Benjamin French's Staging Area

Little Rock loves their marathon. A small city but they put a ton of effort into making it a very special weekend.
Pros:
– The Marriot is the place to stay; connected to the expo, the start, and the finish. Enormous hotel, we were still able to book rooms a month out from the race despite it being the obvious choice for hotels. Lots of good restaurants walking distance from the hotel.
– World famous medal that is notable for its size. I’ve never heard of a bigger medal than Little Rocks. Think dinner plate size, and different every year based on the theme of the race.
-Great post race food. Spaghetti bolognaise, bars, water/sodas/energy drinks, a beer, etc.
– Great organization. Lots of aid stations, well marked course, Supportive fans.
CONS:
– The scenery on the course can be a little drab at times. There are a couple cool highlights like the capital building, but overall it’s not a “breathtaking vistas” kind of race.

Overall, this is an obvious choice for anyone looking for an Arkansas race. It falls into the category of “little city big race” along with some other well known races (Grandmas most notably) while still offering plenty of affordable hotel options.

I didn’t make it to the expo (packet pick-up available day of for an extra fee), but here’s my assessment of the race day experience.
Pros:
– Organization: Not quite majors level organization but close! aid stations were great, bag drop well located, plenty of bathrooms at the start, good communication leading up to the race
– Swag: nice finisher shirt and great medal. They also have on site medal engraving which I love
– Airplanes: Cool airplanes! Para troopers dropped in at the start which was cool, a couple fly overs from interesting military aircraft.

Cons:
– Significant time needed to get to start: They recommend 90-120 mins early before start time and definitely listen to this. 30 mins of traffic to get on to base, security check points, etc.
– Scenery: A bit dull once you get away from the airplanes. Lots of runways, etc.
– Heat: can be quite hot by the end of the race.

Pros:
– AMAZING organization. They had plenty of bathrooms at the start, something almost no one seems able to accomplish. Very staggered start meant the 56k people doing it weren’t all right on top of each other, although it was still crowded.
– Awesome course. Hits lots of the major landmarks in London.
– Great aid stations. Bottled water, lucozade, gels, etc
– Probably the best fans I’ve experienced. Applauding you on the subway after, packed multiple people deep almost the whole way down the course.
– Expo was easy to get to and easy to navigate. So much better than Tokyo’s.

Cons:
– Roads can be narrow at times which can make it feel a little more crowded.
– Not a lot of shade on the course so if it’s a sunny day, make sure to wear a hat/sunglasses/sunscreen.

2nd Annual race, but you wouldn’t know it. They are extremely well organized.
Advice:
– Stay at the Hyatt… it’s directly connected to the expo, the start is directly in front of the building, and the finish line is behind the building. That combined with the easily walkable downtown area means you won’t need your car after you park it.
– Train for some hills. There was about 1200ft of elevation gain or so, according to my watch.
Pros:
– Great swag! The shirt is awesome. Great logo, great quality. 5/5. The medal is also really fun. I loved the whole olympic theme… when you finish they put a laurel wreath on your head. Very fun.
– As above, the best hotel/expo/start line/finish line proximity of any race I’ve ever done. Wildly convenient.
– Great volunteers.
Cons:
– At points, the marathon course could be better marked. I wondered if I was running in the right place at times.
– Weren’t many spectators, but it was also 22 degrees at the start so that could have been why!

Would definitely recommend this race to any 50 staters looking for a GA race!

This race has exceptional organization. They manage to get a lot of runners through the course with minimal trouble. A few notably excellent things:
– halfway through they have a “mile to remember” where they have hundreds of pictures on both sides of the road of service members killed in combat for about a mile, spaced every 6ft or so. They are organized by the date they were killed in action, and the most recent was about 2 weeks before the race. Immediately after they have the family and friends of those service members lining the course, holding American flags. One of the most emotional experiences I’ve had in a race.
– they also have a great finisher medal.
– well run expo. Probably best to avoid Saturday afternoon if crowds bother you.
– TONS of portopotties at the start… finally someone who gets it.
– lots of gels and Gu’s along the way.
– Fun finisher festival with lots of food.
– get to see lots of the famous monuments and buildings in the DC area.

Would highly recommend this race!

Overall this is a fantastic small town race that gradually goes downhill and passes some beautiful scenery.

Pros:
– Amazing small town feel. Packet pickup at the library, race finishes at the local high school
– Gear check bag is a potato sack!
– Friendly, welcoming community. A race that doesn’t take itself too seriously in a wonderful way. Family can line the finish line.
– Well organized. Pre-race breakfast, school busses to starting line, great dinner the night before.

Cons:
– Wooden finisher medals.
– Course marking could have been better… many of the mile markers weren’t present or had fallen over/been removed.

Really great race in Louisiana. This is not an old marathon, but the organizers are really trying to make this a big race. Expo is great, medals are great, would definitely recommend the VIP experience (heated tent with private bathrooms right next to the start line). Easy to find affordable hotels right next to the start/finish. The first half of the course is really nice, looping through campus. The second half is a very long out and back on a much less scenic road, so the folks doing the half marathon (which follows the first half of the marathon course) definitely aren’t missing anything.

– Point to point race from Vermont to Mass.
– Incredibly beautiful course, most of it along a river with tall trees on either side that provide plenty of shade. Even though this is in August, was not too hot.
– Net downhill.
– Excellent finisher shirt. Comfy, cotton shirt that I wear all the time.
– Wooden medal (not so great).

Things to note:
– Hotel options are limited; book early
– The race sells out early in the year, so don’t wait to register
– There is often a harvest festival going on the same weekend in downtown Greenfield where they give out free food from the local farms that has been beautifully cooked by a local chef, have live music, etc. Great community, make sure to check it out.