The 3 Bridges Marathon in Little Rock, Arkansas

Last Saturday, I ran my 29th marathon, the 3 Bridges Marathon in Little Rock, Arkansas.

It was a super tiny marathon (284 finishers) but small isn’t a bad thing. It was actually a really lovely marathon!

I have to note though that it was interesting to go from the BIGGEST marathon in the world (New York City) to one of the smallest I’ve ever run! But if you’re pursuing the 50 state goal like we are, I highly recommend the 3 Bridges Marathon for your Arkansas race. There is another marathon in Little Rock, the ‘official’ Little Rock Marathon that sounds just fine, but I am glad we did the 3 Bridges race.

This was a marathon with such a beautiful course and a lot of heart. A “runner’s race,” for sure. No frills, no fanfare. Just 26.2 miles along the Arkansas river, on well-maintained paved trails, crossing three bridges, (each one twice). It was a great way to see Little Rock.

Packet Pickup
We arrived on Friday and went straight to packet pickup at Rock City Running. You could also pick up your packet on race morning at the start line, which is definitely rare and goes to show you how small this race was.

After packet pickup, we checked into our hotel in the River District area, which was conveniently close to the running trail along the river. We headed there for a quick 3 mile shake-out run.

Post-run, we went to ZAZA pizza in the Heights/Midtown for some carbs (a very cute neighborhood!)

Then it was early to bed for the 4:30 am alarm.

Course
The course is almost entirely on the Arkansas River Trail and is a 19-mile loop to the east and then a 7-mile loop to the west. The course crosses the Big Dam Bridge at Miles 1 and 18, the Clinton Presidential Bridge at Mile 9, and the Two Rivers Bridge at Miles 19 and 26. The course crosses the Start/Finish line going west at 19 miles. The course is mostly flat, except for the three bridges. The course is mostly paved trail. 

The Start Line:
The race started at 7 am, but we had to catch a trolley from one of two church parking lots to the starting area, which was also the finish area. The course was an out and back to the Clinton Presidential Library. Then past the finish at mile 19 and out a 10k loop before heading back to the finish again. So, yes, a few out and backs where I got to see Dustin, which was quite fun! Yet it was a definitely a little tough to pass the finish line at mile 19 knowing you still have another 7 miles to go…

It was very cold at the start (in the low 30’s!) but there was a heated tent for the runners to wait inside. With so few runners, we didn’t have to wait much for the porta-potties either. So easy! Love these small marathons.

(By the way, we had absolutely PERFECT marathon weather this day, but apparently it was a bit hot the previous year. Generally, however, this time of year in Arkansas is awesome running weather. For us, it was very chilly at the start, but then sunny and in the upper 40’s/low 50’s by the end. Perfect!)

Small world- our friend Jess from the  Calhoun Beach Running Club was also running 3 Bridges! We hung out for awhile in the tents before begrudgingly stripping off our warm layers and dropping off our gear check bags before heading to the start.

The start was unique in that there was the national anthem, a prayer, AND the pledge of allegiance.

Fitness Fashion:
I wore a super old Nike tank top, Nike hat, Brooks Ravennas, Louva arm sleeves, lululemon sports bra, Pro Compression socks, the free gloves, and my FAVORITE race shorts, the Rabbit Mountain Climber shorts (so many pockets! Seriously, my go-to shorts now for all marathons.)

Fuel:
I actually purchased a few new flavors of GU for this race; I know you’re not supposed to try anything new on race day, but I’ve done enough marathons with GU as my fuel that I wasn’t too concerned. I don’t really ‘savor the flavor’ when I take a GU, I take it more like a shot, but these new flavors were still interesting!

Race SWAG:
We all received a finisher’s shirt and these gloves:
Race Day!
Promptly at 7 am, the race began. (Quick note- there was an early start at 5 am for runners who planned to take over 6 hours to run.)

Mile 1: 8:41
It was so cold at the start that my legs sort of felt like they weren’t moving correctly. Quite stiff. I figured that this first mile would be slow as I warmed up, so I didn’t worry about it.

Mile 2: 8:36

Mile 3: 8:28
I felt like I was settling into what was a comfortable pace.

Mile 4: 8:29
Mile 5: 8:29
Mile 6: 8:29

One thing about these small marathons is that the miles don’t really fly by in the beginning like they do at the big marathons. You’re much more aware of each mile.

In hindsight, I wish I would have brought headphones. I normally never run a marathon with music, but for one this small, I think it would have helped. There was generally no one around to talk to and not that much to see, other than the pretty scenery.

Mile 7: 8:38
Mile 8: 8:27
Mile 9: 8:20
Mile 10: 8:44
Mile 11: 8:25
Mile 12: 8:37
Mile 13: 8:38

At this point, I told myself that I would pick it up to goal marathon pace for the second half. I was feeling just fine- quite good actually, so I thought I could at least try to negative split this thing…

Mile 14: 8:14
Yeah! I can do this!

Mile 15: 8:29
Okay, not terrible….

Mile 16: 8:19
Mile 17: 8:19
Still doing okay.