Little Rock Marathon~ Race RUNdown (#25)

Inspiration Points...
1. We're Half-Way there --oooooohhhh-- living on a prayer!! Yep-- finally my true half-way there marathon. My 25th state!
2. 25 before 25! I'll be turning 24+1 in two weeks and this is my last marathon before the dreaded bday! Getting in 25 states before I turn 25-- way cool! Also-- For all intensive purposes, I'm jumping an age group, so this will be my last 'under 25' marathon :(
3. SUN! It's supposed to be 65 in Little Rock this weekend! Wooah, what a change that will be!
4. This is the first of 3 marathons this month. And the next one is a DOOZY (has "death march" in the title) so I'm going to enjoy my last easier marathon before hitting the desert.
5. 50-State Marathon Club Reunion

AR Race RUNdown...
Little Rock Marathon ~ Saturday Mar 7, 2010 (#25)
Little Rock, AR
Registration Fees: $90 early ($100 late)-- $10 Discount for 50-Staters. Expo registration ONLY available now. 464 Spot available for the full!!!! Sign Yo'self up fool!
Year Running: 8
2010 Expected Field: 1,850 Max reg for the marathons (464 spots remaining!)
2009 Field: 1,456 Finishers
... Females: 563 ... Age Group: 25
2009 Avg. Finish Time: 4:41:42
Certified Course/BQ Certified?: Yes/Yes
Weather:

With a low of 46 and a high of 65 in the forecast, I'm getting pretty pumped! They're calling for partly cloudy weather and I'm starting to wonder if it will actually be too hot. It doesn't matter-- I will love the warmth!

Course:

MarathonGuide Rating:

The website describes this course as a walking/running tour of Little Rock, AR! (Sounds good to me... as long as I don't black it out as per usual). They also joke about their hills-- There are a number of "bumps" -as they call them- throughout the race, but there is also a very large hill mid race, which declines rapidly-- the downhill part looks good. The good news is that it looks like there are a lot of downhills immediately after uphills to help makeup time AND it's not a pancake flat course-- hate those!!! Funny thing-- looking through the many comment on the race, you never hear the words "fast" or "PR" or "BQ" -- Hmmm wonder why, miles 13-15?

Race 411:
~Slow Course? Only 1 female in my A/G made a BQ in last years race and 2008 race.

~Corrals: They've incorporate corrals to keep the flow of the race moving. To be selected for Corral A or B, you needed to submit proof of times. Corral A and B have been sold out and guess who nabbed herself a golden ticket to corral B (sub 3:45:59)? This girl!!!
~Green! This is another "go green" marathon!

~ Swag! This marathon is known for having mega marathon medals that are between 1 and 2 lbs! Crazy and definitely incorporate the "go green" theme to the race. This is what a news release said about the medals...
"Each year our medal has gotten bigger and bigger. Our 2009 medal was 7 1/4” tall and weighed about a 1 ½ pounds"
~ Spectators: Looks like they're trying to keep our minds off of the "bumps" in the course.. "We will have about 20 to 30 groups stationed along the course to cheer you on and take your mind off the road ahead"

Race Plan:
I'm hoping to try out some negative splits for the fist time in a full marathon. I think it will be difficult to stay slow coming out of a fast corral, but I'll have to focus on going slower in the beginning and catching people at the end! As always I'll see how I feel around miles 6-10 and if I'm feeling good I'll speed it up.

I've also DL's a few audio-books that I'm going to try to listen to while racing. If that seems to be boring me to death, I'll switch back to music.