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Apr 28, 2024

Little Rock Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.2

Organization 4.6

Spectators 4.2

Number of comments: 409 [displaying comments 41 to 51]

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K. A. from Little Rock, AR (3/4/2014) "Poor job by the race directors" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Little Rock Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 The course was ok. It went through the city in the early miles and had lots of turns, then lots of gradual uphills around 14-16 and then had a very long out & back portion in the later miles around 18-23. I'm not a fan of long out & backs near the end of a course. Spectators were awesome. It was a cold, rainy, windy day and the ones who were out there were enthusiastic and encouraging. And now the problem: race organization (or lack thereof). Just under 4 hours into the race, I was at mile 22 and a volunteer held up a black sign right in front of me that read 'EVENT ALERT SYSTEM - EXTREME - EVENT CANCELLED.' I talked to several volunteers and police on the course and asked why the event was canceled and what we were supposed to do. They told me there was hail & lightning coming and that we had to get off the course & seek shelter in the nearest place which was a Walmart at the end of Cantrell Street where buses would pick us up and take us to the end of the race. Hundreds of us continued along the course for about a mile to the Walmart and waited inside for at least a half hour until buses picked us up and drove us toward the finish. Then mysteriously the buses dropped us off a half mile from the finish line. If the race was canceled, why couldn't they get us closer to the finish area? It was all so bizarre. So we got off the buses, wrapped in mylar blankets given to us in Walmart and walked toward the finish area. The clock was still running and some spectators were cheering for us as if we were finishing the race. I yelled to them, 'we didn't finish the marathon before it got canceled, we were hanging out in Walmart and took a bus!' I had to walk across the finish line to pick up my bag that I had checked before the race (that's the only reason I didn't go straight to my hotel from Walmart, as a local had offered my friend & I a ride to our hotel) and then I was offered a medal. Huh? I didn't finish the marathon. It was canceled. You don't get credit for a finish after a marathon has been canceled. I made it home thinking that the race had been canceled and all the runners who continued to run (against the police & volunteers' instructions) would not get credit for the marathon. The next day I found out that the marathon wasn't actually canceled! The RDs posted a video to FaceBook about how it had not been canceled and any indication that it had been was the result of a little slip in communication and 'that happens' when you have so many people at an event. No, that doesn't happen. The RDs are the only problem here. They have yet to apologize to anyone for their mistakes. They have not taken responsibility for their miscommunication and they have not earned any respect from me. Instead they claim they want to 'make things right' by giving everyone a finish time and a medal. Most runners don't want a finish time or a medal for a race they didn't complete. They want to run the full marathon course and earn their finish time & their medal. It's a shame. This could be a great event but the RDs ruined it. I will not be back.
D. M. from Fort Collins (3/4/2014) "Incredible medal" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Little Rock Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 The medal is fantastic - very creative graphics/design and about the size of a small dinner plate! The race hotel is very convenient for the race packet pick-up and for the start. The course is mostly flat and much of it interesting through old classic neighborhoods and at one point going by the famous high school that made national news for segregation. The cold/wet weather sucked. The multiple versions of the 'official' word on the weather-related race closure made for some anxious miles for me and, for some, not finishing the course. Some racers were told they had to stop, some were told they could go on at their own risk, some were re-routed, some were told the aid stations were all packed-up (they weren't).(All these rummor versions are pretty expected - one message obviously got translated 15 different ways by many volunteers.) In the end, I was able to finish the 26.2 miles and didn't experience the threatened lightning - just very cold rain/wind. I did the early start but understand some of the regular start waves went out over 45 minutes after the official 8:00 start . . . making for a long wait in cold, wet weather. For those who like expos, this one was pretty good size. The t-shirt is a good one with neat graphics.
K. B. from KC MO (3/4/2014) "Walkers Walkers Walkers Walkers" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Little Rock Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I really love this race. Great course with lots to see. Spectators encouraging if sparse. But why put so many walkers in front of marathoners especially on a narrow path in the later miles?? OK walkers need to exercise but was this event a marathon or a walkathon?? Please start slower runner/walkers in the back.
