Gaining growth, retaining quality

Correction: Bryan Day is the Little Rock assistant city manager. His first name was spelled incorrectly in this article.

The current version of the Little Rock Marathon is not what its original architects had in mind.

They agree it has far surpassed their hopes.

Race creators were delighted when 1,029 runners entered the first marathon May 4, 2003, with 2,502 participants counted overall, including runners in the 5K race and the marathon’s relay.

“No one knew what it would evolve into,” said Little Rock assistant city manager Brian Day, who pitched the idea of a marathon more than 12 years ago. “We just kind of rolled the dice and it’s turned out great. I would never have guessed … we would have 15,000 people.”

The 2014 Little Rock Marathon is not a race, but a weekend, which began Friday when its health and fitness expo opened at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock. It will continue today with a 5K and The Little Rockers Kids Marathon before finishing up Sunday with the marathon, half-marathon and 10K, all scheduled to start downtown at the River Market.

By Friday evening, 14,356 had registered for the events, including the limit of 3,500 for the marathon.

Day was director of Little Rock’s Parks and Recreation department in fall of 2002 when he watched his wife Betsy Day run a half-marathon in Nashville, Tenn.

“I was just so impressed and so intrigued by the event and the spectacle,” Day said. “You know, the music on the corners, the people cheering on the runners, the finish line, the start. I came back and I said, ‘You know, we really should do that here. Little Rock could do that.’ ”

Day was so inspired that he called Geneva Lamm a day or two after the Music City Marathon, inquiring about the possibility of doing something similar in Little Rock.

“I said, ‘Well, yeah, I think it’s possible. I think we can do it,’ ” said Lamm, who has been the race’s co-executive director, along with Gina Pharis, from the outset.

The quality of elite entrants has risen as the race has flourished.

The 2003 men’s and women’s division winners ran the marathon in 2 hours, 36 minutes, and 53 seconds, and 3:20:25, respectively. Mark Chepses set the men’s course record (2:19:45) last year, and Leah Thorvilson set the women’s record (2:37:26) in 2012.

Chepses, 37, a Kenyan who lives in Mexico, and Thorvilson are entered for Sunday’s marathon.

“The course is good,” Chepses said. “Everything about it is good. The water, the people, everything is very nice.”

Thorvilson, 35, grew up in Robbinsdale, Minn., but has made Little Rock her home since enrolling at UALR in 1999. She has become the face of the race, winning the women’s division four times (2009-2012).

“It’s such a special, emotional race for me because of the community support that I have,” Thorvilson said. “That goes for every runner, but especially for me because of the all he people who come to cheer me on.

“Obviously I know they’re not just out there for me but, you know, I think they recognize me as the hometown girl and they’ve really come to be my family.”

Thorvilson is coming a victory in the women’s division of Wynne’s Midsouth Marathon, in 2:42:55, run four months ago. On her website, leahthorvilson.com., she wrote that she had so exceeded her expectations that she grabbed a random bystander’s arm to say she had just qualified for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Her performance in Wynne has apparently watered her confidence.

“I’m fit,” said Thorvilson, who finished 55th in the 2012 Olympic Trials, completing the course in 2:42:09. “Generally speaking, I’m in good shape. But I’m never really a 100 percent certain how fast I’ll run.”

Pharis said Thorvilson’s breakthrough to elite status has benefited the marathon.

“Leah is an incredible ambassador for us,” Pharis said. “It’s fabulous that she comes to play and do what she does, because she’s so full of energy and she’s vivacious and she’s fun. She makes marathoning fun, and people watch her and they want to do what she does.

“I think she’s been a inspiration to people who never even thought about running a marathon.”

Perhaps the most significant changes to the marathon have been to the course itself. Longtime race official Bll Torrey drew up the first configuration, which was greatly altered for the second race, in 2004.

The original race had an out-and-back component totaling nearly 8 miles, including a stretch from Murray Lock and Dam to the Interstate 430 bridge over the Arkansas River.

Construction of the Big Dam Bridge after the 2003 race forced Torrey to alter the course, moving the turnaround point to the first Murray Park pavilion, cutting about 5 miles from the total run along Rebsamen Park Road.

Torrey made up the difference by increasing the weave of the course through downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock, and in Little Rock neighborhoods and shopping districts east and north of downtown.

There have been several more course adjustments, the most significant occurring in 2008, when the start and finish were moved from near the Arkansas State Capitol Building to Little Rock’s River Market on the northeastern edge of downtown.

As of Friday, there was a 80 percent chance of rain for Sunday, and Torrey said the new start-finish is in a much better location if there is significant rainfall.

“Over by the Capitol, if it rained all the water would run down [toward the finish, and through tents set up by volunteers and vendors],” Torrey said. “Overall, the move to Riverfront Park was a good one.”

The course has not changed since 2008.

“You have no idea what a relief that is,” Pharis said. “Before, it was an operations and logistics learning curve every year.”

The marathon’s growth pleases Pharis, but she said she knows the year-by-year increase in participants has expanded demands on everyone involved.

“I’m not complaining, because I’m very happy where we are, but every year we need more of everything,” Pharis said.

“You need more volunteers, you need more water and Gatorade, more T-shirts, more medals.

“Then there’s the money side of all that, too, because the participants’ fees do not cover the cost of the race. We have to do a lot of fund raising.”

At a glance WHEN 8 a.m. Sunday (6 a.m. for those needing more than 6 hours) WHERE Start line at the intersection of President Clinton Boulevard and Sherman Street in downtown Little Rock. Finish line in Riverfront Park behind the River Market.

NOTEWORTHY Field includes Mark Chespes, winner of the 2011-2013 men’s race, and Leah Thorvilson of Little Rock, winner of the women’s division four of the past five years.

Little Rock Marathon map, Page 10C.