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Nov 17, 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 1 to 11]

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E. A. from Tiffin, IA (2/24/2024) "Low-Rent, Essentially No Music" (about: 2024) First Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Left feeling a bit in the twilight zone after this race. It's literally called the MS Blues marathon, and advertises 'live blues bands every 2 mi of the course,' yet there were no bands! There was ONE guitarist picking softly at mi 4, and two guitarists playing around at mi 7. That was literally it. The website mentions pacers yet there were none. The aid stations were bare bones. Most had only water. A few had gatorade. Only ONE had gu. No other nutrition so bring your own! The address for packet pickup was the Capitol building, yet the tent was across the street and down a hill (not visible from street) without any signage.. Overall I don't think you get your value from this race. It felt pretty low-budget and poorly organized.
S. R. from Cincinnati, ohio (2/26/2023) "Worst marathon ever!" (about: 2023) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 Four of us came to this marathon and four of us were disappointed &.the course was filled with potholes, we were running in traffic, the finish line ran out of Gatorade and they closed the medical tent before the marathon was over. Although it was promised, there was no fuel on the course for the half marathon.
N. A. from IL (3/3/2020) "Potential to Be Larger Race" (about: 2020) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Some random insights: I signed up about six weeks before the race and was able to find a room at the Westin (nice hotel), across the street from the start/ finish area. Also, flights into Jackson are fairly cheap. Weather was nice and cool at start. The expo was super small, but organizers are enthusiastic, and people are friendly. I was able to get in line for the porta-potties, use gear check and make it to my corral all in the matter of 9 minutes. The marathon in 2020 was a two-loop course, which I had never done at a race before. I liked that fact that it allowed me to get an idea of what to expect in the second half, and actually made the second half feel like it went by faster. There are hills. Lots of rolling hills. Hills get a little larger in miles 7-5-12.5 and again in miles 20.5- 25.5. But none of them are killers. If you live in areas without hills like I do, however, they can be a challenge. Spectators are sparse, and some of the aid stations lacked proper support. Law enforcement and volunteers do a good job keeping course safe. I struggled to find a good place to carbo-load in the downtown area the night before. I ended up taking a 8 minute Uber to a very good Italian place. Overall, I would recommend it you're looking for a Mississippi race. There is a lot of potential with this race.
A. L. from MD (3/2/2020) "Desperately needs course marshals and signs!" (about: 2020) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I came in expecting the hills and the potholes, but out of all the marathons I've run, this the only one where I had to ask for directions multiple times (from both spectators and police officers), and at one point I felt physically threatened by traffic because there was nobody monitoring one busy intersection. This year the course was a double loop for the full marathon, and the full marathoners had to run through the actual finish line after the first loop, to register a half split. I know of multiple marathoners who didn't do this (it's a little weird to run through the finish when you're not even close to finishing!) because there were no signs or marshals. I saw two 5K runners backtracking after other runners shouted out to them that they had missed a turn; there was one volunteer calling out, '5K, turn left!' but again, no signage. On the second loop there were several turns that were unclear because the course was very empty with just the full marathoners running. Sometimes I didn't see anyone else running and had to stop to look for cones or taped arrows on the pavement. In one spot the full marathoners on the second loop actually had to cross paths with runners on the first loop. Other things: Having packet pickup in an art museum was cool, and I didn't care that the expo was small. The blues anthem was great; I wish the different races had had staggered starts just for crowd management in the early miles, but given the overall small race size, it didn't bother me that much. Bag check was easy and quick, aid stations and port-a-potties were reasonably available, and I liked that there were public laptops for runners to check their results afterward. I hadn't been keeping track of the race changes over the past few years and was disappointed not to get the famous guitar-shaped medal. I like that the 2020 medal is simple and not too gaudy, but it's a tire - I hope Continental doesn't insist on that for future medals. What really surprises me is that NOWHERE does the medal have the race date (not even the year)! especially because it was Leap Day - there won't be too many marathons taking place on Leap Day. Also, I wish there'd been more thought given to the full marathoners at the end. I'm a middle-of-the-pack marathoner, and when I finished, much of the food was gone (though there was plenty of jambalaya), the musicians were packing up, and there was no race photographer to take pictures of runners with their medals in front of the finisher's wall. The absolute best thing about this race was the incredibly friendly locals everywhere - hotel, museum, and restaurant staff, race photographers, spectators (extremely supportive, just not very many of them, hence the 3), police marshals, and even just random people walking around going about their day were all warm and welcoming and just generally fantastic. Although the race logistics were okay overall, the second loop of the course was confusing and nervewracking, and it was the wonderful locals who saved the marathon from being a horrible experience for me. Thank you, Jacksonians!
