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Tupelo Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Tupelo Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 4.4 
Spectators 2.6
Number of comments: 156 [displaying comments 131 to 141]
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R. H. from St. Charles, Mo
(9/4/2003)
 "Humid, Hilly, Low Frills, Water? & Lots of Fun" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was my first marathon and I finished, which was my goal. The humidity was high, but the early start helped with the heat. A flashlight would be useful early. The rolling hills made it challenging. The course is over country roads, with no real outstanding sights other than the sunrise, and you finish in a store parking lot. Low frills with almost no spectators. The T-shirt and medal are great. They could use one more water stop before mile 3 and after mile 23. The post party and the overall atmosphere made this lots of fun. | |
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Scott Lyon from Greensboro, NC
(9/4/2003)
 "A Good Time!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was my first marathon and I had way more fun then I thought I would. The course does have hills, but I trianed for it in the foothills of North Carolina, so I hardly noticed them. I also took advantage of every water stop and had a PowerBar stash on me. I came in 21 minutes faster then I had planned, came in 37th overall, and loved every step. The volunteers and organizers were great and did a fine job. The map of the course left something to be desired, but it did the job (we just had to turn around a few times while driving it). The t-shirt was excellent and was one of the reasons I picked this marathon to be my first. The pizza and beer after the race were an added bonus. A special thanks to my wife for driving out and finding me with that big bottle of Gatorade and the PowerBar resupply. I can't wait to run this one again. | |
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K. W. from Tulsa, Oklahoma
(9/2/2003)
"A Winner" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 I will be honest: I went for the t-shirt, which did not disappoint. I was a little scared of the hilly course and heat from previous year comments. However, if one proceeds with caution over the first half, then the second half is not so bad. It was not as hot as I thought it would be, but the humidity was very high. It is the first time I have ever been soaked head to toe. Awards were great. The organizers were very helpful and friendly. Lodging was inexpensive and an easy drive to the start/finish. I would recommend it to anyone. My only preference for improvements would be to have the 14.2 mile runners wear a different color number, since they basically run the first half of the marathon, and it would be good if they could add an additional water stop at, say, mile 1/25 or 2/24. | |
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s. c. from lawrence, ks
(9/1/2003)
"Certainly worth 40-dollar price of admission" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 Cheap hotel. Nice long-sleeve t-shirt. Good finisher's medal. Lots of post-race food and drink. The hills aren't bad, you won't even notice them early because it's dark and they're so small. Roadkill not as bad as billed; no dead skunks. Humidity? Yes, lots. When the sun came out the relative humidity dropped as temp went up, and it actually felt cooler 2 hours into the run. I was 5 minutes faster over the second half because I felt cooler and could run harder. That is my one piece of race advice for men running 3:20 or slower: wait for the sunrise before starting to push. It's a nice run with a great post-race atmosphere. I'd do this one again. | |
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S. H. from Cartersville, Ga
(9/1/2003)
"Well organized and friendly marathon" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was a challenging marathon, but enjoyable all the same. A couple suggestions for people who are considering this marathon: Bring along a cheap throw-away flashlight so you can see the road during the first hour of the run. Also, the mile markers could use a glowstick laid next to them so runners can keep their mile splits in the early AM hours of the run. Other than that, I would recommend this marathon to anyone who wants the challenge of rolling hills, and doesn't mind sweating a bunch. | |
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gina house from memphis, tennessee
(3/25/2003)
"survivor tupelo" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 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! | |
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A Runner from Amite, Louisiana
(10/14/2002)
 "A challenging Course" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 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. | |
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A Runner from Tennessee
(10/12/2002)
"Nice hot marathon" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 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. | |
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A Runner from Oxford, MS
(9/23/2002)
"fluids, carbs, toilets..." (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 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! | |
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Rob from Jackson, MS
(9/13/2002)
"Organizers were great." (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 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. |
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