Running in the rain

IT’S BECOME a tradition among some who live along the Little Rock Marathon route: Wait until the coast is clear and the last runner/walker/ cleanup brigade has headed home, then venture out to see what’s been left behind.

This usually results in an impressive collection of caps, warmup jackets, rain gear, and T-shirts, many of them bearing sports-fashion labels such as Lululemon, Nike, and Under Armour—tossed by the wayside when it gets too warm to wear them and it seems like too much trouble to tote them for the rest of the route. After giving such bounty a good scrubbing in the washer, it gets donated to local charities.

This year was not productive. Weather on Sunday, when the full 26.2-mile marathon and half-marathon were held, was, well, changeable. A pink-streaked sunrise turned into black clouds a halfhour after the starting time of 7:30 a.m., followed by a mist made miserable by temperatures in the upper 40s, a brief clearing, a drenching downpour, five minutes of sunshine, then a dreary overcast sky for the duration of the day.

Obviously nobody was disrobing. Despite a few tough souls trotting along shirtless (!), many well-prepared participants had the foresight to bring along super-lightweight plastic ponchos. The rest of the runners/walkers might have been scouting around for any extra apparel to employ in battling the rain.

Even the usual crowd of supporters known to gather on street corners to sit on folding lawn chairs, drink Bloody Marys, eat glazed doughnuts, and shout “Looking good!” to the number-wearing cohort, were few and far between. And they were often under huge umbrellas or pop-up tents.

As far as clothing-scrounging goes, what a bust! All that could be found along a long section of Kavanaugh Boulevard were two gloves (unmatched), a few unopened containers of Gu Energy Gel, a tube of Chapstick, and a sad-looking striped polo shirt from a discontinued clothing line at Target. Sorry, local charities. No luck.

To all those who braved the chill— spectators, volunteers, officials, and marathon participants—congratulations. Glad you hung onto your gear this year.