It must be difficult for such a highly rated marathon to continually live up to expectations, but the 2013 Little Rock Marathon did just that. What a top-notch organization! Everything from registration to the post-race party was exceptional. Geneva and Gina should serve as examples to race directors everywhere on how to run a great race weekend.

Pros:
- Really appreciate corrall start. Nice to be able to start right out on pace
- Volunteers were plentiful and so friendly
- Not too many hills, but a couple get your attention
- No problem with mix of full, half, and walkers. Plenty of room to run together
- Very nice to have the governor out there cheering us on
- Always enjoy having Bart Yasso calling out the finisher's names
- Results were available almost immediately after finishing
- Beer at the finish
- Best post-race party ever! I like the idea of coming back after getting cleaned up and rested a bit. The food and adult beverages were plentiful and fantastic. I enjoyed the silly but fun photo ops that were available. And the band, 'The Salty Dogs',was terrific.
- Love the gigantic medal.

Cons:
- Not really sure if or when there was going to be an awards ceremony (was there one?)
- The Peabody Hotel. The location of this hotel is perfect, literally attached to the convention center, and a short walk to the start and finish line. Perhaps for this reason, they presume they will always be designated as the host hotel. But I don't recommend staying here. The first night the noise from the music in the lobby was so loud that I could here it clearly, with my door closed, in my room on the 14th floor! Not what you want when you really need a good nights' sleep. Add to that a lack of in-room coffee makers, high-priced coffee and food on race morning, no early shuttle to the airport the next morning, and a generally ambivalent attitude toward the runners leaves this hotel low on my list. But I want to be clear that this is a critique of the hotel, and not of the race organization.

I am pursuing the 50 states and chose this marathon because so many other Marathon Maniacs and 50 State Club members were going to be there. I would rate it as one of my top 5 marathon experiences so far! They have EVERYTHING down to a science. A+! It's a stretch to find anything constructive to say.

Positive:

-Excellent communication, including social media and pre-race packet in the mail.
-VERY supportive of walkers and slower runners. The BEST part of this race!
-Miles were well-marked.
-HUGE medal!
-Well-stocked aid stations.
-Awesome volunteers on the course.
-Nice on-course entertainment.
-2 hour early start for slower participants.
-number of hotels in walking distance of start/finish
-availability of perks pavilion (for extra $$). I recommend it for the great food and also an easy place to change clothes after the race.
-nice variety of food at the finish (even if you don't do the perks pavilion). Plus, chocolate milk!
-BART YASSO was there at the Expo and on race day. Huge bonus!

Negative:
-Shirt was an ugly maroon color with short sleeves and the material was cheap. I guess they put all of the schwag money into the medal.
-Very few clocks on the course (that I noticed anyway).
-Not many Italian food choices within walking distance of start/finish but they did have a pasta dinner.

There were some tough hills in the later part of the course but these were advertised. The out and back stretch between miles 18 and 23 was a bit boring at times, in part because spectators couldn't get there without walking or biking. However, it was AWESOME to see people ahead of you and behind you, and it provided a great way for runners to support one another.

If you are new to the area, I highly recommend taking the time to check out the Clinton Library. WELL worth the time!! And there a lot of cute shops in Little Rock but discovered most are closed on Sundays. :( I stayed at the Holiday Inn Presidential Downtown which was easy walking distance to/from the start and finish. They had a decent rate. Also, check out the River Street Marketplace. Great place for lunch the day before!

Overall, this was a great marathon experience. You should really run in Little Rock! And try to arrange your travel plans to allow you to stay for the post-race party. It's included in the registration fee and is awesome (though get there early for best food selection).

The organization, the people, the course (3 mile hill was tough) the stations were great! We can't forget the Medal, worth every step! Little Rock you rock!

First, I can't say enough good things about the organizers and volunteers in Little Rock. The people of Little Rock deserve some recognition also. Here are a few pros and cons:

PROS:
- The Big A** medal! Wow!
- Nice Expo. Not the best, but above average.
- Nice tour of Little Rock.
- I loved the 2nd half of the course, as it had less turns, bumps and 10k/half runners than the first half.
- Many great hotels near the start/finish.
- If you are a walker, the early start gives you 8 full hours.
CONS:
- The first half had so many turns, I never knew exactly where I was.
- Plenty of bumps and otherwise rough pavement, but mostly in the first half.
- The 10k, Half and Full Marathon all start togethor. Too many people, even with the corrals starting several minutes apart. Why not run the 10k on Saturday with the 5k?
- The 'Host' hotel (Peabody) had decent marathon rates, but charged for everything else, including coffee and other prerace meal items that most Host hotels would provide for free. There was also no in-room coffee or fridges.
- The 'Host' hotel would not give late checkout to anybody, which increased our stress, since we had to go to the airport within 2 hours of finishing.
- 8am is too late to start a full marathon. 7am would be better. The sun was up by 6:40.

I would definitely run this race again, but I would not stay at the Peabody Hotel next time.

I have run this race every year since its inception, but just the half the last two years due to injury. My initial perception holds true: this is a great race for any pace. LR is a welcoming race that doesn't take itself too seriously.

This year I enjoyed the friendliness of the crowd, the jazz band in NLR, the sole blues man at Villa Marie, the funky recorded music in front of Philander Smith. The churches we run by, whose days we wreck every year, come out and cheer for us. The police were high fiving and cheering for us. Even the homeless guy with a' Jesus loves you' sign was rooting for runners.

I was running at the back of the pack this year, and was impressed with the diversity of participants. All ages, colors, shapes, sizes, and levels of experience were to be found.

