Dr. Edward AnsonEd Anson, professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, is doing double duty this weekend by participating in the Little Rock Marathon 5k and half marathon races.聽To promote fitness and health among students and employees, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is helping to sponsor 98 Little Rock Marathon runners in the 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon categories. They鈥檒l be wearing new maroon 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock t-shirts.This will be the 12th year Anson, 71, of Little Rock, will participate in the half marathon. He hails from Brooklyn, New York, but claims Little Rock as his hometown since 鈥淚鈥檝e lived here roughly eight times longer than I鈥檝e lived anywhere else in my life.鈥Anson is an avid runner who runs with his wife, Jeanne, and a group of friends every Saturday. He鈥檚 taking up the 5k as well as the half marathon so he doesn鈥檛 get left out of the excitement.鈥淢y wife used to be the CEO 聽of the National Center for Toxicology Research in Jefferson, Arkansas, so I run with a bunch of microbiologists,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檒l be running the 5K on Sunday so I can compete with my wife and all my friends who are doing the 5K.鈥To prepare for the half marathon, Anson runs two miles four days a week and runs four to eight miles on Saturdays. This past Saturday, he ran 10 miles.Anson is hoping for sunny weather in the 40s (his self-described perfect running weather) this weekend, but acknowledges he is unlikely to get it.鈥淢y goal for this year鈥檚 race is to finish in the top half. That鈥檚 my goal for every year,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 just hope it鈥檚 not going to rain or sleet as it has in the past. A nice sunny day in the 40s would be perfect, but I鈥檝e done it in sleet and tornado warnings in the past.鈥His final preparation for the Little Rock Marathon will be to have crawfish etouffee. Some runners have a night-before tradition of eating mounds of spaghetti or jars of peanut butter, but having the seafood dish at the Faded Rose Restaurant in Little Rock with his wife has become a favorite pre-race tradition for Anson.