Journeys of The Key West Southernmost Walker

Magnolia Half Marathon

Meridian, Mississippi

Saturday, November 17, 2018

When I completed the Magnolia Half Marathon in Meridian, Mississippi on Saturday, November 17, 2018, I finished all 50 states for the fourth time—once with full marathons and three times with half marathons. The temperature varied from 34 to 61 degrees with sunny skies and calm winds. The course was on city roads that were open to traffic which was sparse at first but was beginning to build as I was finishing my half marathon and there were still 4.5 hours left for the full marathon. At first there were police at all intersections with traffic lights or had no stop sign for cross traffic; however, before I finished some of these intersections no longer had anyone controlling traffic so participants were sometimes faced with cross traffic that did not yield to the participants. This was not a good situation. The course had much up and down and contained many steep sections with made the course much more challenging than expected. Also about 25% of the roads needed repair which meant that I had to pay more attention to my footing than normal for a road race. Water/Powerade stations were located every 1.5 to 2.5 miles and were manned by plenty of friendly enthusiastic efficient volunteers taking care of the needs of the approximately 150 people in the half marathon and 70 people in the full marathon. More spectators began appearing along the route as the weather got warmer. This is the first time that I had done this race which was very well organized and fun. The finisher’s medals were hand crafted by David Godard Konald out of wood in the shape of a heptagon with writing and designs burned into the wood. He also made the age awards out of wood in the shape of Mississippi with writing and designs burned into the wood. I managed to earn third place in my running age group 70 and over even though I walked the entire way.

The Exposition