Marathon Details - 3 Bridges Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > AR > Little Rock > 3 Bridges Marathon

3 Bridges Marathon

Little Rock, AR USA

December 7, 2024

http://www.3bridgesmarathon.com

More Info:	News
Results:	2023 \| 2022 \| 2019 \| 2018 \| 2017 \| 2016 \| 2015 \| 2014 \| 2013 Top 3 Finishers by Year

Contact Organizer

Name:	Bill Torrey
Address:	10300 Rodney Parham, Ste. D3 Little Rock, AR 72227
Phone Number:	(501) 231-3730
Email:	Email the organizers



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Reviews

Course 4.9

Organization 4.9

Spectators 4.1

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Number of comments: 16 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 > ]

M. K. from Chicago (12/20/2017) "Fast Flat Run along the Arkansas River" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Marathon #26 (state #19) for me. 3B26.2 went smooth. Plenty of water stops. Cool temps. Flat course with gentle rises over the bridges. Good food at the end. Shuttles were fast and frequent. Friendly organizers. Santa even showed up. Could have used a course map before hand. I did miss one turn but only a few extra steps.
P. B. from Dallas, Texas (12/18/2017) "Terrific Smaller Race - Good for BQ or 50 States" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Loved the course - the gently rolling trail took us through some beautiful scenery along the Arkansas River. Generous support with stations every 1.5 to 2 miles the whole way, staffed with great volunteers. The only suggestion I have is better signage along the return - I wandered off a bit on the street portion between the Clinton Bridge and the other part of the trail, and a couple of runners missed the left turn coming back at the Mile 7 marker. Great food at the finish (pizza, snacks, sodas) and easy shuttle service to the offsite parking lots. Definitely recommend!
J. V. from Cleveland, OH (12/17/2017) "A hidden gem of a marathon by runners for runners" (about: 2017) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 A well organized race on a beautiful course with an abundance of volunteer support. This is a great small race, but I am guessing it will eventually get much larger as more runners hear about it. There was a lot of heart and soul put into this race by the main staff and the passionate volunteers. The course is relatively flat except for the bridges, and very scenic.
B. C. from Shreveport, Louisiana (1/3/2017) "Small Race That Showcases Large Running Community" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Little Rock is home to a fantastic running community and this race really shows it off. This isn't a flashy race like the town's main late winter marathon. I've run larger 5k's. But it's a well-organized race that provides a (mostly) flat, fast option in in midst of a hilly city. As everyone has mentioned, it's run on the area's multi-use trail along the Arkansas River. An out and back course, it traverses a few gently-rolling hills between miles 5-6 and 14-15. Other than that, the main elevation changes come from the titular three bridges that are each crossed twice. My only knock, as some have mentioned, is the fact that you pass the finish line at mile 19 on your way to a 7 mile loop to finish the race. While, I've run multiple marathons and ultras and can easily suck it up and keep plodding along, it just seems like an unnecessary discouragement. Perhaps it was thought there might be more spectators and support in this portion of the race. Well, there wasn't, really. I would think a better option would be to send everyone out on the small loop first, when passing the finish line at mile 7 isn't so discouraging. I understand, though, this would prevent the early start for the slower runners, as they'd be circling back to the start about the time the main race began. Still...that's my only knock on the race. Parking was interesting. It sounded more complex than it was. Basically, in order to prevent runners from overwhelming lots at the start, you are made to park in one of two nearby church parking lots then shuttled to the start. The shuttle was a short trip and very quick. Volunteers were great for such a small race, but knowing the community, I knew they would be. With packet pickup in the small confines of one of the local running stores, you get the sense that this is a race for locals, by locals. That's not a bad thing as long as you are prepared to hunt down a tiny LRS in a strip mall. Although I'm not, it'd be a great low-key race for a 50 Stater or someone seeking a flat, fast PR race (when the weather is cooperating). But if you want a more challenging course that really showcases Little Rock and the BIG marathon experience, you might be better served with the city's marque race. Still, for what it is, this was a great race.
T. Y. from Dayton, OH (12/22/2016) "Nice smaller race" (about: 2016) 2 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Very well organized with great volunteer support. Post race food was great, with pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, cookies, and probably some healthier stuff I ignored. Spectators were very enthusiastic and encouraging, but were a little sparse at times (not a big deal to me, but if you need a huge crowd, this probably won't have it). The course was nice, decently scenic on a walking/biking trail. A majority of the bikers and non-race walkers were considerate of the event going on, but a handful of the bikers didn't seem to think slowing down around a group of runners might be nice (race staff did caution participants about other traffic at the race start). My wife is working on the 50 states so I'm discouraging of repeat races at this point, but we would absolutely do this one again, even with a 10 hour drive.
