i have run this race in the pouring down rain & the sweltering heat, & i said that i would never do it again. somehow i came back & PR'ed. 'small rollers' is how someone described it to me, yeah - for 26.2 miles. the hills are continuous & there is not much scenery. this marathon is not for a first-timer. it is a hardcore test for the mind, body, & soul. i ran for miles w/o seeing someone in front of me, ran with a stray dog for 3 miles, ran past a smorgasboard of roadkill, and eventually conversed with a herd of cows. why come back? the harley theme. the t-shirt is the best ever. i wanted to enter the shirt in the runner's world best race shirt contest, but i didn't want to give up my shirt. the medal is great. there is cold beer & pizza afterwards. there is no expo, no logo apparel, and no finisher pix. you start in the dark at 5am, you run your ass off up and down a million hills - twice, mike (the race director) drives around in a souped up pick-up to make sure you are alive, & you make your grand finish in the parking lot of the tupelo furniture mart. this race is tough but worth it, and the price is right. come get some!

I enjoyed the challenge of running this hilly and hot marathon. I was tempted to take the race official up on his offer to ride me to the finish after mile 18, but I was proud later on that I had turned him down. My time was 30 to 40 minutes slower than usual due to the heat and hills. My only complaint is not enough water stations. The last one was at mile 23. It was far to hot to run the last 3 miles on hills in that heat with no water.

I used this marathon as a training run for the St. George Marathon. It had good organization and the course was fairly flat with rolling hills. The temp was in the low 70's at the start to the mid 80's by finish with about 90% humidity. If you can finish this course, you can run a marathon in ideal conditions 5% faster. I ran it in 3:36 which was a pr, and I ran St. George in 3:14 which is my new pr. However, I did run it as a training run, but I don't think that I could have broken 3:28 that day no matter what.

I have done this marathon twice and the 14.2 @ 4 times and am familiar with the area. Temp at 5am was 75 plus 90% humidity. That being said you need fluids every two miles from start to 14 and every mile thereafter. Human physiology and fluid depletion/replacement requires this.

Post race festivities are second to none, great food, drink & camaraderie.

Personally, I would move the race to November as a prep race for Memphis or Huntsville. The weather would be much better and I think you would attract more runners at a normal time. Although I would still stay with the early start, nice to have the entire day ahead of you after one's put in an 'easy 26.2'... Perhaps the course could do a double non-repetitive loop heading to the east side of Tupelo i.e. Elvis' house, UM Tupelo Campus, Battlefield, etc...just a thought as it would be much less repetitive for the out of town visitor and more enjoyable, plus you might see another person!

Ok, Tupelo is a small town in MS. This isn't the Chicago Marathon. However, for the slow, beginning runner that I am, the race was perfect.

It was hot and humid, that's just Mississippi. There was one thing about which I was extremely impressed. When those last slow runners were finishing up, the organizers began checking on us. The local police who were in charge of traffic control began checking on us. They were offering me water, bananas, etc. while I ran. I didn't even have to wait for an aid station. They were bringing things to me.

I know that this doesn't mean much to the elite runners, or even the average runers for that matter. But for the 5 hour guys such as myself, this was appreciated more than they will ever know.

But what would you expect on September 1st in Mississippi? For this Floridian, the heat and humidity were not a problem. The rolling course through the countryside was challenging. The course is a double loop. Due to the 5:00 a.m. start the first half was largely in the dark for this 4 hour runner. That made the second half, after sunup, seem like a different course. Adequate water/Gatorade stops, with big cups. Timers on course at 3 mile mark and half way. Mile markers on pavement. Very few spectators, just a few friends of runners.

This is a nice little marathon with a challenging course and great organization. Race starts at 5:00 AM (and you are glad that it does once the sun comes up). No spectators, but the volunteers are supportive and enthusiastic. This is recommended marathon in the the late summer in the South.

This is the first year I ran the Tupelo marathon after running many large marathons, and I was pleased by the organization and course. A gently rolling hill course that is a challenge, yet not too difficult. Race starts at 5:00 AM (you will be glad it does after the sun comes up) and nice post race party. If you are looking for a small marathon in the south, I would recommend this one.

This is a well run, nice late summer marathon. It starts at 5:00AM because of the heat, (and you will be glad about two hours into the run that it starts that early). No fans, but the volunteers are great and very enthusiastic. Nice end of marathon party.

Let me start by saying this is a very challenging race. Completing a marathon in Mississippi in early September is difficult enough. Then you add starting the race in the dark (5 am), a course marked by a lot of bump and run hills, and absolutely no fan support and you have even more to overcome. All that said, it was a good race. My main complaint was the lack of water stops. You cannot expect runners to stay hydrated--on a hot, rural course no less (no convenience stores to pop into)--when your water tables are 2 to 3 miles apart, with your last water stop at 23. I'm sure it's hard to recruit volunteers in Tupelo to get up at the crack of dawn and stand in the heat for several hours to hand out drinks, but it is vital in such a humid climate to drink as much as possible. In addition, no bananas or oranges on the course, either. This may sound whiny, but it would have made a huge difference in performance. Bananas were at the finish line, so they were available. Getting them at mile 18 or mile 20 water would have been far more beneficial to the runner than at the end. If the race organizers could clear up this one problem, this marathon would really increase in popularity, especially for hardcore runners. It has too many positives (cheap entry fee, great shirt and medal, down home feel)to be undermined by what could be so easily resolved.