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☰
Mississippi Blues Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Mississippi Blues Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 4.6 
Spectators 4.1
Number of comments: 260 [displaying comments 91 to 101]
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B. F. from So. IL
(1/8/2012)
 "No Room For Improvement" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I chose this race because of the feedback from previous years runners, via Marathon Guide.com. I give top praise to the R.D.,staff and well-trained volunteers. Race started on time. Gu and hydration was plentiful as promised. Very difficult course due to 100% hills, though not long ones. Well-marked course for direction and mile-markers. Plenty of post-race food. Food was proteced from non-runners eating it up, thank God. Great post-race blues entertainment. The community was in sinc with this event; southern hospitality abounded. I received, perhaps, the most impressive medal of the 42 marathons/ ultras I have ran. I recommend this race to the seasoned runner; experience this challenging, yet, rewarding event. Tough but absolutely doable. It will be unforgetable. Thanks to all. | |
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D. L. from Washington, DC
(1/8/2012)
"Fantastic Run" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The race's organization was great, the town welcoming, the volunteers, well what can I say that hasn't already been said about the volunteers, expect to add like others have that everyone of them thanked you for coming to Jackson to run. Starting at 7AM, the weather was perfect, not cold and not certainly not hot this year. The run is entirely on pavement with excellent traffic control. Even the folks in cars waiting in lines as we ran by honked their horns and cheered us on. So different from some cities I've run in. Another difference is road condition. The roads in Jackson aren't in good condition. Lots of potholes, ridges, heaves, etc. I had to laugh as around Mile 19 there was a sign warning that the next 1/2 of pavement was particularly rough. It looked just like the previous 19 miles. The course isn't flat, its either uphill or downhill with very little flat until the last few miles. The course isn't particularly scenic either. You go through some sections of town where the houses are amazing and in others where urban blight has a firm hold. Regardless the area, the residents all came out and cheered you on. As a final treat, the last 1/4 to the finish line is uphill, not a big hill, but after so many the last thing you wanted to see. There was one young lady standing out in the road cheering us on to finsih. She made enough noise for 10 people and made all the difference in putting a smile on everyone's face as they finished an unexpectedly tough marathon. Finishing is just over 5 hours I was amazed by the marathon medal, almost as large as Little Rock's (but not quite) and by the mount of food. For such a small race, there were still mountains of food for slow runners like me. All together this isn't an easy marathon, but its one of the most friendly in a town that is easy to get into and out of. | |
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D. C. from Canton Georgia
(1/8/2012)
"First Marathon" (about: 2012)
First Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Great weather for the start, low 50's, a little warm at the end, high 60's. My first marathon. The rolling hills in miles 16 through 20 really got me. Not steep hills just a constant up and down. Well organized race, the town had great hospitality. Staying at the Marriot was wonderful and made it easy. A quick walk to the start finish so I did not have to wait at the start very long and a quick walk back afterward for a shower. The course was beautiful and the homeowners out cheering was really cool. Plenty of water stops. Great volunteers and a lot of them. | |
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S. P. from TX, USA
(1/8/2012)
"Well organized, tough course" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Pros: Great organization. Fantastic volunteers. Well stocked water stations. Smaller race (3000 runners). Nice harmonica and medal. Friendly spectators. Not super expensive. Well stocked food tent. Did I mention the great volunteer support? Cons: Hills! Not the biggest crowds (but I generally don't care). Not particularly scenic. | |
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K. G. from Dallas, Texas
(1/7/2012)
 "Southern hospitality and a challenging course" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my 17th half and fourth small race. Course support was great, and a nice surprise of plenty of real food like pizza, red beans and rice, and tomato soup at the end. I am used to just bagels, bars, and fruit at the bigger races. Love the medal, the harmonica, the shirt and even the bag. Hills are definitely a challenge. The people in the town are incredibly nice though. Highly recommend it. Stay at the Hilton Garden inn and definitely, definitely eat at The Parlor Market. Amazing. | |
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D. K. from Wisconsin
(2/24/2011)
"A Welcoming Town and Tough Course" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The volunteers and spectators were among the friendliest and most enthusiastic I have experienced. I was constantly being thanked for choosing to run in their town. The neighborhoods were full of residents in their lawn chairs cheering us on. The course was a tour of the town; I saw many beautiful neighborhoods. The start, finish and expo were an easy short walk from the downtown hotels. Traffic control on the course was excellent, even with the traffic backed up on the main roads. Good choice of food at the end, even for a 5.5-hour runner. I loved that they had soup at the end and one was a vegetarian choice, yeah! There were some bands along the course but not as many as I expected, but those that were there really lifted my morale. The entry included a free blues crawl (entry into the venues featuring blues music that night), but I always feel bad that I am too tired to partake in these after-race parties. The challenges: This was a hilly course. You are either running uphill or downhill, there is no level stretch until the last couple miles coming back into downtown. The roads were really rough: potholes, speed bumps, patched pavement. Even though they tried to glo-paint most of them, there were a few that hid in the shadows or were missed. My husband and father both took a tumble when they tripped on some chunky pavement. | |
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J. K. from Wisconsin
(2/21/2011)
 "Great Volunteers" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Positives: 1 ) If you want a marathon where you have cheering crowds and the most friendly people (who thanked you for coming to run), this is a good one. 2) The expo was small but nice. 3) The medal is the largest one I know of in the USA, even larger than the Little Rock, Arkansas medal. Very nice. Cons: 1) Downtown Jackson, MS seemed like nobody worked or lived there. It is a very quiet town. 2) My biggest complaint is the road surface. It had broken asphalt and concrete, holes and ridges. In my 20+ marathons I have never fallen, but at this one I hit the pavement hard at mile 18. There was an unmarked ridge of asphalt that caught my toe and I did a 360-degree flip in the middle of the road, and hurt my shoulder. Another runner in our party tripped at mile 20 because of the poor road conditions. | |
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m. s. from Buffalo, New York
(2/13/2011)
"A Good Race at This Time of Year" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 If you are looking for a marathon in January, this may be it: A quality, small race with a rolling course. Traffic control was excellent and the locals were very supportive. Huge finisher's medal. Needs more Elvises!!! | |
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Sarah Lovell from Urbana, IL
(1/21/2011)
"THANK YOU, MS VOLUNTEERS AND STAFF!" (about: 2011)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 A huge thanks to the volunteers and staff for: national anthem by electric guitar to start; encouragement up the brutal (for a flat-lander) hills; fun music throughout; marmalades for energy; placing that ENORMOUS medal around my neck, covering me with a blanket, removing my chip and tying my shoes back up at the finish; and offering beer for recovery. THANKS!! | |
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K. J. from Central Michigan
(1/17/2011)
 "Is it possible to rate this 6 stars??" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Probably the best overall marathon experience of any that I've been involved with. The City of Jackson makes you feel welcome and wanted. From the expo workers to the course volunteers, the people are the friendliest and nicest people I've ever into!! The course is pretty challenging, with relentless, rolling hills. The hills are pretty small, but they are relentless for the first 21 miles. Oh, and did I mention the last .2 miles are uphill to the finish?? As tough as the course is, it is also scenic and fun along the way. As I said above, the people surrounding the race are the best ever, anywhere, and that includes Boston!!! The cotton shirt is kind of lame, but the harmonica, Elvis sunglasses and the enormous finisher's medal are extremely cool. No issues whatsoever with half marathoners/marathoners converging on the course... this was policed very well. The finisher's medal was so large that it set off the TSA at the airport. After a quick bag search and several oohs and ahs from the TSA workers, I was on my way home. DO NOT MISS THIS RACE!!!!! A MUST-DO!!! |
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