T. P. from North Carolina, USA (12/19/2016) "Friendly Staff and Volunteers, great course!" (about: 2016) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This is a really good smaller marathon. The race staff, volunteers, timing company, and race photographers are all top notch! Very friendly. Packet pickup was easy. Nice bag and race shirt! The course is mostly on the awesome greenway (Arkansas River Trail) with gradual hills. My Garmin 920 had 551 feet gain but most of the hills are the bridges and they are gradual. Just enough to mix it up. There is not much crowd support except at the aid stations and there are plenty of aid stations. The course needs more course turn markers preferably marked on the greenway because a couple signs got blown over. Could also use a lead biker. I won the race and was out front by 10+ min for 22+ miles and had to ask people which way to go several times and even the aid station volunteers told me my guess was as good as theirs since they didn't know the course. The weather was really warm this year but that's not the norm, just crazy weather swings. It was 40 degrees colder the day before and day after. The post race food is great. Plenty of variety and plenty of food, water, gatorade, fruit, pizza, hot dogs, burgers, snacks, doughnuts, anything you could want they got! Awards for placing overall or in age group were great! Loved it! Another great thing is FREE RACE PHOTOS downloads! This is a BQ and PR course when the weather isn't warm and humid. Great first marathon and great one to do for all your 50 state runners out there.
Y. F. from New Mexico (NM) (12/31/2015) "Excellent organization and lovely course" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Attention all small race directors: do what they did at the Jacob Wells 3 Bridges marathon in 2015. This was an almost perfectly 'run' race, which is remarkable given that this is just their third year. The website was clear and easy to navigate; the course map was great. This is a December race, and weather can be harsh here, but we were lucky with blue sky and little wind. However, it was cold at the start. But one of the selling points of this marathon for me was the heated tents at the start, with hot coffee. Other awesome amenities were the water stations and portable toilets at just about every mile, the flat course along the Arkansas River Trail (a gem!), and the three pedestrian bridges. Nice touch to do the turnaround at the Clinton Presidential Library. The views of the Capitol and downtown skyline with the haze rising from the river at dawn were outstanding. As were the churning water under the Big Dam Bridge, those big white birds out fishing (sorry I can't be more specific about the type of bird!), the rocky palisades, the green trees: beautiful. Don't look for a lot of crowd support because this is out on the trail; however, the folks that were out were enthusiastic. Water stations were absolutely perfect; some of them offered all sorts of nice sweet and salty snacks to keep us going. You almost don't need to carry anything with you except your ID and insurance card on this race! Just a couple of minuses that are not that important: The T-shirt was extremely over-sized. It was so comical I put a pic of it on my FB page. The medal, while pretty with its translucent red lettering, gives little indication of the location of the race. Those 3 bridges are so cool, I wish they had been incorporated into the medal design. I have three suggestions: (1) Eliminate the cruel intersection of slower runners at mile 19 with those faster folks sprinting to the finish; maybe start with those 7 miles on the peninsula? (It was pretty lonesome out there for us back-of-the-packers.) (2) Be more specific on the website about the finish time limits: at first it said there was no time limit, but later the site said we had to decide whether to start early (at 5 am instead of 7 am) because we had to finish in 6 hours, Which is quite a dilemma for those hovering around the 6-hour mark. (3) Figure out a way to keep a few pizzas hot for us slowpokes at the finish. A frigid slice of pizza is just so wrong, especially after 26.2 miles. I did manage to get a nice hot hotdog. All in all, a fabulous race. Highly recommended. Do this one in AR if you are a 50-stater or if you want to avoid the crowds and super-slow start of the Other Marathon in Little Rock.
C. G. from Lees Summit, MO (12/23/2015) "great race to end the year" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 If you're looking for a well-organized, smaller marathon (I think less than 400 runners), 3 Bridges would be a great choice. Communication before race weekend was adequate - either through email or on their Facebook page. Expo was at a local running store. I was able to get my materials quickly, and they had free 3 Bridges gloves for everyone. Based on info from the race people, I stayed at a hotel within a couple miles from one of the shuttle locations for race day. I thought the shuttle system worked fine to get me to and from the race. The temp was 30 degrees at the start of the race, but they had a tent and heaters going and I had no problem staying warm. Beverages and bananas were available in the tent before the race. The race ran along the Arkansas trail and it was a really nice course. The bridges kicked my butt, but I really liked the course. There weren't a lot of spectators, but those that were there were enthusiastic. The people at the water stops were very friendly and supportive. They had Gu at 1 stop. They had orange slices and bananas at another. The announcer calls out your name and where you're from when you go past the finish line around mile 19 and again when you cross the finish line at the end. The weather was perfect, and overall I loved the tech shirt, the medal, the race and the way it was organized and run. They do a great job with this race and I would highly recommend it.
S. C. from Florida (1/6/2015) "Top notch race management and terrific course." (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The race management team really pulled together after the tragic death of the race director a month before the race. These folks put on a terrific event, in spite of miserable weather (cold, rain, wind). Great small marathon with attention to details like transportation and great aid stations. I bet this would be a beautiful course on a nice day!
D. O. from Little Rock (3/19/2014) "great race" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 A great race, no traffic, good time, smaller field which makes it not as crowded.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 > ]

