Marathon #27 - Arkansas

As we are trying to save money this year, I am doing more back-to-backs to get two states done for the price of one.  The Hogeye was my second marathon of the weekend. 

The Race:  Hogeye Marathon in Fayetteville, AR on March 29, 2015

My training plan:  This was my second race of the weekend, so my training plan consisted of many back-to-back runs (both long on weekends and short during the week).  For more details, see my Kansas blog.

The weather:  The weather was perfect for a race.  It started in 40s, and got into 50s to low 60s by the end.  It was sunny with a few clouds here and there, and slightly windy.

Running attire:  I wore shorts for this race, as it was going to be hotter toward the end.  I also wore my traditional Liz shirt, iFitness belt, and Delaware Marathon hat.  I had my Marathon Maniac arm warmers and gloves, both of which I ended up taking off toward the end.  I also had a throw away long-sleeved shirt that I got rid of by mile 2.

My favorite running partner

Who I ran with:  I was very excited to be able to run with my sister Stephanie for the first 8 miles before the Half Marathon and Marathon split.  During those first 8 miles, we met Jimmy from Tulsa, who happened to be wearing an Atlanta Track Club singlet.  From mile 19 through the end, I ran with the 4 hour pace group.

Course:  The course had some crazy hills at the beginning, but then flattened out by about mile 3 or 4.  At beginning there were some curbs that stuck out into the road.  The road was pretty packed with runners at that point, because all of the races started out together, and it would have been good to have some warning about the road narrowing with the curbs.  Once you got out of the downtown area, it was mostly bike trails, which were paved (although some were concrete).  The marathon course went around a lake, which was very scenic.  There was one tunnel that we had to go through somewhere around mile 22 or so that was wet with some pretty big puddles, but at least there was no wind in tunnel.  Toward the last part of the course there were a few spots where we had to run on the (non-existent) shoulder with cars coming behind you.  Everyone talks about the big hill at the end, but it was nothing compared to the ones at the beginning.  And once you got over that hill, you could see the finish line from two blocks out. 

Organization:  The organization of this race was very good overall.  The roads were well marshaled and the police ensured that the intersections were closed off to traffic when the runners were coming.  They had great emails and a Facebook page to ensure you knew what to do and what to expect.  They had a lot of amenities that you don't usually see at races, such as childcare (which we took advantage of) and a worship service before the race.  I can't comment on the Expo because we weren't able to make it in time, but I loved  that they had race day packet pickup.   The course was very well marked and marshaled with mile markers at every mile and tons of water stops and porta potties.  Volunteers were everywhere, and always very helpful and enthusiastic.

For the most part the water stops were great.  They were extremely frequent and had both water and Gatorade at all of them.  The one around the middle of the race had candy, PB&J, and a bunch of other goodies.  The one at mile 20ish had a wet towel.

Jimmy and me at the finish.  We stuck together to the end.

I only have a few suggestions for improvements.  There was no clock that I could see at the finish line or results posted.  Someone said there was a TV with the time and name of the participant showing, but I never saw it.  During the awards ceremony, people were trying to see their results from the one sheet that the announcer was using to give out the awards, and she got a little snippy.  It would be better if she had one list and another copy was posted for the runners to see.  I actually got third place in my age group, but I had no idea because nothing was posted, so I didn't even stay for the awards ceremony.  We also had no idea we were supposed to turn in our timing chips.  The people at the finish line weren't set up in time for the Half Marathoners to come through, so my sister still has hers.

Some of the water stops were not well manned, and I had to pick up my water/Gatorade cups myself.   I think the direction given to the volunteers was that the water was first and the Gatorade was second, but apparently some didn't follow that.  I never knew what I was going to get at the water stops toward the end.  I would grab a cup and sometimes it would be water and sometimes it would be Gatorade.  Also, the volunteers at the morning packet pickup didn't know the answers to our questions, such as where is childcare and where is the worship service.

Swag:  The swag is your typical shirt (dry fit) and metal.  The shirt is unisex, so it is very big.  I suggest that if you are going to have unisex shirts, you should offer XS for ladies.  The metals were huge for the marathon and it was obvious which race you participated in (marathon, relay, half).  They also gave out pig noses, but they were not set up in time for the Half finishers.

