Hogeye Marathon moving to Springdale

Tabby Holmes, race director of the Hogeye Marathon, sets up a map of the new course Monday as Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse speaks at the JTL Building in Springdale.
Tabby Holmes, race director of the Hogeye Marathon, sets up a map of the new course Monday as Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse speaks at the JTL Building in Springdale.

SPRINGDALE --The rumble of dump trucks and heavy machinery soon will be replaced with cheering crowds in downtown Springdale.

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Perry Webb (left), president of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, speaks with Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse on Monday after an announcement that the Tyson Foods Inc. will serve as presenting sponsor of the annual Hogeye Marathon and related races.

The Hogeye Marathon, long a staple in Fayetteville and the oldest marathon in Northwest Arkansas, will move to Springdale in April, it was announced Monday. The running event, which will celebrate its 41st year, will be the latest in a revitalization effort in downtown Springdale.

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For more on this story, see the video produced by Chip Souza at nwadg.com.

Springdale-based Tyson Foods will be the presenting sponsor of the marathon, which is scheduled for April 8. The marathon will start at 7 a.m., with other races also going off that Saturday including a half-marathon, children's marathon, a 5K race/walk and a four-person relay.

"We've been working on this for about three months," said Tabby Holmes, Hogeye Marathon race director. "We've enjoyed being in Fayetteville, and we think that the relationship we have with Fayetteville will continue on into the future."

Holmes said one of the reasons for the move was the ongoing road construction near Arkansas 112, which is part of the race course.

"As most people are aware, there's some major construction going on at the 112 interchange," Holmes said. "That actually cuts right through the middle of our course for the next couple of years, so after we looked at it we saw where we needed a place where we could grow and expand.

"By moving it to Springdale, and having the involvement from Tyson Foods, it allowed us to be more centrally located and have that support from a company that takes the health of their employees very seriously."

Over the past few years the race moved to a Sunday event. By changing it to a Saturday race, officials are hopeful of more participation by runners and volunteers. Holmes said she already has received favorable feedback from runners on the change to a Saturday.

Barry Brown was one of the original founders of the Hogeye Marathon in April 1976. Brown said he, Wally Engals, the former Voice of the Razorbacks, and former Arkansas track coach Ed Renfroe were in the old men's gym at the University of Arkansas discussing the recent Boston Marathon.

"We turned to ourselves and said, 'Gosh, we live in the Boston Mountains, why don't we have our own Boston Mountain Marathon,'" Brown said. "And that started the ball rolling."

Brown said the group considered a number of varying course locations until he drove down Arkansas 265.

"I drove exactly 13.1 miles from the middle of Razorback Stadium, and lo and behold I ended up in Hogeye," Brown said. "So that's where the name came from. And people in the national media picked it up because of its name."

The event has grown over the years to include more than 2,000 participants.

The 2017 race will be primarily run in Springdale but will also include portions of Johnson, Fayetteville and Lake Fayetteville. Part of the Razorback Greenway will also be utilized, Holmes said.

Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse said bringing a regional event like the Hogeye Marathon is part of the continuing effort to revitalize the downtown area. Tyson Foods is constructing new offices just off Emma Avenue, and more businesses are following suit.

"This is one more significant announcement for downtown Springdale," Sprouse said. "We're still in the infancy of this revitalization, but the dominoes just continue to fall, and we're very thankful for all that Tyson is doing downtown.

"This will be a huge event, not just for downtown, but all of Springdale. It's going to touch many areas 0f Springdale and showcase many of our parks and our portion of the Greenway."

The Hogeye Marathon is also a major fundraiser for several nonprofit groups. Last year more than $38,00o was donated to the America Wheelchair Mission, Kendrick Fincher Hydration for Life, Jackson L. Graves Foundation, Meals on Wheels, Alzheimer's Association of Arkansas, Arkansas Children's Hospital Northwest and other community organizations, according to its Facebook page.

"This announcement is just another step toward our goal of bringing people back to Emma Avenue," said Linda Wray, vice president, talent acquisition and onboarding for Tyson Foods. "There is an exciting future in store for downtown Springdale, and we're proud to be a part of it."

Sports on 11/15/2016

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