MS Blues Half Marathon, I love thee

What a race!!!!

After finishing the MS Gulf Coast Half Marathon in November... Ginny & I were both a little discouraged. The race was poorly put together and the weather just wasn't agreeable that day. So.. since we didnt have that great of a FIRST half marathon... we decided to go for another!!!!

We signed up for the Blues Half in the beginning of December. We didn't get to run very much in the month of December,.. with the holidays and such... but once the first Saturday in January rolled around, we were ready!!!

We traveled to Jackson late Friday afternoon to give us a chance to look around the Race Expo. (Fancy, shmancy) This half was already looking better than the last! They had several booths set up with shoes, racing belts, etc. We went ahead and picked up our t-shirt, bib number, and our goodie bag... which was complete with a commemorative harmonica and blues cd. Sweeeeeet!

Of course we were early to bed... because we knew 7am was going to come early!!! And it did!!!

readdyyy.

Our hotel was within walking distance of the finish line. (bigggg plus- because it seemed like I didn't have time to get nervous.) There were runners EVERYWHERE. Every street we turned on,.. there were people heading that way to warm up/take pictures/etc before the start. Ginny and I warmed up and stretched, and snuck in a few pictures while we waited!

Before we knew it, it was time. We penguin-stepped our way into the main crowd and waited for our turn. Luckily this race had timing chips, so even though we didn't get to actually start when the clock did, our times were still accurate! Ginny & I stayed together for the first 3 miles,.. and then we were separated.

I can't remember if they had blues bands playing at every single mile marker, but for most of the miles they did. People stood along the roadside throughout the race cheering and waving home made signs for their loved ones in the race. Everyone was so encouraging! Strangers clapped for us as we passed by and yelled words of encouragement.. "looking good," keep going," "almost there." All things that probably most of us in the race needed to hear. The people working the race and those among the roadside were probably my most favorite part of the whole day. As I passed mile after mile, the spectators did not waiver, they were everywhere. There to offer a smiling face or a fist pump to all of these people that they surely did not know.

I felt great throughout the whole race. Who would think they could feel that good while running 13.1 miles. Thirteen.point.one.miles. But I did. And I loved every minute of it.

Coming up to the finish line I could barely see the clock timer. It was obviously 2 hrs and something.. but I couldn't read the minutes. I wanted so bad to be in the 2:15 section... but my garmin watch (my awesome Christmas present from the hubby) had already informed me that I was well past making that goal. As I approached closer, I could finally make out the numbers. 2:31 and counting. By my account and Hank's photography, it looked like I crossed the finish line around the 2:31:38 mark. I did find out later though, that my actual time was 2:30:13, which is a little over a minute faster than the Gulf Coast Half. I'll take it though, it wasn't bad for this course being quite hilly versus the other course being tremendously flat.

All in all, it was a great day. And I've found a new race that I'll try my best to do year after year! For all you runners out there.. its definitely worth the $35 (i think that's all that I paid.) Just be prepared for a BIG turn out. The race completely sold out with over 2,500 runners from 45 states and 10 countries. Yep. Among those countries, was Kenya. I don't know about all of the other runners, but I felt kinda honored to be running a race with a Kenyan. :)

look who finished! :)

Christie & me!

Me & Clint!!! (he finished in under 2 hours!)

MEDALS! :)