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M. K. from Chicago (12/20/2017) "Fast Flat Run along the Arkansas River" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Marathon #26 (state #19) for me. 3B26.2 went smooth. Plenty of water stops. Cool temps. Flat course with gentle rises over the bridges. Good food at the end. Shuttles were fast and frequent. Friendly organizers. Santa even showed up. Could have used a course map before hand. I did miss one turn but only a few extra steps.
P. B. from Dallas, Texas (12/18/2017) "Terrific Smaller Race - Good for BQ or 50 States" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Loved the course - the gently rolling trail took us through some beautiful scenery along the Arkansas River. Generous support with stations every 1.5 to 2 miles the whole way, staffed with great volunteers. The only suggestion I have is better signage along the return - I wandered off a bit on the street portion between the Clinton Bridge and the other part of the trail, and a couple of runners missed the left turn coming back at the Mile 7 marker. Great food at the finish (pizza, snacks, sodas) and easy shuttle service to the offsite parking lots. Definitely recommend!
J. V. from Cleveland, OH (12/17/2017) "A hidden gem of a marathon by runners for runners" (about: 2017) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 A well organized race on a beautiful course with an abundance of volunteer support. This is a great small race, but I am guessing it will eventually get much larger as more runners hear about it. There was a lot of heart and soul put into this race by the main staff and the passionate volunteers. The course is relatively flat except for the bridges, and very scenic.
B. C. from Shreveport, Louisiana (1/3/2017) "Small Race That Showcases Large Running Community" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Little Rock is home to a fantastic running community and this race really shows it off. This isn't a flashy race like the town's main late winter marathon. I've run larger 5k's. But it's a well-organized race that provides a (mostly) flat, fast option in in midst of a hilly city. As everyone has mentioned, it's run on the area's multi-use trail along the Arkansas River. An out and back course, it traverses a few gently-rolling hills between miles 5-6 and 14-15. Other than that, the main elevation changes come from the titular three bridges that are each crossed twice. My only knock, as some have mentioned, is the fact that you pass the finish line at mile 19 on your way to a 7 mile loop to finish the race. While, I've run multiple marathons and ultras and can easily suck it up and keep plodding along, it just seems like an unnecessary discouragement. Perhaps it was thought there might be more spectators and support in this portion of the race. Well, there wasn't, really. I would think a better option would be to send everyone out on the small loop first, when passing the finish line at mile 7 isn't so discouraging. I understand, though, this would prevent the early start for the slower runners, as they'd be circling back to the start about the time the main race began. Still...that's my only knock on the race. Parking was interesting. It sounded more complex than it was. Basically, in order to prevent runners from overwhelming lots at the start, you are made to park in one of two nearby church parking lots then shuttled to the start. The shuttle was a short trip and very quick. Volunteers were great for such a small race, but knowing the community, I knew they would be. With packet pickup in the small confines of one of the local running stores, you get the sense that this is a race for locals, by locals. That's not a bad thing as long as you are prepared to hunt down a tiny LRS in a strip mall. Although I'm not, it'd be a great low-key race for a 50 Stater or someone seeking a flat, fast PR race (when the weather is cooperating). But if you want a more challenging course that really showcases Little Rock and the BIG marathon experience, you might be better served with the city's marque race. Still, for what it is, this was a great race.
T. Y. from Dayton, OH (12/22/2016) "Nice smaller race" (about: 2016) 2 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Very well organized with great volunteer support. Post race food was great, with pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, cookies, and probably some healthier stuff I ignored. Spectators were very enthusiastic and encouraging, but were a little sparse at times (not a big deal to me, but if you need a huge crowd, this probably won't have it). The course was nice, decently scenic on a walking/biking trail. A majority of the bikers and non-race walkers were considerate of the event going on, but a handful of the bikers didn't seem to think slowing down around a group of runners might be nice (race staff did caution participants about other traffic at the race start). My wife is working on the 50 states so I'm discouraging of repeat races at this point, but we would absolutely do this one again, even with a 10 hour drive.
T. P. from North Carolina, USA (12/19/2016) "Friendly Staff and Volunteers, great course!" (about: 2016) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This is a really good smaller marathon. The race staff, volunteers, timing company, and race photographers are all top notch! Very friendly. Packet pickup was easy. Nice bag and race shirt! The course is mostly on the awesome greenway (Arkansas River Trail) with gradual hills. My Garmin 920 had 551 feet gain but most of the hills are the bridges and they are gradual. Just enough to mix it up. There is not much crowd support except at the aid stations and there are plenty of aid stations. The course needs more course turn markers preferably marked on the greenway because a couple signs got blown over. Could also use a lead biker. I won the race and was out front by 10+ min for 22+ miles and had to ask people which way to go several times and even the aid station volunteers told me my guess was as good as theirs since they didn't know the course. The weather was really warm this year but that's not the norm, just crazy weather swings. It was 40 degrees colder the day before and day after. The post race food is great. Plenty of variety and plenty of food, water, gatorade, fruit, pizza, hot dogs, burgers, snacks, doughnuts, anything you could want they got! Awards for placing overall or in age group were great! Loved it! Another great thing is FREE RACE PHOTOS downloads! This is a BQ and PR course when the weather isn't warm and humid. Great first marathon and great one to do for all your 50 state runners out there.
