LR race medals held up on West Coast

A ship carrying the 3-pound, pirate-themed medals for the Little Rock Marathon, which had been stranded for days off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., finally docked Thursday, Gina Marchese Pharis, executive director of the marathon, said Friday.

The medals have been caught in the middle of a West Coast labor-management contract dispute disrupting billions of dollars of international trade.

"They had 33 ships ready to unload [at Long Beach], and [the ship with the marathon medals] is one of those," Pharis said. "What a year to have a pirate theme."

The marathon will be run March 1, so there's a chance the medals will not make it to Little Rock in time. If that happens, finishers will be given a smaller medal. The larger medals will be mailed to the race finishers who live outside central Arkansas, Pharis said. Runners who live in central Arkansas will be told where they can go to collect their medals.

The marathon faces a bill of up to $10,000 to mail the larger medals, Pharis said.

Business on 02/21/2015

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