Jacob Sephton's Staging Area

This was a fantastic race in Arizona.
1st- Really the only negative. Race Pickup and Swag was not the best. The shirt they gave us was really nice. However, their was nothing outside the bib and shirt. No vendors. Nothing extra. No extra clothing to buy. For example I always buy a hat at each race I run. Nothing to buy here. So even though the shirt was good. Very disappointed in the swag.

2nd) Start: The race starts Peralta Trailhead near Lost Dutchman start park. All marathon runners require a shuttle to get to start. So you have to get into a bus between 4:15 to 5:45 (depending if you have someone drooping you off or not). Near the start line while you wait for the race to start at 7am. You have a bunch of fires to stay around that will warm you up. Plenty of Toilets, and food and drinks. It was a very unique and cool atmosphere to start the race.

3) Course description. First 6 miles of the race are the best. You running on a dirt road. (its kept in pretty good shape) through the desert at sunrise. I had to stop a lot to take pictures. It was beautiful to see the sunrise on the mountains and the dessert vistas. All the cacti and saguaro were beautiful at this time of day (especially if your not from the southwest like myself). The next two miles or so your on a busy highway. Then from about 8 to 15 you do this big loop around some nice houses with the mountains in the background that is very pretty. Then 15-17 is back on the busy highway. Then 17 you will merge with the half marathoners though most of them will probably be done by the time you get their. Even if your fast. 17-23 back in the neighborhoods with great views of the mountains this does include the only loop of the marathon as well. Then 23-26.2 your back on main roads to you finish in a big sports park. Overall i enjoyed the course. The first 6 miles are absolutely amazing and outside the 4-6 miles on the highway you running through some nicer neighborhood with great views of the mountains and desert foliage.

3) Aid stations: They were great. Volunteers were amazing. Aid station every 2 miles or so. All had toilets’. All had water. Half had Gatorade. And a couple had bananas or gels.

4) Difficulty: A couple hills on this course but overall pretty flat. Nothing to difficult on that end. Weather will be cool in the mourning but warm up. It was 50 when i started and upper 60s when i finished. Don’t believe their should be to much variance. Only thing that would suck would be if it rained (witch could happen, but not likely). The rain would defiantly impact the first 6 miles witch could get very muddy. Luckily for myself it was dry.

5) Finish line was nice. Medal was good. Had the Lost Dutchman state park logo in a gold color and on the back saying “run for the gold”, but like the racepick up very little post race stuff. Some water and Gatorade only in cups. With just chips, fruit, and bagels.

Overall I enjoyed the race greatly and would recommend it to anyone wanting to cross off Arizona. The scenery and start seem to make it better then some of the other Phoenix area marathons. It was a decently easy course with great volunteers. The medal and T-shirt were both nice. Just be aware that their is little Swag outside of that as of 2024.

I really enjoyed the Little Rock Marathon. The race is on a Sunday. The Expo was at the local convention center. It was decent size. The process was quick and easy. The bib came with a nice t-shirt and small little poster. Race was at 8am. We had perfect weather. Sunny and low 54 high 74. I doubt you will have crazier weather in early march outside of rain. Temperature rise it should be fine. You actually meet inside the convection center before you went outside. Only race were I ever had that. It was nice you could use indoor bathrooms. The first 7 miles you go across the river. Outside the bridge pretty flat. Nothing to interesting. Then you go across the city. You go through some really cool sites like the State Capital. Around mile 11-12 is when the half marathoners cut off from the full. However, this is when the elevation starts. Mile 13-18 is a pretty steady inclined. It is tough. So be prepared for those hills. Around mile 18 you go into this wooded area for a couple miles and it is a big downhill. So be carful on that. Mile 19-23 was my least favorite part. You basically run along side a golf course. So you have no shade. Nothing to interesting. I personally had some struggles during this time. Last 3 are nice again running through the city to the finish line witch is the same as the start line. The Volunteers on the course were amazing. There were so many aid stations. ( I think lots were unofficial). Great crowd support and aid stations. When you cross the line you go back in the convention center. That’s when you get food and this Medal. Let me tell you. This medal is huge. Its about the size of 5 regular ones. I have done 6 full and 3 half. This one is the one that stands out. Its heavy, big and so cool. Very unique. Overall a great marathon. If your trying to do 50 states. This is the one you have to do in Arkansas

Completed the Nashville Marathon for the first time in 22 after completing the half in previous years. You start on Nashville Broadway in downtown. The first 10 miles or so the half and full are together. You basically run from downtown to Belmont University and back. Once you do that the half and full split off a for a little bit. The half crosses the bridge and goes to the finish line at Nissan Stadium. While full goes another 3-4 miles or so including my personal favorite part of running on the minor league baseball stadium of the Nashville sounds. You actually get to run around the field and get placed on the big board. Then you briefly join up with the half again across the bridge. When you cross it the half finishes at Nissan while the full keeps going to Shelby Park were you do two loops in back to finish at Nissan.

At the time of writing this was my 4th marathon (also done 3 half). This was by far the hardest race for me. 1) The Heat. Lot of years you could get lucky and this is not a factor for you. However, it was in the 80s the last ten miles or so and it was hot. I personally think if it was 10-15 degree cooler then I would of done about 15-30 minutes better. Second it is very very hilly. The first part was not to bad for me. Yes downtown Nashville hilly, but I bet other cities can be just as bad. The worst part is Shelby Park. There was a hill there that was insane. It was the worst. You had to do it twice witch made it extra bad. The hills and heat were not a good combination for me personally.

However, the rest of it was great. They had a lot of live music on the course. The volunteers at the aid station were great. Water, Gatorade, Gel, and even this Febreze they sprayed you that i have never done before that was great. The race day pick up was Thursday and Friday before the race in the huge conference center in downtown Nashville. It was extremely well organized. Additionally there was a lot of fun vendors at it too. Selling all sorts of stuff. I really liked the Tshirt and the Medal is usually always sin the shape of a Guitar.

Overall it was a good marathon. I wish it was in early April Vs late April to avoid the risk of really hot days like I did in 2022. However, hopefully most years it will be better. Would recommend it. Just watch out for some crazy hills the last 5 miles of the race.

This was a fun marathon. You basically run along side the lake or River the whole marathon. The temperature was perfect and pretty flat. One of my best times. The scenery was good, though not the best I’ve seen. After a mile the marathoners split off and go north running along the lake. You eventually turn around and go back to the start line area and the second half you are mixed in with the 5k, 10k and half running a long side the river and turn around again to make it to the end line. So there is some repeat running. Good amount of spectators and predestination the second half of the race. First half thins out and has few spectators. Overall organized and well done. Would recommend this.