People are too picky about races; it takes a lot to put a race together and I think the medal is cool. Stop your complaining and be happy for the gifts and abilities you have to run 26.2. The rest is just a bonus....

Decent race - about what you would expect for a marathon of that size. I feel that the race organizers devote too much money to the finisher's medal, however. The size only makes it look gaudy. Put the money spent on the medals back into the race, or better yet, lower the entry fee. Overall experience was good, but I won't return as I'm not interested in paying extra to get a medal that I don't want.

Flawless. Challenging. Perfect.

The city was a blast, the expo was the ideal size, transportation/parking was simple and inexpensive, the medals were just as advertised, the crowds were happy but on the sparse side, it was full of runners but definitely not crowded, the corral start was cool, the race directors were attentive and professional, the mayor and governor were excited to have you in their great city/state, the finish was fun, and the hills were unreal.

I will be back. What a great way to break up the monotony of winter training!

This was my first marathon. it was a great experience for a first-time runner. Like some have said, the course can be kind of dull, especially for people who are unfamiliar with the area. I loved the experience of having the crowd yelling for me by name. However, at the end, being pushed through the finishers' area was really frustrating. All I wanted to do was sit momentarily and I could not get a moment to catch my breath. Overall, though, it was a great first experience. It gives a very individualized feel and makes everyone feel like a winner!

LR was my 25th marathon. Recently I had decided to retire from marathoning, as my better days are long gone. A friend of mine asked me to run this one with him, as we have never run one together. So I agreed. I came away challenged, sore, tire, but best of all, a reborn marathoner! I qualified for Boston and will now train for the 2011 Boston. Great race, great course, great medal - I'll do it again!

The start of the race was the best of the marathons that I have run to date (9 marathons). Usually there are issues with the first 5 miles with the inability to run a consistent pace. The corrals were well organized and starting the runners that wanted to go at a slower pace was a great idea. The finish could not have been more organized. A good variety food and drink, having the multiple station with plenty of volunteers resulted in no waiting. The hot dogs was a nice touch. The marathon course, while challenging (the mini hill at about 25 was a killer), had a lot of scenic variety. Tech shirt great and of course the HUGE finisher medal (which is the hook to get a lot of people to go for it) could not be better. Hats off to the many volunteers; they looked like they were having a good time and sure made a great marathon.

First time I have been to Little Rock; hotel prices are very reasonable and there are enough close to the start/finish, which helps. I stayed at the Holiday Inn. While it wasn't a host hotel, they had free bananas, yogurt and water the morning of the marathon and had bananas and water out all day.

I really enjoyed everything about the marathon.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first trip to Arkansas and the Little Rock Marathon this weekend! We've done more than a dozen combined half and full marathons over the past couple years and this was both our smallest race as well as the only one that was coordinated by a group that is not one of the "powerhouse" race organizers. We didn't know what to expect and were very pleasantly surprised!

Everything - from the race course, to the weather (feel free to take credit), the goodie bag at the end (who gives hot dogs?!), the lipstick stop, the course marshals, the bodacious bar-b-que, and of course, the MEDAL - were primo! We took the early start, finishing in about 6:30, and it was such a treat to run and finish the race with people who were still racing and with crowds that were still cheering. I'm really enjoying telling all my friends how I ran a few paces (a very few paces) alongside a Kenyan gazelle! What fun that was!

As someone who works in economic development for a county government in Maryland, you should be proud of the impact your race has on the local economy. We built a mini vacation around our marathon weekend and left about $1,200 in your community because of this event.

Thanks again for a great weekend and a job well done. By the way: I wore my medal to work today and my colleagues commented that it was "obscene," "ridiculous" and "way over the top." My answer: "I know!"

Cheers!

Overall, this race is a mixed-bag. I will add that my comments below are for a marathoner who drove 13 hours from North Carolina to complete the race and who finished just shy of 5 hours. Because we had to leave right after the race (work the next morning), I did not get to enjoy the post-race dinner.