J. S. from Fargo ND (8/20/2019) "Beautiful Day" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 It was a beautiful day to run through Jackson. I loved the southern hospitality and food. Take the time to listen to blues music, study up on the civil rights history and soak up the culture. This place is in the center of an interesting and historic civil right struggle. I learned a lot. It is hillier than you think it will be and there are potholes too. Marathons are challenging, educational adventures. That's what this was.
E. W. from Mississippi (1/29/2019) "The Blues has seen better days...." (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ Mississippi Blues Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 First let me say that I live 90 minutes from Jackson and have run the Blues Marathon/Half 6 times: the half once, then the marathon 5 times as a pacer (I was also supposed to run in 2017, but the ice storm caused the cancellation that year.) This was my 69th marathon. The Blues marathon has definitely gone a bit downhill from its Jon Noblin & Blue Cross Blue Shield of MS days. COURSE: There's nothing good to say about the road conditions in Jackson. They are horrible. That's been the case for 10+ years. The city is very slowly trying to work on them. The course starts/finishes in downtown near the convention center/capital area. Small parts of the course have changed here and there over the years but for the most part, it hasn't changed much in 7 years. You run through some beautiful neighborhoods (Eastover, Belhaven), then through Fondren and the hospital area, and along Frontage roads. It's not a terrible course, but there is a healthy amount of hills. It's not easy, but it's not the hardest race I've ever run (My PR was once on this course.) NEW MANAGEMENT: In 2017 (after the 10th anniversary race was cancelled), the sponsor contract expired and was not renewed (Blue Cross). The Race Director searched and searched for a new sponsor and finally found one later in the year. The RD was involved in 2018 but the race was also sold to an out-of-town event management company (PEM). Attendance was down because of late starts to registration and other factors, but the 2018 race was successful. This year's race was managed 100% by PEM. There were several communication issues (not answering emails, the pace team being set up at the last minute, volunteer coordinator changes which led to a lack of volunteers) and a lack of funds to keep the race at the level that it had been in the past. AID STATIONS/RACE SUPPORT: There was a noticeable lack of volunteers and aid stations this year. I do want to point out that those volunteers/law enforcement that were there were AMAZING!! In years past, the roads and neighborhoods were filled with volunteers and people cheering! It was nearly impossible to get lost or even go without seeing a volunteer, band or spectator within eyesight. There were Bands everywhere. The JSU band and dance teams would be out at several places along the course! There were large stages set up along the road with full bands playing and a big crowd of spectators dancing and cheering. This year: Race signage was sparse. Most neighborhoods were empty. The JSU section of the course was a ghost town! Several aid stations had just a few people at them (in the past, there would be 20-30 people cheering and handing out aid!) We passed intersections with 1 person responsible for stopping both lanes of busy traffic. There were some volunteers who had brought water jugs and cups and were filling bottles for runners at random places. In fact, at mile 8.5 of the marathon, we came upon an aid station that had not been set up yet (I was the 5:00 pacer, so this was 90 minutes into the race - more than half the marathon field had already passed this area). The tables were on the ground, boxes and water jugs stacked up, coolers empty. No one was around. At this point, we had only seen 2 other official aid stations. We (me, my friend and a few in our pace group) pulled the water jugs and cups to the street so others behind us could at least self-serve and fill their bottles. FINISH LINE: In years past, there was a HUGE tent at the finish with Pizza, gumbo, and lots of other hot food choices. This year there was water, bananas, pretzels, granola bars and the beer trailer. That's it. The medals in the past have always been notable and unique each year. This year, they were still customized, but small and unimpressive. BOTTOM LINE: If you've had this race on your bucket list for a while, you may have missed the hype. It's definitely dropped several slots on the list of best races in MS. This race is NOT living up to the reputation it built in the past. The 2020 race is already open for registration. They have moved the date to February and the site claims to have a new course, so we'll see what that brings, but forgive me if I'm not optimistic yet. PEM has some work to do to regain the reputation that John Noblin built. John, your absence was definitely noticed this year.
