KellieAnne Miele's Staging Area

The Little Rock Marathon was very well-organized. The organizers communicated well, with email updates, through social media, and through their own custom race app. The expo was smaller than some that I’ve been to, but there was still a good amount of vendors to explore. Race morning was very smooth, and I liked how they had an athletes’ village inside the convention center, which then led outdoors straight to the corrals. This meant indoor bathrooms instead of portapotties! (They had portapotties outside as well, but having the option of indoor was very much appreciated.) At the finish, they give you your medal and then funnel you back inside the convention center for food/photos/gear check. Again, very smooth, no confusion. From what family and friends told me, the custom app worked fine and they had no issues getting my tracking updates.

The course itself was not very scenic; there was a cool bridge we went over twice, and we passed the governor’s mansion (the governor was outside cheering runners on), but then there were some industrial and quiet back roads that didn’t have any spectators. Once we were back in the more residential/business areas, there were a good amount of spectators. Course support was great – it was very humid since the forecast said thunderstorms (that never happened), but I never noticed the aid stations running out of water/gatorade due to people probably taking extra with the humidity. I found the course to be pretty flat, except for a few small hills toward the end. Everyone involved with the race was friendly – from the expo, to the volunteers at aid stations, to the finish line volunteers. And as I’m sure you’ve read in other reviews, the medal is HUGE – and I only did the Half. I saw marathoners walking back later on and those medals were the size of a dinner plate!

In terms of travel and sightseeing, there were plenty of hotels within walking distance to the start, and a decent amount of restaurants. Beware though – a good amount of the restaurants were closed on Sunday, so there were less options for post-race brunch than pre-race carb loading. If you have a car, I recommend going to see Little Rock Central High School and learning about the Civil Rights history there, as well as driving out to see the town of Hot Springs (about an hour away).

All in all, I recommend this race!