Mississippi Blues Marathon
Jackson, MS - January 5th, 2008
First weekend of the year brought the first marathon for Fast Trackers . . .
Jackson, Mississippi was the location for the Inaugural Mississippi Blues Marathon where Fast Trackers Keith Straw, Tom Chaves, and Ethel Cook travelled south to start 2008 checking off a new state.
The quick summary of the race was stated by the overall winner (Alene Reta, a 25-year-old from New York City):
"The temperature was good for the race, but the course was very up and down and there was a strong wind"
The race lived up to its billing as a demanding course full of rolling hills.
We were impressed with the friendly nature of the city - from welcoming us with signs in the airport to race marshals on Saturday thanking us for coming to Mississippi. The expo was small but full of Blue Cross/Blue Shield employees (i.e. major sponsor of the race) going out of their way to
We enjoyed the capital of Mississippi on Friday afternoon by visiting the capital building and strolling the Fondren district full of shops - consignment, soda shops, etc. We avoided the next door 'dry' county of Renkin :).
Cajun food was the menu for Friday night to get us in the mood for the race on Saturday morning. As the 2008 winter long distance run group got underway at Betzwood, Keith, Ethel, and I hit the roads of Jackson Mississippi.
We were greeted with a very nice blues guitar medal at the end . . . .
Also, ask Keith about his new preferred sleeping bed . . . it brought him a great start to his racing year - 3:13:50.
State Count towards Running a Marathon/Ultra in all 50 states: Keith (27), Tom (20), Ethel (19)
