Tupelo Marathon

The tagline for this race is "Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead." Not sure what they mean. Sounds pretty cold-blooded. Nevertheless, the volunteers were really friendly, even when I was weak from the pea-soup humidity and rolling hills. One volunteer actually slowed his truck to ask if I was okay at four-hour mark. Excellent aid stations, some of which offered bananas, and the potassium made a big difference in the heat. And the electrolytes were full-strength (unlike the Ohio race I ran four months ago). Cars on the road were a bit of a problem, but only near end of race. Crowd support tepid, but who needs it. No crappy music at start, thankfully, but some aid stations felt compelled to blast contemporary pop, country, and hip-hop. (The one ska song I heard made up for it.) Nice hoodie, and very classy, colorful finisher medal, not as gaudy as most these days. Hamburgers, hot dogs, soda at finish line tents! Excellent parking area, too. Turned out the bananas and electrolytes made a big difference, as my legs were in far less agony than usual after finishing. All in all, a well-run small-town marathon, and a great destination marathon even if you don't like Elvis. Just maybe change the tagline to something a bit more compassionate.

I ran the Tupelo Marathon today, finishing 20th and 2nd in my age group. It was not as brutal as I had imagined. The 5:00 a.m. start definitely helps, although the humidity the first hour was actually worse than afterward. However, it is surprisingly mentally taxing to run the first hour with a headlamp. I had cloud cover until about mile 22 or 23, so it didn't get oppressively hot until then. I would also characterize this course as hilly, rather than rolling. My one complaint was the lack of a water stop at mile 2/24 (as it's an out and back course). There was even a gas station at mile 2/24 that would have allowed for the tables to be set up off the road. There were enough water stops that a little redistribution could have made this possible. The swag was unique as pictured on the website. Postrace food was burgers and hot dogs, which didn't quite sit right with me at 8:45 a.m., so I showered at my hotel and came back later. The course did not go through town but rather out into the suburbs. There was little traffic, and motorists were considerate. If you're going to run a marathon Labor Day weekend and can't get to somewhere cooler, this is a consideration.

Thanks to the 5am start I survived this hot and humid run. If you're done in about 4:30, the sun and heat aren't that bad. After that, it gets dicey. Great aid stations and fun finish line festivities. Morning bib pick-up was great since my flight was delayed!!! Great medal.