation celebrating it, recognizing the course for its inclusion of Red Rock Canyon, Downtown Summerlin, Symphony Park, 18b Arts District, and Las Vegas Boulevard. The runners, including five locals who were among the nine first-place finishers, enjoyed a post-race party and finish festival on Fremont Street, presented by Meow Wolf.

“The Las Vegas Marathon was truly an ‘all hands on deck’ event for MOB Traffic,” says Paul Ames, special events manager at MOB Traffic. “Everyone was involved on race day, including 40 members of our fleet and safety, flagging, traffic planning, and dispatch teams plus 48 of our field, shop, and supervisory employees. Lindsay Kullman, our general manager, was also out in the field. This doesn’t even include all the team members scheduled the week prior and the week after, making up 2,000 labor hours, let alone office managers.”

One of those office managers was Mandy Frazier, who was responsible for tracking invoicing and payments from start to finish. Her responsibility gave her a big-picture view of the entire event that was months in the making.

“Paul spends months planning events and building the right team, providing me pricing and payment arrangements with the customer,” says Frazier. “I have a unique perspective that outlines all of the components, people, and equipment to ensure an event like this runs flawlessly. It can be best summed up as a million details, all under Paul’s direction.”

In every case, Ames manages the entire 350-page plan on the macro and micro levels. For example, Jarett Jarrell, flagging manager for MOB Traffic, had two distinct roles. As flagging manager, he was responsible for scheduling the 23 flaggers to work the event along four race sections that needed additional help controlling traffic. On one of those sections, his team assisted the Nevada Highway Patrol with the pilot car operation.

“While my supervisors Connie Hayes, Dawnny Lymon, and Tashi McFarland oversaw those flaggers, I helped set up road closures on Charleston Boulevard at Pavilion Center, and the northbound and southbound Pavilion Center lanes from Sahara Avenue to Charleston Boulevard,” said Jarrell. “I also assisted one of our traffic control supervisors, Anthony Vasquez. As soon as our section was set, we drove our routes multiple times to make sure everything was perfect.”

As soon as the final runners passed, Jarrell and his team reopened the road to normal traffic flow. This presented a unique challenge in that reopening the streets also made it more difficult to pick up sections between intersections and required technicians to be more strategic in planning pickup routes. 

“Paul provided me an extensive packet for flagger operations, which is why I think all of our flagging operations went smooth,” said Jarrell. “I was able to give the flaggers approximate locations and give my supervisors all the information that they needed to help run it. I give our entire MOB Traffic family and the other companies that helped us some major props in pulling this off!”

Jarrell wasn’t alone in giving props to the planning of the event. Antonio Jaggers, planning manager, noted that his team had anticipated working around a higher volume of traffic downtown, but the plan allowed the traffic control team to finish their setups on time, which slowed the flow of the traffic near critical work zones. 

“My job for the event was as a spotter during the placement of the concrete rail in order to close off the race course,” says Jaggers. “Spotters were responsible for helping forklift operators and Telehandlers move equipment without damaging anything or injuring any pedestrians and spectators in the area. We had no issues because every detail was so carefully planned out.”

Even when issues did occur, Ames and Jonathan Smedley, assistant special events manager, found solutions. Sometimes, this meant scheduling more people to compensate for a couple subcontractors that backed out at the last minute. Other times, it meant redefining roles to place people where they were needed most. 

“Early on, Bill Shepherd and Jordan Meyers cross trained many members of our dispatch, planning, flagging, and shop departments so we were better prepared,” says Lindsay Kullman, general manager for MOB Traffic. “Even my role changed on race day. I was originally scheduled to operate one of eight 8,000-pound Telehandlers, but ultimately joined Smedley in the command center, where we helped coordinate police, event partners, medical, fire, and other emergency personnel.”

Working in the command center gave Kullman a new appreciation for her MOB Traffic family and the various entities that came together to make the Las Vegas Marathon happen. She said it gave her an opportunity to be out in the field with a team that volunteered to work 18-hour days for several days, just to make sure everything was a success. 

“We cannot call out Paul Ames enough. He worked tirelessly on this project starting day one,” says Kullman. “From wallpapering what used to be a walk-in freezer and meeting rooms with traffic maps just to help everyone visualize the event to giving up weeks away from home, we are in awe of Paul. And with him, I am equally proud of our entire MOB Traffic family for stepping up with the same level of commitment for our community, customers, and each other. Time and time again, I’ve seen this dedication. It is what makes us the best.” 

While the race date for the second annual Las Vegas Marathon is yet to be determined, MOB traffic is ready to step up and accept the challenge again. The next race is also expected to offer three distances — a marathon (26.2 miles), a half-marathon (13.1 miles), and a distance unique to the local Las Vegas area code (7.02 miles). There is no question it will attract even more runners and spectators. 

Phil Dumontet, CEO of Brooksee and producer of the Las Vegas Marathon, was particularly impressed with the inaugural results. He congratulated all of the participants who helped Brooksee make history and thanked the local partners for supporting his team in bringing a premier 26.2-mile marathon back to Las Vegas. It was a history-making moment that was long overdue and three years in the making.