r. a. from Minnesota (3/3/2014) "Worst start ever" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Little Rock Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I read a comment about last year's race complaining that the start was too congested. Well they changed it this year...for the worse. They now have a corral system and send off runners in intervals. I was in the 7th group and had to wait more than 26 minutes to be released from the start line. That may have been OK on a nice day, but yesterday it was raining and cold. Weather was expected to deteriorate significantly by 10 am. In fact weather got so bad they 'rerouted' - not cancelled because then they might be expected to give refunds - the course and cheated us out of 5 miles. Bottom line - don't run this race unless it's a perfect marathon day and you don't mind standing around in a corral for an extra 1/2 hour or more after the start of the race.
S. R. from Seattle. (3/3/2014) "Cancelled it Mid Race !" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 Horrible! I was at mile 14 and was told the race was cancelled. I was forced to turn around and run back to the starting line??? It was 6 miles to the starting line, so I ran another 6 miles at my usual slow 14 minute pace. For 90 minutes I was terrified! They were announcing on all the loud speakers to take cover and find shelter. But there was nothign I could do, and nowhere to go. No help, no assistance, nothing. So I kept walking and jogging. When I got the finish line, I had only covered 20 miles. I was given a finisher medal (?) and told 'Congratulations.' For what? I spend my vacation time and money to get short-changed, and I dont care what they say, I didnt run a marathon. I am angry, sad, hurt, let down, and now, betrayed as they have the audacity to deny they cancelled the race. I guess I just dreamed up all the cancelled signs and loudspeakers. Horrific experience.
D. H. from St Louis, MO (3/3/2014) "My race was stolen by LRPD" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Little Rock Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Great course, expo, and organization up until race day, theeeeeen... Long wait to even start the race. 35 minutes to get to H corral. May race began, and it was a lovely race until 1130ish. That's when it hit the fan. Mile ~17.75, at the intersection of Rebsamen Park Rd & Cedar Hil Dr, the cops actively blocked participants from continuing on, announcing the race was over and to proceed to Walmart for pickup. They're the cops, right? You listen to them. Surely they're getting instructions from the RD, right? So we dutifully run to the Walmart, get on the bus, and get trucked back to the finish. They drop us off 4 blocks away, without any guidance where to go, in <40 degree rain. We run to the finish: some even got back on the course and crossed the mats, the rest of us ran around. We got our medals & the desperately needed mylar. And head back to wherever we were holed up, wondering where the severe weather was exactly, cuz there was only pissant rain for 2-2.5 hours after the race was called. But here's the punchline. Turns out, the RDs never called the race. In a release in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, they say they offered the option of runners to continue on. This is somewhat contrary to the release put out on the race website earlier in the day, mind you. There was NO option. The cops closed the course & presented it as information from the RD. And while I now feel better that the RD didn't chicken out based on the radar picture, I have to question how much control the RD even had over the race, that it was sabotaged so easily by the PD, who were, undoubtedly, getting paid extra for being there. I consider my registration, gas money, hotel fees, meal expenses, and MY TIME to have been stolen. I cannot recommend this race.
C. Y. from Louisiana (3/2/2014) "Really poor decision by organizers" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Little Rock Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Be careful or this could happen to you too! Bad weather was forecast 4 days in advance for Sunday afternoon. They have a 6am start for 6+ hour participants; everyone else at 8am. Instead of moving 5+ hour folks to the 6am start so that everyone would finish before noon they stuck with the original plan and made us wait up to an hour in corrals to cross the start line. Even starting at 7am instead of 8am would have helped. When the weather arrived right on time they closed the course and the 5+ folks did not get to finish. This means I can't check off Arkansas but when I do it will NOT be in Little Rock. Really poor decision by the organizers.
A. R. from Springdale, AR (5/15/2013) "best marathon in the state of arkansas" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Little Rock Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is the best marahton in the state of Arkansas! The course is challanging if you are not use to hills, but I train on a hillier route than that. I ran Boston 6 weeks later and Boston was a much eaiser course. March is the perfect time of year to run a Marahton in Arkansas. Love the medal. The town of Litte Rock really supports this event. The only thing I would change is the t-shirt. In 2011 the t-shirt was good quality, but this year it was oversized.
M. Y. from Lansdale, PA (4/20/2013) "Great Race!" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Little Rock Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I had so much fun at this race. Stayed at the Peabody and had no problems at all. Could not beat the location to everything...restaurants, start/finish area, expo, post race party. Start was a little congested and I coudn't figure out if there was any organization to the 'open' category. Course was challenging and had some monster hills which wore my legs out, but very scenic and volunteers were amazing! Totally recommend this race....you need that medal! It is crazy HUGE!
j. w. from Spfld, MO (4/2/2013) "Great Race!" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Little Rock Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Great expo and packet pickup. Nice course (challenging)

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