Mary Gray's Staging Area

I chose this race to check Louisiana off of my 50 in 50 list. We had a great weekend but this race had a few hiccups.

They didn’t send out any email communication, updates were only posted on Facebook. Some of the information on the website and the Facebook pages were contradictory… ex start time and packet pick up times and locations. There were a lot of comments online about the lack of communication and many people were getting upset… repeatedly you could see where the organizers would say they “never got the emails.” (In my experience people are a lot more forgiving when you own up to your mistakes)

While everyone was lining up to start the race they announced that we were no longer running the course we signed up for but instead doing two loops. Personally, I would’ve never signed up for a looped course and would’ve really appreciated them letting us know before hand. They also said the course has been changed earlier in the week but nobody in the crowd knew and it wasn’t posted anywhere. I had friends planning on cheering during the race and this goofed up their morning too.

I did really like that it was a women’s race on international women’s day plus they had plenty of restrooms and water stops

Overall, this race could grow into something much better but they have a lot of work to do.

Great race!

The first half was super hilly but the second half was pretty flat. I ran with Jacks Pack and had the best time! Definitely will run this race again

I love that they gave stickers in the swag bag

This was my first time trail running. It was well organized and everyone seemed to have a great time. There was a 5k and a 10k option (I chose the 5k). The 10k started 30 min before the 5k and seemed to have the majority of the participants. The trail wasn’t overly difficult but was a nice challenge for me. I don’t see many trail runs in my future but we had a really great time and met some nice people – I could definitely be talked into it again next year

This year the St Jude marathon weekend was a little different with the convention center being under construction. Notable changes…. the expo was about 20 miles away and the pasta party was moved to the Peabody. The temporary expo location was much smaller and not as elaborate as normal but it was okay – fingers crossed it doesn’t deter people from coming back. It being so far away made for a tight window to make our hospital tour that afternoon. I hope if they’re there again next year they open earlier.

Friday afternoon we were lucky enough to have a tour of St Jude. Highly recommend!! The hospital was such a happy place filled with hope and love. The thought and detail that’s gone into every little thing will stick with you way past race day. We were already thinking we’d come back for 2020 but the tour solidified our plans.

Race day was great! The weather was overcast and gloomy but not too cold and it never really rained. The crowd support was incredible and running through the St Jude campus was unlike anything else. The families will pull out so many of your emotions and push you to keep going.
Each mile has a sponsor and spectators line almost the entire race. If your ever feeling low there’s someone around to pump you up!

The race was very crowded so I would not recommend for a pr race (if you’re a slower runner like me you’ll be weaving through people most of the time) but it’s definitely one of my favorite weekends of the year. It’s great being a part of something so special!

“When your legs are tired, run with your heart”

We had a lot of fun at this race. The weather was wonderful, the medal was great, and finishing in the baseball stadium was fun!
Packet pick up was pretty sloppy but other than that this was a great experience. There’s a good chance we’ll do this race again

My friend and I had such a great time in 2017 we came back again! The course, expo, and swag were all still great but the host hotel was a complete disaster. I was already in town for work so we were able to get a room in a relatively reasonable amount of time (we had a room about three hours after check in) but there were people in the lobby waiting on their rooms past 11pm when they’d arrived around 4. The hotel did not keep runners grouped together but instead mixed us in with bachelor and bachelorette parties. Our room was connected to/shared a door with a bachelor party where they had a dozen guys staying in a room meant for two people…. They were screaming, yelling, then vomiting all night. I’m all for people having a good time but that ruined ours. Not planning on coming back for a third race

I did not prepare for this race but I had a blast! The course was beautiful (and flat), the event staff was great, and we had such a wonderful trip to Savannah!! We were so excited we signed up to come back

Course bonus: the trees offered wonderful shade the majority of the time

This race was really cool! The heat was difficult but the Blue Angel flyover and the themed water stops more than made up for it. The course was super flat and the medal was cute. I had a great time!

I ran this about four years ago and only have positive memories. I remember great crowd support, a beautiful course, awesome swag (I still wear the shirts), a top notch expo, plus cool medals. I hope to run this again one day