Registration for the 2014 Little Rock Marathon is opens at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Race officials are predicting another sold-out year.
The March 2 marathon (26.2 miles) will admit 3,500 racers;
the half-marathon (13.1 miles) 6,200; the cap for the 10K (6.2-mile) is 2,000; the (3.1-mile) 5K Fun Run/Walk will accept 1,400; and the Little Rockers Kids Marathon, a mile for children ages 7-12, will admit 1,900.
The 2013 marathon filled up in mid-December 2012; the half-marathon reached its registration cap Jan. 2; and by race day the only openings remaining were for the 5K. Overall participation was up from 10,692 in 2012 to 12,604 in 2013.
“If we sell out our race, we’re looking at 15,000 participants across the board,” says Gina Marchese Pharis, co-executive director and “chick in charge” of Little Rock Parks and Recreation’s annual marathon.
Online registration fees vary depending upon the course you plan to run, by entry deadline, and whether you register online or by mail. Online early bird rates are effective until Oct. 31 and will run you $90 for the marathon; $65 for the half marathon; $30 for the 10K; $25 for the 5K; and $20 for the kids’ marathon. On Nov. 1 the fees rise $5, and they rise another $5 after Dec. 31. Mailed registrations are $5 extra.
PAY YOUR DUES
It’s not uncommon to see marathoners run without a bib number. Maybe they lost it or maybe they never had one. “Bandits” is a term used for people who don’t register. Bandits aren’t likely to alter race results, which are chiptimed. “The only real problem we have is if someone trips or gets hurt we have no way to identify them,” Pharis says. “It’s a safety thing.”
She also said that because the marathon is a fundraiser for city parks, bandits are taking advantage when they don’t foot the (race) bill. “They take [finishers] medals and it’s basically theft,” she says. “And it’s not fair to those who pay.”LACE UP
Establishing a training regimen months before a marathon is common among the elite runners, but what about couch potatoes who want to get off the couch and go? Hobbit and Tom Singleton,coaches of the Little Rock Marathon training team, offer an “off-the-couch” program for newbies.
“If someone is interested, we will tailor a schedule for them,” Hobbit says. “We start slowly, building up the mileage.”
The training program is free and is a year-round service offered to anyone who signs up.
She says the Singletons volunteer because they like to see people cross the finish line. “I feel like everyone should have the opportunity to follow their dream but it shouldn’t cost them money,” she says.
The off-the-couch schedule flows into a “build-up” program for people training for the half-marathon and the marathon. Marathon buildup training, which begins Aug. 6, is a workout program that has more mileage and is more intense, to prepare runners for their races. The half-marathon buildup schedule begins in September.
Meeting dates for the team’s Saturday morning workouts are posted online; they don’t include locations, Hobbit says, to help prevent auto break-ins. She announces each week’s meet-up spot via email sent only to people who register for training.
CALLING ALL SUPERHEROES
Each year there is a general theme to pique interest among marathoners. For 2014, the theme is “Epic” - with a lightning bolt instead of the letter “i.”
Pharis says she expects to see capes, masks and crazy costumes at the 2014 event. “Our [superhero] theme is very fun and exciting.”
Kerry Orick, 45, of Mabelvale, who ran the marathon for the first time in 2007, disagrees. “Personally, I don’t want to run26 miles in a costume. After a mile it would end up in the road, but that’s just me.”
Though some racers say that the theme means nothing to them because they care more about pace and distance, Lalita Flagg cares. “The race is more than just about running,” says Flagg, 46, of Mulberry, who plans to do this half-marathon for the first time in 2014. “It’s about looking good and having fun.”
A highlight of the race is the larger-than-life participant medal that reflects the race’s theme. There is no monetary value to the medal, but marathoners come from far and wide to add it to their collection. “We enjoy the new bling,” Flagg says of marathon runners.
Pharis says participants are attracted to the Little Rock Marathon for three reasons: the course is open for eight hours, the Southern hospitality, and the medal.
“We started unveiling the medal [because they liked them so much],” Pharis says, joking that before Little Rock’s big medal proved effective, other marathons weren’t trying to outdo one another in medal size, “not that we saw, and we were spying on everybody.” Registration for the Little Rock Marathon is online at littlerockmarathon.com. Contact numbers for the marathon directors are (501) 918-5321 and (501) 371-4639.
ActiveStyle, Pages 23 on 07/29/2013