Tupelo, MS - 14.2 mile race associated with the Tupelo Marathon. Probably one of the more interesting (and fun) races I've run. See the image below, and you'll get an idea of the tone of the race - pretty cool - the long-sleeve race t-shirt is tye-dyed and has the image logo. The race starts at 5 am Sunday, so I stayed overnight in Tupelo, which is about an hour and a half from Collierville, and packet pickup was 1 pm to 5 pm the day before, so more incentive to get there on Sat. and stay over.
5 am Sunday - start of race - it is very dark, and the race is run on back country roads in Mississippi without many streetlights - it is kind of eerie because in several places, it is pitch black and there is mist (ground fog) rising off the surrounding fields and huge trees covered with kudzu, (which has to be the Mississippi state plant!), making grotesque shapes in the background (when you can actually see). Lots of rolling hills, typical of Mississippi. Now and then, you hear a rooster crow or a dog bark. Between miles 4 and 6, people start to spread out, and there are a few stretches where you are running down a back country road in Mississippi in the dark by yourself, not knowing exactly where you are. A little different than the typical early morning training run, but fun! My race - felt really good until about mile 6 when I felt like I needed to make a pitstop but there was no place to do so, and finally at about mile 7, there were porta-potties out in the middle of nowhere. I was very thankful. Between mile 6 and 7, I had to slow down a bit because of the GI issues, and felt a bit tired around mile 8 or 9. After mile 9, I felt better, and it was just a matter of keeping the legs moving at a decent pace. By mile 7 or 8, the sun had come up, and around mile 11 or 12, here come the marathoners, who have reached the turnaround, running back out to do the loop again. There was one long uphill starting around mile 13, and after that, suddenly, there's the left turn into the finish! Finish time (chip timed) - 2 hours 0 minutes 11 seconds - took home the pottery for winning the 40 - 49 age group. 8th female overall.
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