Tupelo Marathon
Tupelo, Mississippi
Sunday, August 31, 2008

I race walked the Tupelo Marathon in Tupelo, Mississippi on Sunday, August 31, 2008. The weather was sunny, windless, and hot. The starting temperature was 73 degrees and it climbed to 85 degrees by the time I finished. It could have been much worse if the race had not started at 5:00 AM which was two hours before sunrise. I was not surprised by the weather as this is the normal temperatures for this time of year. The first half of the out and back course through the rural west side of Tupelo had water stations every two miles and on the return trip these stations also served Gatorade. I wish the Gatorade was available the entire race. The roads along the course remained open for traffic; however, it was not very heavy and the vehicles traveled slowly and watched out for the competitors. The race was well organized and featured plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. Except for the temperature I enjoyed the event.