Forums >Racing>Little Rock Marathon
Proboscis Colossus
Anyone get caught up in this mess this past Sunday?
There was a big cold front moving in that morning, creating the opposite of the usual race day weather trajectory - it started out warmish, and got colder as the race progressed.
I ran the half with no problems, except I was pretty cold once I stopped running (1:34). BIL and SIL were about an hour behind me, and BIL couldn't feel his hands by the end. And then a little while after that, MUCH colder, apparently with storms (we were back at my in-laws' house farther north by that point), which caused them to shut it down.
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
My dogs are fast, not me
I did! I was frozen solid by the end of my very slow half. The nearly 40 minutes in the rain from the gun time to my corral start didn't help. I had on gloves, but by the end, my hands hurt from the cold. It was 36 degrees and raining when I finished.
We drove home that afternoon and had ice forming on the mirrors as the temps dropped down to 31 by the time we got to Memphis.
Robin
Yep, we hit icy roads that evening, halfway between New Boston and Mt. Pleasant on I-30 (going the opposite direction from you).
Ugh, sorry you had such a bad experience at the end. That's usually a fun race when the weather cooperates!
The Little Rock Race sounds like a good one for me since I tend to crash at about mile 20-21.
Will they give me an adjusted BQ for that?
That would be totally....
There sure is a lot going on in that medal.
Yeah, don't get me started on their medals. That was actually a factor in deciding to just run the half this year...a normal-sized medal.
Holy crap that is a big medal! Someone forget to tell the RD that "Bigger is not always better"?! That Marathon one is massive....
The Plan '15 → /// "Run Hard, Live Easy." ∞
Wow. I have a co-worker with a huge medal from a couple of years ago from LR. But I think this year's is even bigger unless that girl's hands and head are much smaller than normal.
- Joe
We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.
It probably is bigger...I think I remember reading in one of the e-mails that it was "Even Bigger Than Last Year!"
Even if they wanted to rein it in a little, I think they're kind of locked into it now. One of the bullet points on their promotional materials is always "Biggest Finishers' Medal In The World!" And now most of the regulars expect it.
But that and the "theme," which is different every year and is rarely, um, subdued, are really the only things I don't like about that race. Everything else you want out of a marathon - good on-course support from stations and spectators, organized start and finish, post-race nutrition, etc. - is really well-done. The RD's and other organizers are good people and do a great job, their aesthetic tastes are just different than mine.
Everything else you want out of a marathon - good on-course support from stations and spectators, organized start and finish, post-race nutrition, etc. - is really well-done.
Unless you want a race that won't shut down because its cool and wet out, of course.
Runners run
See, I was confused by this post a little. Understood it got cold out, but they actually shut down the race? IE. Told everyone they could no longer run?
Similar situation, I ran the JFK-50 miler last year in November and one of those polar blasts was coming through during the race up in MD. Very windy and brisk with that polar front coming in, temp was at about 38 and steady on race start, had dropped to 34 near the race end. The windchills were pretty dang low, and flurries were falling around the time I was coming across the finish line. --- There was absolutely no talk of them shutting down the race though.
I guess I am confused because weather forecasts always indicate what to expect on race day, concerning temps or precip. The RD's knew the day before that cold weather and precip was approaching, but shut down the Marathon mid way through?
PS. From the looks of that promotional video, they aren't going to be scaling down things anytime soon! Finishers medals in 2015 will be the size of hubcaps. (Good news is you can hold 'em over your head to block out any rain that may occur post race)
Kalsarikännit
The cold weather/snow shutdowns (like Myrtle Beach a few years back) aren't about the runners. A race director is also responsible for the safety of the volunteers that are on the course. While the runners may be fine because they are at least moving to stay warm, the volunteers are out there for endless hours (especially at the later aid stations), exposed to bad weather.
Of course the RD's could help this situation by not keeping their courses open for seven hours.
I want to do it because I want to do it. -Amelia Earhart
MoBramExam
+1
Elitist!
It wasn't the cold and wet, it was the storm pushing in that had lightening strikes that caused them to "re-route" the marathoners (per their website/FB page).
And the weather did end up to be pretty awful. I had to go over to West Memphis, AR today (drop my dog at the track for boarding) and they still have snow banks on I-40 and the parking lots at the kennels were solid sheets of ice. There are people still without power in Memphis from the storm on Sunday, too.