Mississippi Blues Marathon

I've run Memphis. I've run Philadelphia. I've run Houston. I've run the Marine Corps. None of them can compare to the Mississippi Blues Marathon. It was by far the toughest marathon I've run. It's also one of the best managed that I've run. Hats off to John Sewell and his team of volunteers for putting on a first-class event.

Mississippi needs more companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield. They are the sponsor of the Blues marathon, and they are also the sponsor of the Let's Go Walking campaign that urges people to exercise and lead a healthy lifestyle. And you can see their presence on a variety of different community events around the metro area. It's obvious that Blue Cross Blue Shield is community-minded organization, and we could use a lot more like them.

But back to the race ...

I ran the half marathon last year, so I was well aware of what I was getting into before I signed up for the event. The first 11 miles is a non-relenting series of hills and my plan was to go out every easy in the first half of the race. When I saw the weather reports of high 60s and high humidity, I tried make especially certain that I wasn't gassed when I came out of Belhaven, and then re-assess my condition when I got to the flatter Lakeland drive. My plan was to put the hammer down on Lakeland if I had the energy, then take my lumps on Ridgewood Road.

I wasn't gassed when I got to Lakeland, but I was drenched with sweat, and I knew I didn't enough in the tank to press hard, so I just took the approach of going at a steady pace. That worked well until about mile 17ot and I began to get a little dizzy. That's not good. But I had planned for that. I had a zip-lock bag of pretzels in my pouch and that really helped me get through that rough spot.

There's no beating around the bush about Ridgewood Road. It ate me up, and it spit me out. I was completely wasted by the time I got to Jackson Academy. In fact, I couldn't even open the GU package by myself at mile 20. One of the ladies waiting at the relay station was kind enough to open it for me, and I'm thankful to her. The entire support crew was great. Every one of them offered encouragement, and I hope each and every one of them understand that they really help the runners push through the pain.

I was quite surprised to look at my watch and see that I hadn't completely wrecked my time goal. I really want to break the 4-hour mark, but I knew going in that it would take a perfect day for me to do that on this course. At mile 20, I was at 3:20 so I knew I couldn't break 4 hours, but I was encouraged that I could have a respectable finish despite having to stop and walk more than I have ever done in a marathon.

I was able to regain my stride in the flat part that followed Ridgewood Road and thoughts of 4:10 finish crept back in my head, but then there were more hills. The accumulation of all those hills was just too much to overcome with the heat, humidity and the head cold that I was still battling. I finished 200th with a time of 4:31:05. On a colder day, I might have been able to break my personal best marathon time of 4:13. But nevertheless, I was pleased. Marathon number five is in the books, and I can live to tell about it.