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Little Rock Half Marathon Report by Reed Fisher

3/5/2014

1 Comment

 
After an eight year hiatus of running a few times a year and running a race for charity I decided it was officially time for a midlife crisis (looks like 62 is all I will make it to) and to start trying to get back into running. Robert sent me a facebook message back in June about joining the cruisers and I thought the accountability would be a good thing for getting back into it. My favorite part of running in college was always the team aspect and I thought joining a team would be a good thing and lead to a lot more motivation. So as the new year approached I signed up to be a cruiser and started training. 

Over the course of January I ran about one or two times a week (I even made it to one Thursday morning AM run, man 5 AM is early) and had planned on the Valentines day 5k to be my first race as a cruiser. It of course was cancelled due to weather and I didn't know which race I would do next. One of my coworkers who was training for the LIttle Rock Half Marathon got hurt and asked if I would be interested in transferring her number. I said sure why not?

This motivated me and in February I got to running 3-4 times a week and even put in a 9 mile "long" run. I had planned to do more but being a single dad of two kids it seems like sometimes it is hard to get in runs. 

The race day arrived and I was getting the pre race jitters that i have always enjoyed. This time it was a bit different. I was a miler in college and have never raced over a 10k so a half marathon was a new horizon for me. I had a goal of trying to go under 90 minutes even though I didn't really know what to expect or what I could run. I felt as though the weather was good for a half marathon but was a bit concerned by the course. I felt as though there were a few more hills than I might be ready for. 

As I stood in the corral I told myself that the key to the race was for me to be very patient. I am very good at getting out fast but in this situation it was just not what was needed. To try to prevent myself from getting going too fast I only warmed up a mile and only did one stride. My plan was to try to keep myself a bit tight to start slow. As they released the first group of runners I was a bit irritated as I stood there waiting to start because let's be honest this is a race and I don't want to give anyone a head start. I had asked to be up farther in the corals but being that I had never raced a half they put me back a bit. 

They finally said go and away I went at a complete jog. I saw as many people around me took off. There was the 13 year old girl. There was the 75 year old man. Then there was me just trotting along behind them. It took all of my patience to just stay at my pace. As we took the first right at the Clinton Library I decided it was time to go. I started to pass fairly large numbers of people and saw that we were already starting to gain on the group that started in front of us. I looked around and saw the posters and fans and immediately fell in love with the moment. 

At about a mile we passed the first guy from the group that started in front of us. I was tempted to look over at him and yell liar but felt as though it was probably a bit overboard. I looked at my watch as we passed a mile and it was 6:48. I felt like with the way I started the race I was probably running right at 6:40 pace. I felt good though and decided I should push it a bit. We went over the river and at the two mile mark I was at 13:06 (6:18) I immediately got worried and relaxed a bit. I kept trying to find a pack by speeding up and catching people but when I got to them I felt like they were going too slow so I moved on.

Then the miles started to click off through North Little Rock. 6:39, 6:33, 6:51 (it's ok we went back over the bridge I told myself), 6:38, 6:48, 6:42. I was at 8 miles and had split faster on every mile than the pace I had hoped to run. I felt as though 88 minutes was now a possibility. Thanks to the random people who were yelling, "hey theres a cruiser!" It made my day. As we headed out of downtown Little Rock though I started to hurt and the crowds dwindled. I kept telling myself Get back to Erin (my fiance) and see her. At one point I even told myself, "no big deal you gave it a good go no shame is just walking back to the car." Then the idea hit me that I was well under my goal and I could slow down a bit and still hit it. I told myself just to run 7 min miles on the way in. 