My only concern was that in some places where the course doubles back on itself the fast runners may have been squeezed by the slow runners. As a slow runner, I was not affected, but I felt for those front of the pack guys we were crowding.

Can't say enough about how much I loved this race! So great! They offered an early start for those who can't finish within 6 hours. I'm on the cusp of 6, so I opted for the early start. I ran with the 6 hour pace group led by Steve Hughes and Elaine, and they couldn't have been better. They made it so fun that I hardly even think I did a race! Not much in the way of spectators (especially for the 6 am start), but the ones there were incredibly enthusiastic and friendly. The volunteers were the best. One policeman handed out candy to us! Plenty of water stops with a variety of snacks, fruit, and candy - don't usually see that many at races.

Expo was very good & when needing questions answered, someone was right there to answer and would even walk with you to get to the right person. Everyone was so helpful and friendly. I had gotten the VIP perks pavilion which I recommend. They were set up and ready to go at 5 am, and it was nice to huddle around the heaters because it was literally freezing for the 6 am start. Parking was easy since I got there so early, so I don't know how it was for the regular start racers.

There are a few hills and a couple steep downhills, but nothing I'm not used to living in South Carolina, but could be a concern for people not used to them. I thought the course was very beautiful with it going through some lovely neighborhoods, the sunrise over the bridge and river, going past the capitol building and the governor's mansion. Little Rock is a great city - and that medal! My bag was flagged for extra screening at the airport, but the TSA guy was a runner and had never seen something like that!

I stayed in a hotel in North Little Rock, but getting to the race start was no issue at all. I'm doing the 50 states, but would gladly repeat this one.

I am still smiling about the marathon I did yesterday!! I am one of the pokey slow runners/ walkers that is usually one of those that finish with no fans, no support, no snacks and no rest stops.
Guess what? With a two hour head start ( 6 am), I was able to finish in the MIDDLE of the action! WOW! A great organizational masterpiece- saw a lot of the city, nice volunteers, even people to cheer!! The best marathon yet!!

I haven't been able to stop talking about this race and the time I spent in Little Rock. I did this race following Jackson Mississippi in January and Birmingham Alabama in February, and while both were well-executed, Little Rock was in a league of its own. Notes for 50-Staters/Maniacs:

-Host hotel had a 2 night minimum stay so I stayed at the Capital Hotel over the road which turned out to be a vacation in itself. Go to Tripadvisor.com to see the comments on this hotel - it's basically worth going to Little Rock to stay here
-Met at the airport by Rich, the driver for the Capital, who drove just me back in an Escalade
-Met at the hotel by the concierge, Lauren, who took me to the room (there is no check-in process which is fabulous)
-Wonderful Lauren had collected my bib/chip for me after a panicked exchange of emails and calls, as my flight (due to land at 1pm) didn't land until 6pm when the expo closed - Note to all race directors: please, please extend the expo until 9pm if you don't have race day pick-up; so many places have 2 whole days of expo and finish the second day at 5 or 6pm. Cut it back to 1 day and make it a long one.
-Liked the course (compared to Jackson and Birmingham) and I found it to be fast
-Liked the out-and-back in the park, which came at a point late in the race where it's comforting to know what to expect next
-Incredible port-a-potty situation where I never saw anyone waiting in line during the entire race, except of course right before the start
-While I don't usually like being mixed in with the half-marathoners, this was an exception and they helped me run faster. Course never felt clogged up
-Signs pointing to split for half and full were very clear
-Volunteers numerous and friendly
-Aid stations super well-stocked - so many bananas and oranges from early on which was awesome. Have never been better fed and hydrated which may have helped account for a better than usual finishing time
-Foil wrap given to you after finishing is held together by a clothespin (who thinks of these wonderful details? Most of the time, you are clutching your foil with one hand trying to keep it on, juggling post-race food and drink in the other hand
-Medal - well, it has to be seen to be believed

On top of an amazingly well-run race, Little Rock itself is also a dear place with a handful of nice restaurants downtown and the crown jewel is the Clinton Library which is a must.

This race deserves the hype and everyone involved in organizing it deserves an enormous thank you for a wonderful event.

This was my first 26.2 Little Rock (2012). I registered because I had read that the medal was large. It's not just large. It's Hu-u-u-ge. I could stop at that, but I must comment that the pre-race organization was superb (that regulation booklet they post by mail prior to race was priceless). I can't complain about any aspect of the organization. When I offered to volunteer pre-race there was no response because they were full of volunteers early on, which also conveys their readiness for race day coordination.

I can't remember whether post-race amenities were satisfactory because the post-race party positively overshadowed any previous impressions. Unfortunately I couldn't stick around for too long at the post-race party because I had to fly out soon the same evening. Yes, the temperatures were cold prior to the start, but fortunately I had purchased incidentally access to the VIP area, which was so much worth the price that I was wondering why at least more repeat participants didn't do VIP.

I highly recommend VIP to somebody concerned about bag drop and pick-up, pre-race stretching, toilet access and nutrition, as well as staying warm (there were heaters in the VIP area). I probably should award more stars to the course and spectators because the course does wind through beautiful neighborhoods and there were residents on their lawns rooting for us in our efforts to run against the cold temperatures. If I'm living anywhere near Arkansas next year I will probably repeat Little Rock even despite other races in attractive locations I've not yet run.

The race directors were AMAZING; we had some issues with our registration [our fault] all questions were answered within 24 hours!
Then every aspect of the race was perfect! Start to finish and everything in-between...Now what marathon will live up to LR?