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Apr 29, 2024

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 21 to 31]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 26 > ]

C. J. from Austin, TX (1/14/2015) "Highly recommended" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran the Mississippi Blues Marathon in 2015. I highly recommend this race. This was my 14th marathon but my first Mississippi Blues. I picked it due to positive word of mouth and online reviews, and I found pretty much all of the good things Ive heard and read to be true. Highlights: " Super friendly volunteers. They all seem genuinely grateful that you have chosen to travel to their city to take part in their event. " Very nice expo for a smaller race. " Easy logistics; lots of parking at the convention center for the expo, and on race day I parked in a garage literally across the street from the finish line (the website said that parking in the garage was $5.00, but the gates were open and the parking was free). " RIDICULOUSLY huge medal. This thing is a monstrosity 10 x 4 - I cant decide if its a gorgeous work of art or a tacky piece of kitsch. Probably a little of both. So yeah, its awesome. " Post-race food was good (pizza!) and plentiful. Things to consider (not necessarily negative, just things you oughtta know). " This is a SERIOUSLY HILLY course. I usually take all the complaints about hills in the reviews on this forum with a grain of salt. But trust me; there are hills, hills, and more hills. None of them are monsters but they keep coming and coming. It starts out easy and you will be lulled to a false sense of security in the early miles, but the hills get worse and worse as the course goes on. The worst stretch is mile 23-25. The two long uphill grinds on the IH 55 frontage road in mile 23 are soul-crushing. But the last mile is flat, so theres that. " The course was not closed to traffic; all intersections were manned by either a cop or a volunteer (or both) and they did a good job of directly the traffic, but you will often be running alongside cars. At one point I had to come to a dead stop to allow a cement truck to pass after he blew right by a cop and drove through the course. " Yeah, the road surface is bad. I dont think the streets in Jackson have been paved since the Carter administration. " This is not a scenic course. Nothing spectacular about downtown and although you run through some nice neighborhoods, you will be too busy looking for potholes to really notice. " Instead of a race shirt we got a . . . what is it, a running vest? I dont know . . . some kind of zippered vest with pockets. Its not the type of thing I would normally wear and I would really rather have had something I could use as a training shirt. " The on-course live entertainment advertised never materialized. I dont blame them it was in the low 20s when the race started but it was still a bit disappointing.
T. P. from Akron Ohio (1/14/2015) "The Blues made me so Haapy." (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I LOVED this race. 25degrees at the start,I'm from Ohio so that's perfect running weather. The hills were like a roller coaster the momentum going down carried you up the next one. The Medal was 100% SWAG,best ever.Friendliest volunteers . Expo open till 9:00. Host hotel 2 blocks from everything, 3:00 check out, free bananas and muffins...stay there. ...no complaints here just an ear to ear smile....
S. S. from Gulfcoast (1/13/2015) "Friendliest Race Ever!" (about: 2015) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Everybody was friendly, the spectators, racers, organizers, musicians, police, massage therapist, and the volunteers were just plain fantastic. I rarely review races but i felt compelled to exclaim what a great job the folks in Jackson do in putting this race on. If they could have turned the temp up a few degrees that would have been nice. Warning for anyone running next year please do a lot of hill workouts. This is Not a complaint, to me it just adds to the character of this great race. Thank You Mississippi Blues!
M. w. from Mississippi (1/13/2015) "great race-bad roads" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Mississippi Blues Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I've run the Blues 4 times (1 1/2 - 3 fulls) PRO's The medal is awesome! Everyone gets a harmonica & blues cd which is awesome. The post-race is great! good food and music. If you are fast enough to win the race, the award is a brand new custom made guitar. No Kidding. The course is through downtown and some really nice neighborhoods. BUT... see Cons EH's The t-shirt/vest/pullover. I LOVE the pullover from 2014 is awesome! I wear it all the time. The blue vest from 2015-not so much. Honestly it looks like something a walmart employee would wear. CONS- You almost need trail shoes for the course. The roads are in TERRIBLE shape! Each time I've run this race, I have ankle & foot pain from the conditions of the roads. Jackson has some of the worst kept roads in the south! Overall-Very fun race. Awesome bling and party atmosphere. Just bring trail shoes.