My next two miles were 6:59 and 7:00. I was happy I was only a 5k away and that I had been able to stay close to my goal pace without giving much time back. The problem was I had hit "THE WALL." I had heard of this thing but never really experienced it. I have locked up so back from anaerobic respiration that my legs won't move but not this feeling. This concrete blocks on my feet feeling. The thing was I only had a 5k. My wheelhouse. I stopped thinking of it as a half marathon and now it was simply a 5k. I tried to pick it up. Big mistake I was dead. I trudged through the next mile in 7:15. I felt it all slipping away. I turned left and hit a major wind and felt like that was it. A girl passed me and I told myself to go with her. I got right on her back shoulder and tagged along. We went about 200 meters and I could tell she was slowing down. I passed her and said, "tuck in" and pushed forward. After about 300 meters I pulled off and said, "you work now." She passed me and I tucked in. We continued this though the next mile and a bit. Finally as we made the final right hand turn to go in I looked at my watch and felt like I had it. 5 minutes left and it didn't seem like very far. I tried to push it but lets be honest I had nothing left. As we passed the banner I looked at my watch and I was at 88:20. Plenty of time to run the last tenth of a mile. Then I realized that was the banner for the marathon and it was 26 miles. I still had two tenths left. After a moment of freaking out I pushed as hard as I could. Crossed the finish line in 89:54 and instantly my legs cramped up. Calves, hamstrings, and quads all at once. I was in agony. I hobbled over to Ering to show her my time and grabbed two swiss cake rolls and a chocolate milk. 

Thank you to the girl I worked with. You are the only reason I reached my goal.

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Some Members Personal Blog Posts on the Little Rock Marathon

3/5/2014

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Here are links to some great personal blog posts by Cruisers pertaining to their Little Rock Marathon race.  


From John Allison - http://www.runwithamanda.net/2014/03/race-recap-little-rock-marathon-2014.html

From Shelly Clopper - http://momwiferunner.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/little-rock-marathon-2014-recap/
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Little Rock Marathon # 13 or not!  - by Jane Gunter

3/5/2014

2 Comments

 
Little Rock Marathon # 13 or not!
There is just something about the Little Rock Marathon - I love running it! Maybe, because I can sleep in my own bed the night before, maybe it is passing all the familiar sights and seeing familiar people along the way...
Weather forecast was not so great, but, we had on our Dollar store ponchos! Janna and I had a plan of the walk/run with a time goal in mind. Crossing the start line took forever..37 minutes! Then, we were on our way! Best thing I heard all day was when we passed by the Governor's Mansion and we yelled hello to the Governor...a girl behind us asked her friend if that was the Governor of Little Rock??!! What..did she really just say that??LOL....loved seeing the THV crew at mile 11.
Survived the Kavanaugh Hill...still feeling good with the rain coming down!
Then, the big booming voice from the police car said: "at the bottom of the hill, you will be re-routed due to a big storm coming this way! "
We crossed Cantrell and a mean policeman told us ...if you choose to go on, you will be on your own as the course is closed...no volunteers..run on the sidewalk..geez! Go left to get in the entire marathon or right to get 20 miles? I know Janna thought very seriously about turning left and I (being the conservative) immediately told her I was going to the right...LOL! Janna is a strong runner - but, would Micah be mad if I let her do that?- what if she got hurt? I didn't want her out there by herself!!! Maybe, the thoughts in my head somehow made a difference and Janna said she would turn right also. When we turned right, it knocked the wind out of our sails..but, we decided no bus for us..we would do the 2 miles in. We joined the many others trudging up the hill in disbelief on how this was all playing out. Yes, we crossed the finish line and yes, we got the big honking medal...but, no endorphins - I miss that! But, there is always next year!

Before race highlights: seeing Vic and Brenda ..Missy in her full Batman attire! Angela, the young girls: Kennedy and Miriam.
During the race: the Gov, people I work with, the costumes,
After the race: Sara and Sheila. Hearing Robert's story of the Roller Derby girls, Bill C...Janna having money for coffee!
Getting in the jeep with Micah who said: you guys ran 20 miles and got a medal and I had to run 26.2??!!!
Running - always an adventure- that is why I love it!
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Looking for a few Volunteers

2/21/2014

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Its racing season and there are lots of volunteer opportunities available.  If you have some free time consider volunteering and giving back to running.  I promise you will enjoy it.  We have a couple of immediate needs coming up pertaining to our club. 