Starting line

Starting line:   The start line was right outside the host hotel, which was great!  There were a lot of people all over the place because the marathon, half marathon, 5k, and relay all started at the same time.  The experience could be improved with either a wave start or different start times for the different races, because was very tight until mile 3 or so.  With all the people everywhere, they could have used some sort of shoot to corral people into the start.  The pace teams seemed to all be at the beginning of the line, and it was hard to get up to them because of all the people.

The race seemed to start abruptly without warning.  The national anthem was sung and then a minute or so later, people just started running.  I didn't even hear a gun or anything that indicated that the race had start.  

Fans:  Fans were well scattered around course, but mostly where half marathon was.  The fans thinned out considerably during the marathon-only portion of the course.  There were no fans on much of the bike paths because there was really no way to get to those spots.  The relay points were great cheering zones.

Ice Bath at the finish while eating a yummy chicken sandwich

Finish line:  Other than the complaint about no clock at the finish and no results posted, the finish line was pretty amazing.  They had ice baths at the medical tent, free massages and plenty of porta potties.  For food they had chicken sandwiches and hot dogs, Gatorade, water, bananas, oranges, bagel quarters with cream cheese, little Debbie's (star crunches and zebra cakes),  granola bars, and peanuts.  I saw some chocolate milk cartons in the trash, but they must have run out by the time we got there.  They had someone calling out the names of some of the finishers, although I think I came in with too big of a group for them to call out my name, because I never heard it.

4 hour pace group

The amenities at finish line were great, but organization was not as great.  It didn't seem like the finish line was set up in time for the half marathon finishers, as there was no one taking off chips or giving out pig noses when my sister finished in 2hrs.  Once you finished you were intermingled with everyone else, runners and spectators.  The runners didn't really know what they were supposed to do next.  To improve this, there should be a shoot with medals, then chip removal, then photos, then food or something like that to guide runners.  They didn't have any Mylar blankets, so as soon as I had cooled down, I was cold and ready to leave to get back to the hotel to get changed and didn't stay around to see the awards ceremony. 

Results: 3:58:40.  The Kansas race was my fastest first race of a back-to-back series, but the Hogeye was my slowest second race.

How I felt:  I was find for the first 17 miles or so, but then all my energy seemed to have drained out of me and I felt miserable.  I think the worst part was the fact that I couldn't catch up to the 3:50 pace group and the 4 hour pace group kept gaining on me.  I felt like death in last few miles and seriously wanted to stop running.  I kept going, with the prodding of the pace group leaders (who were wonderful!).

Travel/tourism:  We stayed at the race host hotel The Chancellor Hotel.  The Chancellor was great!  They were big enough to accommodate all the runners, were nice enough to offer late check-out to everyone, were right next to the start line, and were able to accommodate a roll-away bed in our double queen room.  They offered free Internet and parking, although the parking garage was next door and not attached to the hotel.  The rooms had refrigerators, but no microwaves (refrigerators are way more important during races so we can store our water and Gatorade, so I didn't mind the lack of microwave).  The rooms were nice and modern, but the mattresses were too small for the bed frames.  Both me and my son knocked our shins on the corner of the bed frame because the mattress didn't extend all the way to the end of the frame.  The bathrooms had separate shampoo, body wash and conditioner in pumps in the shower and the towels were big and absorbent.  The first floor common bathrooms were big and accessible to runners prior to the race.  The lobby was nice, although perhaps too small for the number of people waiting for the race.  They had an indoor/outdoor pool that the girls took advantage of and loved.

The University of Arkansas is in Fayetteville, and we drove through the campus on the way out of town.  It looked like nice campus, and may have had other things to do that we didn't know about.

Walton's 5-10

Walmart Museum

We went to the Wal-Mart museum in Bentonville after the race.  The museum is free and shows how Wal-Mart grew through the years.  It is a step back in time to when Sam Walton first opened up the Walton 5-10.  It also has an ice cream shop and a gift shop.  It is located on the Bentonville Square, which is a nice little place with a fountain in the middle for the kids to run around.


Overall, the Hogeye Marathon was a great race that I would definitely recommend.  Although smaller in size, it had a big-race feel when it came to the finish line amenities and accommodations.  Great job to the race organizers!