Positives
" The t-shirt is amazing! The brand A4 really creates great quality technical shirts and the huge logo on the back of the shirt along with a smaller logo on the front is fabulous (I am sick of shirts with the back listing all the sponsors).
" The medal is fantastic. As gaudy as expected!
" Receiving a race booklet in the mail 3 or so weeks before the race was a nice touch - it was full of local advertisements but I was nonetheless excited when it showed up in the mail.
" The expo was a nice surprise! I expected something small but it was a good size with a lot of vendors for a race this size! (But the goody bag they provided you with at the expo was very disappointing, as there was NONE.)
" Little Rock has a lot of local food establishments downtown and our inexpensive hotel was located within walking distance to the race start/finish. We were unable, however, to find a place that served spaghetti even though there were a plethora of pizza joints - strange!
" I have never been to a marathon where the aid stations were so overly stocked. For example, usually when I get to an aid station that has oranges, there are few to no oranges left. Not so at this race! They had oranges and bananas aplenty. In addition, the amount of gel they had available was unbelievable and a nice touch.
" Having your name on the bib so that people can see it is great. I don't know why more marathons don't do this.
" Having pacers for people finishing in 8 hours is a nice touch and shows that the race organizers are interested in all types of marathoners, not just fast ones.

Negatives
" The course is the most boring course I have ever run. You run throughout a long stretch of dilapidated neighborhoods (e.g., boarded-up houses) and do a very long stretch on an out-and-back along a road in a park (i.e., no fans and no view except for seeing runners running the other way 20 feet to your right). You run through one nice neighborhood where the mayor or governor lives (he was outside cheering people on which was a nice touch) and run past the Little Rock high school that was the first school in the South requiring racial desegregation.
" The VIP area is a trend that illustrates that some runners will be willing to pay extra for VIP treatment. What kind of statement does that make about the race itself? I prefer a race where ALL runners are provided with VIP treatment.
" After the race, you are sent down a single lane that branches off to the left and right. I wanted a massage and hopefully some real food (rather than the 4 junk-food items they put in a grocery bag, although it could be that the post-race dinner takes away funding from the goodies provided just after the race). To the right looked like stands, etcetera. No food and no massages. So I thought to myself that they likely turned the pre-race VIP area into an open area for runners afterward. I got to the area and a sheriff (i.e., bouncer) who was smoking a cigarette (nothing like cigarette smoke after a marathon) asked me for my VIP band. So apparently, VIP people get massages and food afterward and the regular runners do not. If this is NOT the case, then have volunteers making sure that each person who finishes the marathon knows where to go to get their non-VIP perks. Since I had to drive 13 hours back to North Carolina right after the race, I wanted a massage! I also still have my free beer ticket because I could not find the place to obtain my beer.
" I have NEVER seen so many homeless people in one city before. I have been to Washington D.C. and New York City where there are plenty of homeless visible, but for a small city like Little Rock, I was taken aback.
" The fans, in the areas that they tended to congregate, were okay. A pattern I am noticing with marathons that have a relay is that those participating in the relay or spectators for those doing the relay, tend not to care about cheering on others.
" Five of my seven photos were of me crossing the finish line. What this means is that there are not many photographers on the course itself.

Hotels were within walking distance and reasonably priced. I was at the Holiday Inn, which was not a host hotel, but they put out bananas and water the day of the marathon.

The expo was small but had everything I wanted. The short tees were $10 (a bargain and nice change from some of the other marathon organizers), and the packet pickup went off without a hitch.

Nice touch at the start of the marathon: the mayor spoke and had a convocation. I was in Corral B. This worked great. Although it was a little packed, the runners ran a similar pace at the beginning of the marathon. I could run a nice, consistent pace from the beginning.
The course itself was a little more challenging than most and more scenic than I expected. Mostly flat except for a 2-to-3-mile hill at the 15 mile-mark. The hill wasn't that bad but at the 18 mile-mark ran along the golf course one way for about 2 1/2 miles.There was one other double mini hill at the 25 mile-mark that was a killer. The congregation out at about mile 9 were great.

The finish area was great - well staffed with people handing out blankets, food and water.

The finisher medal was huge and the tech shirt was nice.

Overall, a great marathon; if you have not run this one, you should.

I really enjoyed this race, the Peabody Hotel was wonderful, the organizers were awesome, the course was ok, and the crowd was very supportive and friendly. Also, I was able to PR because of the great supporting crews. The medal is the best part. I will probably come back to Little Rock again.