j. e. from PA (1/12/2015) "organized, hospitable, incredible swag" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 When I arrived, I found out I wasn't on the registration list. The R.D. took care of it, not only reassuring me that all would work out, but had the asst. RD drive me to my hotel (Tony, wash that thing or use the Mercedes). Organization, course, aid stations, post race swag and nutrition were incredible. I loved the medal and vest. The harmonica, CD and southern hospitality were icing on the cake. There were few spectators, but they couldn't have been more supportive. Thanks for a terrific day and a wonderful experience. I appreciate all the care you took in making my registration issue not an issue. It is a hilly course, but they are not awful. I felt that your thorough website prepared us for exactly what to anticipate race day. I also appreciated having a bus to shuttle the B2B to Mobile. Logistically, you made everything simple.
L. M. from Philadelphia, PA (1/12/2015) "Best Medal Ever!" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I absolutely loved this race! I've run probably around 40 marathons and this was one of the best. It was well organized. The volunteers and police officers were so nice. Everyone kept saying 'Welcome to Mississippi' and 'Thank you for running today'. The water stops were well supported. Interesting course through some beautiful neighborhoods. I highly recommend this race! The finisher medal is huge and really cool!
T. C. from Maryland (1/12/2015) "Fun and well-organized" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I loved everything about this racegreat medal/swag, excellent traffic control, extremely friendly volunteers on the course, lovely neighborhoods to run through. I can't tell you how many times I heard 'Thank you for coming to Jackson!' from the volunteers and spectators along the course. The roads are in rough shape in many places but that isn't something the marathon has control over. It's got some challenging hills so probably isn't a PR course but I would definitely do this one again!
Michael Tritschler from Jackson, MS (1/12/2015) "Mississippi Can Be Cold" (about: 2015) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Tough weather and conditions but a wonderful experience. Jackson knows how to put on a marathon. The music was wonderful and I loved how the marathon played up the Blues aspect of Mississippi. As a new transplant to this state I can say I am proud of what I experienced. The course was not easy but 26.2 never is.
G. F. from Houston, Tx (1/11/2015) "Run for the medal" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Pros: the finishers medal is way too cool. Worth the beating. The volunteers are the best. Every course worker thanked us for coming to mississippi. Expo/packet pickup for well done. Race packet came with a runners vest, harmonica and key chains. Nice. Cons: my definition differs on the term 'rolling hills'. Toward the end the hills got steeper and longer (I think). Jackson roads are just this side of third world with cracked and patched surface for most of course. The weather this year was frigid with start temp a balmy 27 degrees. And although I was in the heartland of the blues, I failed to see the genre well represented. Three bands on the course and a few car stereos playing music (note: Shake it off by Taylor Swift isn't close to 'the blues'). The Star-Spangled Banner played on guitar at start was cool. Maybe it was too darn cold for the bands. I know it was too damn cold for me! Probably explains the lack of spectators, too. (Again, understandable considering the cold). Overall: good 50 stater with the worlds best medal.
Tiffany Reed from Standish, Maine (1/11/2015) "Fun event, great swag!" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Did this race as part of the back-to-back with Mobile (First Light marathon). Expo was small but nice. We stayed at the Jackson Marriott, only a couple blocks from the expo and start/finish. Downtown Jackson was unimpressive as it seemed somewhat blighted but you can't beat the southern hospitality!! Everyone was so friendly. I mean everyone! The course was unremarkable but there were a fair amount of spectators and ample volunteers, all of whom were enthusiastic and encouraging. This course has lots of rolling hills and is not a fast course. It is somewhat scenic but mostly residential. The finish medal is awesome! Would recommend this if you need to pick up Mississippi or as part of the back-to-back, but not really a vacation marathon.

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