My First Marathon

The Little Rock Marathon was my fist marathon with Caroline in 2018.  It wasn't a bad start to running endurance races, especially if you are up for 26.2 miles of what the masses perceive as torture.  

The there of the race changes every year.  I happened to run with a theme of Runner's Quest, which meant Monty Python inspired race swag.  This race is also known for its heavy race medal.  I'm confident the one I sported after the race weighed over 2 pounds - and yes, it is the size of a dinner plate.

I met Caroline at the airport, where we shared a rental ride to grab lunch, do packet pickup at the race expo, and unwind prior to race morning.  

If you are getting into running, this isn't a bad first race - although there are better races to run for your first marathon.  The hill at the end of the race course solidified that!  There were a lot of memorable thing that happened while running - which made this worth the adventure.  A priest was blessing runners (I think it was around mile 8), we ran past the Governor's mansion, and there was plenty of crowd support.  Crowd support is something I started to consider in future races because there are times when you need the boost to help keep you going.

At the starting line... We are ready to run!

This race had a combination of hills and flat spots, some areas of elevation sucked.  We invoked Caroline's hill rule: just walk up the hills.  It works - and you can pick up the pace whenever you feel like it. Caroline and I did not run the entire race together, either.  We met up on the course and departed whenever.  It worked out well.  After all, 5 hours together with grunting, complaining about the marathon, and saying things that you would otherwise not say because you just gotta finish this thing you were crazy enough to sign up for in the first place, is just silly.

I do not recommend running a marathon if your longest run is 8 miles.  Yep. Did that.  Hips were killing me at mile 22.  At least there were only 4 miles to run/walk after that.  Then that final hill.

Well, I finished with a chip time of 5 hours, 6 minutes, 59 seconds.  Not bad considering my longest run. 

The medal was so large that it needed its own selfie!

Gun time: 5 hours, 9 minutes, 23 seconds.

Crossing the finish line

Now, there is a finale.  Got on a plane to fly home after the race.  And I was a little sore.  Then I went to work the next day. And walked around like something was wrong for a week.  Be mindful of this with your training regimen and practice doing long runs so you aren't hobbling around the office like you are injured all the time.

Curious about the gear, pros and cons? Here is a readers digest synopsis of my experience with this race:

Shoes: Topo Flylite 2

Compression: Socks purchased on a large internet site

Pros: Rocking a medal post-race that shows a town that you are in fact, a bad-ass (or crazy) for a human-paced road venture of 26.2 miles, the priest blessing runners, and crowd support.

Cons: Not an overly-inspiring southern city, final hill at the end of the race, mich ultra as the post-race beer (that stuff might as well be hop-flavored seltzer).

Race injuries: Nasty blisters on my great toe and a few toenails that went to heaven.

Rating: 3.5 our of 5 running shoes because of the hill & post race beer.