Background: I've wanted to do this specific marathon for one reason: the giant finisher's medal! Each year, it gets larger. I loved the pirate themed medal from a couple years ago, and when I saw this year's theme was a Run-A-Licious, candy-themed event, I knew this was the year for me to do it! I encouraged a coworker to do this as her first marathon, since the time limit is a generous 8 hours and walkers are definitely welcome.
Spectators:
Marissa's dad and brother came from NY to support her, which was awesome. Ben ran the half marathon in the morning and then was able to see us just after the marathon and half marathon courses split, and he came out to meet us and support us at mile 23.3-25 before he headed to the finish to cheer us down the home stretch. Marissa's Dad was able to see us somewhere around mile 7 and again at mile 12, mile 25.5, and the finish.
It was great to have them there because there was not much course support otherwise. Miles 17-23, the hardest ones, were downright miserable! Aside from the other runners, there was no one! There was an aid station and a lone guitar player. Actually, there weren't many spectators from mile 15-26! Maybe they had all left by the time we got there, but it was surprisingly desolate and that's pretty discouraging on a gloomy, cold, rainy day! So it was nice having her cheer squad :-)
Hotel:
We stayed at Little Rock Marriott Downtown. I had two incredible nights of sleep on their bed, which was wonderful and a relief, since these were some early travel days!
Location was perfect ... connected to the Convention Center where the Expo and Finishers Festival was located, and we were a few blocks from the start line. The finishers chute dumped us into the convention center.
Cons: I was disappointed in their breakfast options for runners, perhaps being permanently spoiled by the Embassy Suites in Philadelphia and Missoula's Staybridge Suites, where they had a nice selection ready/available 2 hours before the race. There are NO convenience stores or grocery stores within a convenient walking distance of the hotel, so my backup breakfast plan of buying water and a bagel once I got there was foiled. I wound up ordering toast through room service.
Temperature:
Race day temperatures were not the 58-70F that were forecasted when I packed! Lesson learned: always take something for rain and colder weather so you don't have to sweet talk a homeless guy out of one of the rain jackets he was picking up along the side of the road! I later traded my red one for a lime green poncho from a girl at a water stop. The first three hours in the rain were miserably cold. It was fairly windy, but no horrible gusts. Bummer!Plan:
Our race plan was simply to finish in the upright position. I had an initial goal of 13 min/mile x 10-13 miles and then drop it to 14 min/mile but we wound up doing 13:30-14:30 the first 8-10 and I let Marissa dictate the pace based on what she was feeling. I think at mile 10 we dropped to 15 seconds running, 30 seconds walking, and around 18 we dropped it to 15 seconds running, 45 seconds walking. We never changed our beeps from there but we mostly walked the last 4 miles.
Course
Straight over the bridge, a couple turns in N. Little Rock, then back across the surprisingly steep bridge, headed left to stay along the river towards Clinton Library and Heifer International, a few turns and then running by the airport, a right took us back towards town, another turn took us by a cool park and some neat old homes. We ran past the magnificent and historical Little Rock Central High School, the State Capitol (1/4 scale of the US Capitol), a hilly area, and then 17-23 were an out and back along the river before we headed back into downtown. The course elevation chart is way off!!! The hills advertised around mile 18-20 are actually 14-17.
Highlights:
Seeing legendary Larry Macon on his 1874 or 1875th marathon!! He congratulated my friend on her first marathon and we got a picture with him.
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| Marissa, Larry Macon, myself |
The Oompa-Loompa Dad (green hair and all) and his son with the golden ticket, running the half marathon together. Later I saw him meeting up with what must have been Mom, dressed like the girl in the red dress from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Overall:
I love my medal, but once was good for this race. I am so glad we had our own cheer squad and I'm very proud of Marissa for her giant accomplishment.
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| Flat Janell |
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| Marissa and I, ready to go dark and early. |
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| Good incentive! |
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| Sugar high, runners high, I want them all! |
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| Not as good as the real thing |
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| Enjoying the race |
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| She's going to go for it! |
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| The support of family makes it so much better! |
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| Hitting her Half marathon PR |
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| Thanks... we wouldn't have figured that out... |
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| After the lipstick stop! I went with a color that matched my shirt :-) |
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| Oh yeah, this is what I came for! |
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| At home in Arlington |
