Julie Hamsa's Staging Area

This is a mostly local race ran by some really awesome volunteers. The aid station volunteers were super supportive and well stocked. The weather is also very nice this time of year in Arkansas, or we just got lucky! However, overall I personally didn’t love this course. I found it very rocky, to the point that 50% at least was not runnable; lots of rock gardens and ankle biters under leaves. Also beware, though not at elevation, it is filled with steep climbs and downhills. I got 3600ft cumulative elevation gain for the 50k. The swag was amazing, but I was surprised there were literally no bathrooms at any aid stations past the 4 mi mark. I’m a backpacking girl, but peeing in the woods with 100 of your friends running by is a bit much~

Fast course towards downtown. The scenery was lackluster through town, but there were a lot of fans out cheering for everyone. The finish line was a mess in the middle of the Univ of Texas campus, not really any place to sit down and recuperate. It was jam packed with people in a narrows street. I finally found my crew and had to navigate out, which was no feat. This is a point to point so if you don’t get a shuttle pass , which they ran out of, you have to figure out how to get back. Still, if you want a PR with some high fan vibe, it’s a good race. Plus you get the bang the gong if you PR. The shirts they gave out were a performance material that I found uncomfortable and thick, the medal was very attractive though.

This race was cancelled at about 8am the morning of due to lightning, from a storm predicted to come in the week leading up to the event. While I understand you can’t predict the weather, I feel the race producers had a poor back up plan and poor communication regarding this race. They even said the night before at the race meeting, “if nothing else we’ll just have the after race party.”

They reported they could not possibly refund any money due to the costs associated with setting up this event, however I find that hard to believe. The majority of the course was on the JW Marriott grounds, and only a portion of the bike required outside vendor assistance. In addition therr were around 800 people signed up to race at ~$150 a head. If the cost to secure the Marriott is their biggest expense I suggest another venue.
I did run most of the course later that day- the swim, while clever in the lazy river, seems like it would get very congested. The run course through the grounds were pretty, although the transition area seemed quite far from the swim.

I will not attempt this again- participants were offered a $30 discount on a $150 race fee for lost pines or SA 2024, IF they signed up within the next 2 weeks . Really? That’s how you show your participants they are important? The whole weekend at JW cost about $700 with hotels , nickel and dime hotel fees, food, and race entry. Did I mention I didn’t get to actually race?

Loved this race concept! There were movies and smores all through the night to keep runners awake and/ or fed, and the runners hand off tent was easy to maneuver. Not great sleeping/ facility accommodations, but i expected that. Race course was true Texas Hill Country-rocky with mild hills. Night time view was great! For the money I thought the swag was pretty pathetic- but overall would do again with the right group

This race was so well organized for someone coming from out of town. I knew what to expect at all times. Course was perfect! Challenging first 5 miles ( just run conservatively) , gentle miles 5-10 (all downhill and beautiful) and mentally rough last 3 miles as you come into town. So glad I signed up. I got to visit places all over the park too. I ran by myself but met lots of friendly runners. Will return for another race !