Little Rock Marathon
Little Rock, Arkansas
Sunday, March 4, 2007

Victory at the Little Rock Marathon on Sunday, March 4, 2007! The Little Rock Marathon is one of the few marathons that have a race walking division. I managed to win with a chip time of 5:05:02 and a gun time of 5:02:30. It was the second time that I did this event. Last year I finished third.
The temperature was 29 as I waited for the 8 AM start of the race, the sun had already appeared, and the wind was blowing between 5 and 10 miles per hour. Arkansas Governor, Mike Beebe was speaking about events that happened 50 years ago at Little Rock Central High School. The Federal government had forced the school system to admit 9 young black students. Thus, began desegregation of public schools in the United States. Suddenly, my mind remembered Walter Cronkite and the images on the CBS Evening News. Looking back at the situation, I now realize how brave and strong of mind those students had to be in order to enter a school where there were thousands of students that did not want them there. Little Rock and the USA are better places today because of their bravery then.
My mind got back to the upcoming start which was to occur in ten minutes. Somebody tapped on my shoulder and said “Nice outfit”. I was wearing a trash bag over my racing clothes to keep my body heat in and the wind out; thus, helping me stay warm. It is easy to notice veteran racers on cold mornings such as this by our disposable outfits. I looked over at the person and to my surprise it was Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe. I talked for a short time with him after which he passed on through the other participants talking to some. Obviously Governor Beebe is not a veteran runner like former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who ran this marathon last year as well as the Marine Corps Marathon last October.
Finally it became 8:00 AM and the race started. The first 13 miles had small up and down hills which are referred to as bumps in the road. It took me over the Arkansas River twice, in front of the Clinton Presidential Library, by the Governor’s mansion, past the Little Rock Central High School, and along the Arkansas Capitol building. Miles 13.5 through 16.5 were all uphill. Just before mile 16 I passed last year’s race walker winner, thus I realized that I might be in the lead for the race walkers. In the next mile we lost all the altitude gained in the previous three miles. Miles 18 to 23 were nearly flat, going out and back in the vicinity of the Arkansas River. I did not see any race walkers in front of me and noticed last year’s second place finisher about a half mile behind me. I felt I had a chance to win. All I had to do was just keep going. There was one wicked, steep up hill of about a quarter of a mile in length near mile 25. After that there were only small up and downs to the finish line where Bart Yasso from Runner’s World was announcing the finishers. I did not find out the race walking results until Tuesday morning and my name is listed as first!
On Sunday evening there was a post race party which was included in my entry. The party featured a band that played for the Clinton Inauguration. Surprisingly, the hostess of the party was a Drag Queen named Champaign. When Bart Yasso and his wife, who ran the full marathon, arrived at the party, Bart waved at my wife, Gerda. She has talked with him at so many races in the past three years that he recognizes her by sight. It was an interesting party with plenty of food. I had a good time.
I’ll post pictures from the weekend on separate postings.