Nolan Abshere's Staging Area

Leading up to this race my expectations were high. I read that this was the best race in Arkansas and one of the best races in the US. Disappointed in the expo and communication on where to go on that. Dinosaur theme was weird to me. Was annoyed that the race was pushed up 2 hours because of “warm weather” but that actually worked out for me, so I could get back to my hotel and shower before I left town. Race day was good, I was in corral C and started the race right at 6, so that was a pleasant surprise. Other races I have done, never started on time and each corral took forever to start. The course was hilly, but not too crazy. The downtown scenery was nice and the transition to outside the city was interesting. There were lots of official and unofficial aid stations, providing water, booze, and snacks. The crowd support was awesome throughout the course. Very few areas with no support. Was annoyed by the two hills in the last two miles, but overall impressed myself with my time. Post race, lots of food and activities for the runner, but I left to meet up with family. Got my overly large medal and went home!

Thought this would be a fun race and a great time to visit some of my friends.
The race was good, but my biggest problem was that the course was too tight at certain points. I ran into a few people around the stadium and by the river. If the races were better staggered or had different routes that would have been better. Not a lot of crowd support and a gloomy cold day. But at least it didn’t snow like the day after!

I grew up reading the Oz books so I thought this would be a cool run. Wasn’t as themed out as I expected, some runners were dressed up, but that was it. The expo was super small. I was in and out of there in 2 minutes because there weren’t a lot of vendors. The race started seconds after the gun. The route is okay with some rolling hills which get annoying. Not a lot of crowd/community support, anyone who was cheering was cheering for their friends and family. A lot of the marathon is on a running path that has to be shared for a part of it because it is a down and back, so it can get a little tight. While on the path there isn’t much to look at, so it was kinda boring in my opinion. As I finished the race I was excited for the party and all of the benefits that came with it, only to find out that the party was basically over even though a lot of runners had not finished. It seemed like the event was for more of the shorter runs that day, so the marathoners were overlooked. They had a lot of volunteers for the course and finish and who were all super nice. Was a nice idea, but wasn’t executed as well as some of the bigger marathons.

I was super excited to run this race and experience Fort Worth, but I was kind of let down. The expo was okay, the course was hilly, and the post race party was just okay. I’d like to run it again though, to atone for my race and conquer that giant hill on Mile 9-10!