Little Rock Marathon weekend crosses the finish line

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Little Rock Marathon had a big weekend with winners taking home the honor of a first-place finish.

According to Little Rock Marathon officials, Aaron Soltmann of Little Rock and Stefanie Rodell of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina were the top two winners of the 2025 Little Rock Marathon.

Officials said Soltmann finished the course with an unofficial time of 2:32:20.9. Rodell crossed the finish line at 3:11:09.8., with results based on chip times.

Soltmann is originally from The Woodlands, Texas and ran indoor track and field for UA Little Rock. He said this was his first marathon and after setting a personal record for the half-marathon during the full marathon, it took a physical toll on him in the last few miles.

“You tell yourself you want to zone out, and sometimes you can’t,” Soltmann said. “At that point, the marathon’s about how much heart you have at the end.”

The women’s marathon winner Rodell said that Little Rock was a tough course, and she feels like the people who medal must work hard to do so.

“Mentally, that last 10K got tough,” she said. “Then that last 5K - especially around miles 24 and 25 with those hills - that’s where my time plummeted, but I was able to feed off the crowds to help get back into it.”

The male half-marathon first-place holder was Cameron Beckett of Little Rock with 1:22:55.4, while the female first-place holder was Chelsea Smith of Conway with a time of 1:23:19.4. The overall Handcycle winner was Steve Hughes with 2:09:56.2

The number of athletes who participated was 8,895. The number of athletes plus the adults participating in the Little Rockers run was 8,895.

The number tallied up of athletes, participants, and volunteers for the weekend was 9,754.

Congratulations on staying the course for all who banded together for the 2025 Little Rock Marathon.

from KARK https://ift.tt/RdWrF9Y