1.  Little Rock Marathon Expo-  Friday 2/28 & Saturday 3/1 - This year the Little Rock Marathon has a booth set up and it is being manned by running clubs from across Central Arkansas.  This is a chance for us to promote our club to all the runners going through the expo.  They are accepting volunteers in one hour shifts or donate as much time as you can.  Wear your Cruiser shirt!   Here is the link to sign up.   https://runsignup.com/Race/AR/LittleRock/LRMarathonBoothVolunteering

Also they still need volunteers for various positions on race day.  For more info you can go here:
http://littlerockmarathon.com/volunteers/



2.  Spring Fling 5k - Saturday 3/22 - As you probably know this is our own Cabot 5k race that our club puts on. Brenda Ransom is the volunteer coordinator and below is the volunteer info she posted.  


Many positions are available if you are running the race but PLEASE if you are not planning on running the race we need you in our non running positions (23 are non running positions).
Please email ransombt@aol.com or post on our FB page if you can volunteer. 

If you have worked a certain position every year please let me know if you want that position again this year. Please also let me know if you are running the race or not. We need everyone we can get so please if you are a biker, neighbor, family member etc. please volunteer.

Running Positions:
Food Prep - need 3 people to assist Heather Sanders (coordinator)
Registration - need 6-7 people to assist Lisa Moore (coordinator)
Tear Down/Setup - 4 people
Kid's Run - 3 people to assist Jamie 

Non Running Positions:
Course Marshall - 13 positions to assist Arland who will be taking you to your positions.
Water Stop - 3 positions - hoping Cathy will be our coordinator 
Finish Line - 4 positions to assist Brenda (Me - coordinator)

Thank you!
Brenda Ransom
Spring Fling Volunteer Coordinator
ransombt@aol.com


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My First Marathon by Allyson Hodge 

3/4/2013

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After months and many, many miles I was ready to run my first marathon- LR. I was a little nervous that I was going to be by myself for the entire 26.2 miles when I had always had awesome running partners for the long runs. I was surprised when my brother texted me the night before asking if he could run with me. He had never run more than 12 miles and this was his first marathon. This was a huge sigh of relief that I would not be alone. We got to the start line and we were very cold. We quickly warmed up and we were off running. We did not keep time or even look down at a watch to see our pace. I was really surprised when we stayed with the 4:55 pacers for most of the race. We made it down Lookout and were headed for the Rivertrail when the running slowed to jogging and then a little walking. I was tired of eating bananas and gus. I was ready to be done at mile 20. We saw the 5:10 pacers behind us which caused us to speed up and gave us some renewed entergy. I texted my husband at mile 22 to tell him to head to the finish line. I literally thought I could not go any further at the start of Dillard's Mountain. But, I saw a friendly face not far from the finish who started running with me. This gave me a huge push to finish strong to see my sisters, husband, son, and many friends screaming my name and cheering me on. Overall it was a great race! No injuries, great weather, awesome volunteers, HUGE medal. I now have a PR and a time to beat for my next marathon. Yes, I think the pain is finally wearing off and I want to run another marathon. 
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The Marathon for Me - by Jane Gunter

3/4/2013

2 Comments

 
The Marathon for me.....
First, I love the Little Rock Marathon..as challenging as it is. This would have been my fourth time. The weather was perfect...the crowd was exhilirating..the sun was out...time to run!!! 
At mile 2, my knee started hurting - mile 4, I started walking a lot. Starting crying when Julie Severns came by me and said hello because I knew at that point I was in trouble.
At the medical tent, mile 5 or 6, I had them wrap my knee..thinking that would miracously make it quit hurting. I had to start walking at mile 8 the pain was so bad and.not even a normal walk.. I decided that I would try and finish on the half marathon route -I knew that I would not get an official time nor a medal and I tried to prepare myself....but, when I came to the finish I almost started crying again. No hoopla nor high fives for me! I barely got a "space" blanket - had to ask. 
This is the Marathon...you never know on that particular day what will happen. It was not my day to shine...just my sparkle skirt. I did get a lot of compliments on the skirt!..lol!
There will always be another marathon and there is always next year.
Knee issues - I have never experienced until last weekend, I started feeling something going on...went to my doc and got a steroid shot and anti-inflammatory, but probably not enough time to be effective. Thinking it may be the IT band.
Can someone share your endorphins with me - I am missing those!!! I am excited for all the first timers - what an accomplishment!
And, thankful for my friends who love me for who I am!

Jane 
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