I learned a lesson from this run: find out for yourself what a marathon is like. Everyone has expectations that may or may not be met. I'd read previous years' comments and thought, 'Hills and too hot' but still went ahead because it was the nearest one to FL on Labor Day weekend. And that's what my novice training had led me to. I'm so glad I did it! (It was a nice distraction from Hurricane Frances that was going over my house that day!)

Not so hot (after FL summer running) and not so hilly. Just a little glitch in pre-registration that had me paying more the 2nd time around (hmmm), some speeding churchgoers the lone officer had to track down, and no pizza. But the glow-in-the-dark shirt is SO cool and the ninja-star medal is GREAT. Neat people like Frank (MN). Thanks for the experience.

Hey. It was hotter in Boston in April!

The skelly shirt makes up for all the blandies I?ve been saddled with. The rolling course is all country; the darkness gives way to misty fields as the sun rises after the first hour ? it looks like something out of ?Fried Green Tomatoes?. Very nice organizers and volunteers. My fellow runners were the best. There is a different marathon vibe to this baby ? kinda the equivalent of what alt. country music is to a slick Nashville production. It?s refreshing. Everybody?s ego is at rest.

Fluids were quite adequate, but bring your own gel. The last 5 miles are a bit isolated, but I never really... enjoyed...that part of any marathon.
Friendly farm dogs kept me company at the end. There?s a good Greek/Italian smorgasbord at a place called Vanelli?s the night before.

I?m coming back to this one.

This race starts at the Tupelo Furniture Market at 5 am on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. The start set-up is nice because there are plentiful flush toilets in the furniture market building (I never waited in line), and the start line is just a short two tenths of a mile away.

Yes, it is dark when you start, and no, there aren?t many street lights ? but I never felt like I was in any sort of danger of tripping over anything. Actually, it was kinda fun running in the dark! There is a light-up clock at the first mile marker so you can adjust your pace accordingly. The remainder of the mile markers are spray-painted on the road in a bright color ? making them easy to see once there is a little bit of light.

Water is offered by enthusiastic volunteers at mile 3 and every 2 miles thereafter. Gatorade is offered at all stations once there is enough light so that runners and volunteers alike can tell the difference between Gatorade and water (mile 11 for my pace). The website made it clear that Gatorade would not be available on the first half of the course, so those whining about this really should have just planned ahead and carried their own. The race director did add a station at mile 25 this year in response to comments from last year about wanting another aid station closer to the end.

The out-and-back course is hilly, but none of the hills are all that bad. There are no monster climbs like those at Cherry Blossom (Macon, GA) or Mercedes (Birmingham, AL). It is not a PR course, but not necessarily a PW course either. It can get hot, but if you are a sub-4 hour runner you will finish before it really heats up too much. Don?t expect any spectators ? all sane people are still asleep at 5 am! Talk to your fellow runners instead ? this race attracts a really neat group of people.

The finish is back at the furniture market, where you receive your finisher?s medal (very cool medal!) and enjoy free beer (and Gatorade and bananas and McDonald's if beer isn?t your thing). Cash awards are given to overall winners along with some really unique awards for the age group winners. After the race, you can wear your Tupelo Marathon T-shirt with pride. As others have said, the T-shirts are great! This year?s glowed in the dark! Probably my only complaint about the race is that the T-shirt didn?t come in size small.

Overall I found this race to be very well organized and well run, especially considering the early start time. I have no idea how they convinced all those volunteers to get out of bed at 4 am on a Sunday to hand us water! I would not recommend this race to people who like to whine about heat, hills and darkness, but I would recommend it to 50 states runners looking for a Mississippi race, and to anyone in the South looking for a fun and challenging marathon.

If you want to run in a big city marathon with hordes of spectators, then this is not the race for you. If you want to run in a small race with great medals and T-shirts, then this is the race for you. Here are the pros and cons.

PROS
1. Great medal
2. Great t-shirt
3. Early start means early finish. I called to tell my wife that I was finished and she was not out of bed yet.
4. Challenging course. Some rolling hills, but nothing severe.
5. Aid stations had ice cold Gatorade. A real plus for a hot day.