Y. F. from New Mexico (NM) (12/31/2015) "Excellent organization and lovely course" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Attention all small race directors: do what they did at the Jacob Wells 3 Bridges marathon in 2015. This was an almost perfectly 'run' race, which is remarkable given that this is just their third year. The website was clear and easy to navigate; the course map was great. This is a December race, and weather can be harsh here, but we were lucky with blue sky and little wind. However, it was cold at the start. But one of the selling points of this marathon for me was the heated tents at the start, with hot coffee. Other awesome amenities were the water stations and portable toilets at just about every mile, the flat course along the Arkansas River Trail (a gem!), and the three pedestrian bridges. Nice touch to do the turnaround at the Clinton Presidential Library. The views of the Capitol and downtown skyline with the haze rising from the river at dawn were outstanding. As were the churning water under the Big Dam Bridge, those big white birds out fishing (sorry I can't be more specific about the type of bird!), the rocky palisades, the green trees: beautiful. Don't look for a lot of crowd support because this is out on the trail; however, the folks that were out were enthusiastic. Water stations were absolutely perfect; some of them offered all sorts of nice sweet and salty snacks to keep us going. You almost don't need to carry anything with you except your ID and insurance card on this race! Just a couple of minuses that are not that important: The T-shirt was extremely over-sized. It was so comical I put a pic of it on my FB page. The medal, while pretty with its translucent red lettering, gives little indication of the location of the race. Those 3 bridges are so cool, I wish they had been incorporated into the medal design. I have three suggestions: (1) Eliminate the cruel intersection of slower runners at mile 19 with those faster folks sprinting to the finish; maybe start with those 7 miles on the peninsula? (It was pretty lonesome out there for us back-of-the-packers.) (2) Be more specific on the website about the finish time limits: at first it said there was no time limit, but later the site said we had to decide whether to start early (at 5 am instead of 7 am) because we had to finish in 6 hours, Which is quite a dilemma for those hovering around the 6-hour mark. (3) Figure out a way to keep a few pizzas hot for us slowpokes at the finish. A frigid slice of pizza is just so wrong, especially after 26.2 miles. I did manage to get a nice hot hotdog. All in all, a fabulous race. Highly recommended. Do this one in AR if you are a 50-stater or if you want to avoid the crowds and super-slow start of the Other Marathon in Little Rock.
C. G. from Lees Summit, MO (12/23/2015) "great race to end the year" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 If you're looking for a well-organized, smaller marathon (I think less than 400 runners), 3 Bridges would be a great choice. Communication before race weekend was adequate - either through email or on their Facebook page. Expo was at a local running store. I was able to get my materials quickly, and they had free 3 Bridges gloves for everyone. Based on info from the race people, I stayed at a hotel within a couple miles from one of the shuttle locations for race day. I thought the shuttle system worked fine to get me to and from the race. The temp was 30 degrees at the start of the race, but they had a tent and heaters going and I had no problem staying warm. Beverages and bananas were available in the tent before the race. The race ran along the Arkansas trail and it was a really nice course. The bridges kicked my butt, but I really liked the course. There weren't a lot of spectators, but those that were there were enthusiastic. The people at the water stops were very friendly and supportive. They had Gu at 1 stop. They had orange slices and bananas at another. The announcer calls out your name and where you're from when you go past the finish line around mile 19 and again when you cross the finish line at the end. The weather was perfect, and overall I loved the tech shirt, the medal, the race and the way it was organized and run. They do a great job with this race and I would highly recommend it.
S. C. from Florida (1/6/2015) "Top notch race management and terrific course." (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The race management team really pulled together after the tragic death of the race director a month before the race. These folks put on a terrific event, in spite of miserable weather (cold, rain, wind). Great small marathon with attention to details like transportation and great aid stations. I bet this would be a beautiful course on a nice day!
D. O. from Little Rock (3/19/2014) "great race" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 3 Bridges Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 A great race, no traffic, good time, smaller field which makes it not as crowded.

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Marathon Details - 3 Bridges Marathon