J. J. from Jackson, MS (1/28/2019) "Horrible management ruined a great race" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Mississippi Blues Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 On behalf of all Jackson, MS residents and runners - I apologize for this race. If the management company changes, please give us another chance next year. This was my 8th time running this marathon and it was horrible. The weather was amazing and the course good (hilly and tough, and yes, lots of potholes, but fun). The race switched to a new management company and they ruined it completely. Online stated there would be water/aid stations every 1.6 miles until mile 20, then every mile until the finish). This was a lie. I counted 8 fully staffed aid stations on the marathon course. This is not appropriate and dangerous. Then at the end, the food was bananas and a small pack of pretzels OR one granola bar. Nothing hot. Oh, and only water. No sports drink, sodas, milk, etc. I am ashamed that this is my home town race. Every prior running, had great support, plenty of aid, and wonderful post race food including the standard pizza, and also tamales, tomato soup, etc. Finally, the medals for this race have consistently won national top 10 awards. Not this year. It is a small white guitar. It doesn't even have the date on it. The organizers were too lazy to even unpack the medals from the plastic wrapping.
V. C. from Fredericksburg, VA (1/26/2019) "There are course changes in 2020." (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 The roads in Jackson Mississippi are rough. I've had less tripping hazards on trail marathons. The roughness is hard on your feet. The organizers indicated 400 feet of elevation gain. There really is about 1000 feet. They also indicated water and gatorade every 2 miles. The first four locations were 2.5 miles, 5, 9.5 and 12. After that, aid was every 2 miles. Some of the mile markers seemed out of place as my splits were too erratic. If you need crowds and bands to finish a race, this is not the race for you. Race did start on time with an excellent blues guitar rendition of the star spangled banner. All four race distances, marathon, half, quarter and 5km started at the same time. So, you have all sorts of runners going in one direction. Nice finisher medal and quarter zip shirt. Small race field allows you to start in the first 100 feet. There are a lot of nice places to eat and hotels within walking distance of the start.
T. S. from Indianapolis (2/12/2018) "Plethora of volunteers" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mississippi Blues Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Don't know that I've done too many races with this many volunteers, all enthusiastically welcoming us to Mississippi and thanking us for participating. It was even more impressive due to what had to be miserable weather for them. Getting that many people to volunteer speaks well for the organization The course was challenging, at least for this flatlander who did virtually no hill training, but if you're like me and are at the point in your running career where speed is not a priority, that really wasn't an issue. There weren't a lot of fans or entertainment on the course, but you have to chalk some of that up to the soggy conditions. And the folks that were there were great. As seemingly was the case with a lot of runners, this was my Mississippi race in my quest for 50 states. Is it the best one in Mississippi? Can't speak to that since I haven't done any others, but I'd certainly recommend it as a well organized event with plenty of Southern hospitality.
T. S. from Indianapolis (1/14/2017) "The right call" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 In an email to participants, the race director pointed out that it's a lot harder to cancel a race than to put on one. But in this case, the more difficult duty was the correct one. The ice not only could have been disastrous for runners, it would have created problems for volunteers, entertainers, public safety folks, et al. The follow-up offer for free entry into a Rock 'n' Roll series race or 25 percent discount for next year's Mississippi Blues certainly helped ease the disappointment. The marathon guide site won't let me post this review without including ratings for course and spectators, so the 5 stars isn't a true reflection of how I feel about those categories since I didn't run the course or experience encouragement from any spectators. But I feel confident about giving 5 stars to the organization. The communication leading to the cancellation, as well as the decision itself, deserves it. Plus, the well-organized expo and the way cool jacket that came with registration were quite nice. Having my own last-minute cancellation in 2016 due to a funeral, I'm hoping third time's a charm for me at the Mississippi Blues Marathon in 2018.

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