CONS
1. You are running in Mississippi in late summer, so you know it is going to be hot and humid.
2. The course is run over country roads, not particularly scenic.
3. There are no pacers, but you may have a dog run with you and the dogs are in good running shape.
4. No EXPO, but packet pickup was at a mall so you pick up any last minute items that you may have forgotten.

This a good race if you want a small, no fills race where your entry fee is in the medals and T-shirts. You may want to use this race as a long training run for a later fall marathon.

I just did the 14.2 miler in prep. for a fall marathon (speedwork, long-run style) and found this race to be excellent. True the course is not very scenic, but it is cool that you have nothing but your moon-shadow and other runners around (as well as roosters screeching occasionally) and it is serene. It was pretty cool out this year, but still humid. The humidity creeps up on you when it's cool out, and if you plan to run conservative at first and book it at the end you might find it tough to do (less efficient w/ less oxygen in air - work harder than normal).

The hills were overrated...coming from northern Atlanta these were a piece of cake, just easy rolls. If you plan on driving the course, I would recommend coordinating the map on the website with a detailed road map first. Post-race beer was a nice touch. Would have preferred to not have a purple shirt, but the graphic is pretty cool, at least.

The course was pretty enough to make me think about moving to Mississippi. There were gently rolling hills with adequate water stops. It started at 5 am, in the dark, which was good because by 8 am it was so hot I'm sure I saw Elvis at mile 19! This was a small marathon so if one needs lots of encouragement from spectators they should opt for a larger one.

I liked the 5am start time. Since this was an out and back course I didn't even realize how cracked the roads were until I was coming back.

The heat/humidity wasn't a problem for me since I've been training all summer in it. But I was VERY disappointed in the t-shirt. I don't see what all the excitement previous posters have been talking about.

It was LONG-SLEEVE deep purple with a glow-in-the-dark skeleton on the front! (I couldn't even think about wearing it after the marathon.) I just don't get that one.

But I'm glad I did it. The people were fairly friendly. And I went to visit Elvis' birthplace!

I was very fearful of this race after training in an unseasonably cool summer in Northeastern Ohio that routinely saw temperatures top out in the upper 60?s / lower 70?s. I took the cautious approach and finished about 5 ? 10 minutes slower than my normal marathon time. The 5 am start beats the majority of the heat ? as a 4+ hour marathoner I did not feel the heat until abound mile 23. The course is wonderfully rural, passing some truly beautiful homes (and some scary looking ones as well). The middle half of the race is rolling hills throughout, and other than a 2 or 3 mile stretch around 18-20 there is very little shade. The aid stations are frequent for a marathon of this size and stocked water only at the start and water and Gatorade starting around mile 6.

I cannot compliment the race staff enough. They had better ?collateral materials? than most big event races. The t-shirt is sweet (my wife immediately put dibs on it), the medal is probably the coolest I?ve earned and they offered a nice poster for sale. I?ve paid twice as much and gotten ½ the quality at other races.

The bottom line is that if you are a Northerner and you?ve done marathons before just respect the weather and you will do fine.

Excellent late summer marathon! Unless the course changed drastically this year I found no significant 'pot holes'. But then again maybe it was too dark! A small penlight came in handy in some dark shaded areas during the first 4 or 5 miles, but I could have run without one.

This was an event organized for the true marathon runner that is self motivated and not concerned with fanfare along the course. No bands, no crowds to worry about here. One or two aid stations had a boom box, (thanks for the Lynryd Skynrd!). The volunteers were very helpful, enthusiastic and supportive. But the sparse number of spectactors likened it more to a small ultra-marathon or even a training run.

The event was well organized and thankfully started at 0500 sharp! As soon as the sun rose, so did the temperature. The aid stations were adequate but I was glad that I carried my own water. Anyone desiring more than water or Gatorade needed to bring their own (gels, candy, pretzels, etc.).

Post race treats were appreciated, cold Coke, beer and food donated by local sponsors.

A few comments by the RD prior to the start and a photographer somewhere along the course or at the finish line would have added a nice touch. Given the times that we live in, the absence of our national anthem prior to the start seemed a little unusual.

In any event, kudos to the RD and his volunteers for an enjoyable marathon.

Bring your own backpack with liquids if you will be taking 4 or more hours for the marathon. Lack of Gatorade at water stations.