Hogeye Marathon & Relays

Downtown Springdale is a great choice with a spacious covered outdoor spot for the bib pickup and start/finish area. Nice touch providing disposable rain jackets in anticipation for the wet forecast the next morning. Expo was postponed until the following year, and the Covid precautions were reasonable and well-executed. The loop course was extremely well-marked, volunteers provided guidance at tricky intersections, and the Springdale Police provided respectful friendly support while giving more than ample car clearance at all major intersections. The sporadic crowd supporters were very enthusiastic despite the rain, and aid stations were frequent and well-staffed throughout, and as already mentioned, the stretches of the course along the greenway are spectacular. There are several long grinding inclines, but no real hills. As for a good hotel with a leisurely 2 pm checkout, consider The Graduate Hotel in Fayetteville that offers this for a small upcharge; nice small outdoor pool too. Smart professional branding is evident with the festive new dancing swine logo on the high-quality shirts, sleeves and on finisher medals. Tabby, thank you for your prompt responses to my messages and your personal touch throughout this event, making it among my favorite and most recent of 30 races.

I really liked the new course - it's still hilly but it IS N.W. Arkansas. Starting in downtown Springdale was a breeze and there were plenty of water stops and volunteers on the course. A lot of the course is on bike paths which is really nice. I really don't understand why this race has had negative comments - this was my 88th marathon and I didn't see anything wrong with it.

Beautiful, rolling course. With the exception of downtown and around the lake, I wasn't too impressed with the town, but the course was really wonderful. A few prominent hills (most notably around mile 2-3 or so and one small one just before mile 26 that probably seemed much worse than it actually was). Several miles were run on the trail system which was impeccably maintained and beautiful to see an amazing lake view and waterfall, however because it was around the lake and within the woods, spectators were near nonexistent during these miles and pretty thin still otherwise, especially for a college town. The weather was amazing this year (around 40 to start, pushing 70 to end) but I thought it would have made a lovely Fall race since we ran under a canopy of trees that hadn't yet budded and would have been breathtaking in the Fall. Not to mention a little shield from the sun would have been nice! The aid station volunteers were all absolutely wonderful and attentive, including some manned by the college guys that really made the race worth running! While a few even had extensive amounts of 'real' food and snacks - very well stocked! - some I noticed had a difficult time keeping up just with beverages even with thinned crowds. The host hotel was okay - no continental breakfast and the restaurant wanted $6 just for a croissant, so it was a hassle finding something to snack on race morning. They gave us no hassles for a late checkout on our two rooms. Extremely convenient, short distance to the start and finish lines and expo was right there, so getting around for the sake of race-related activities was absolutely excellent. Some folks complained about the time it took to get results and there apparently was a little snafu with late registrants actually getting registered, but I had absolutely no problems registering about 3 or 4 months ahead of time. I also think it is completely reasonable to wait at least two days to get official results (and, quite honestly, find it amazing they can accurately get results in that amount of time as it is). Overall the organization was very good, although I will admit there was some confusion with a new chip timing system that entailed tying two thin, long microchipped plastic pieces to each of your shoes. These did not bother me while running although I can see how they did to some others. We apparently were supposed to return these, although that was not clearly conveyed and I, among many others I have learned, did not know that until after we have traveled home. The medals were large, pretty, and well-made. The age group awards were cute blown glass pigs. Pig snout souvenir at the end was neat. Post-race food was typical fare, nothing special. Plenty of music, spectators along the finish line, massage booths, and places to go afterward including some pretty unique, eclectic shops and eateries. Race-day photos were very good. Participant shirt was tech tee, ran a bit large, not very attractive at all. Overall, I very much enjoyed this race. The course was such that it never felt daunting. At this point I would say I could give or take doing it again. A few small changes could make this an amazing event!