carol Suttmeier's Staging Area

Flat course. Easy packet pickup. Post race very good. Great awards. Nice medal. Nice shirt. Fabulous volunteers. Aid stations every 1.5 miles with Powerade. Water oranges and some gu. It rained HEAVILY this year but I think that actually made it better to cool us off. I’m glad I did this race. Plenty of civilization and great restaurants nearby. Plenty of hotels within 15 min of the start. Easy for friends to find you and cheer on the course. They could use a few more portajohns on the course though. Otherwise a great marathon!!

Nice correspondence with the race directors who are also runners. Smooth race. Small but nice size field of athletes (5k- 50k) marathon consisted of 9 loops. 3 miles each. Plenty of aid stations, good support for a small race. I loved the inspiration signs and Christian music and the announcements as we made each loop. Nice 1/4 zip top and local goodies in the swag bag. Hotels nearby and plenty of food options in Owensboro The course was scenic but the 70 degree day made it worth tough for ideal performance. I would recommend this race for anyone looking to check off Kentucky!

Greenville Ms is a little far from any airport and the area shows steps toward improving itself. What once seems to have been a thriving area is a bit depressed That aside staying near the race start ( I do not recommend the Rodeway inn until renovations are complete) was a great thing. Weather was 45 in the morning but 60 later in the day. Bib pickup was small and efficient. Race timing and photos were great. The course this year was 2 loops Start and finish same location course is flat and water and portajohns nearly every mile. The RD is friendly and goes out of her way to make the race user friendly. Shirt was a long sleeve tech. The finish metals are really nice. There was a really nice spread at the finish. Pizza. Tamales donuts fruit. Drinks alcohol and non alcohol! Course lends itself to a fast race. I got 1st place age group3rd place grand master. A good amount of the runners are locals but plenty of 50 starters and marathon maniacs ! If you need Mississippi I’d recommend this one!

Smallish marathon but so well run. Hoodie for signing up was very nice. Buses to the start were running smoothly. Got to wait in a heated gym. Plenty of portajohns outside at the start. Course was one of my favorites.. crushed gravel. Not pavement and not the hazards of a true trail race. Scenery along the river was pleasant. Even saw a bald eagle in a tree! Aid stations were nicely spaced A little hard for spectators due to limited road crossings on the course. The weather was chilly but turned out great for running (20-30 degrees but windy). The out and back allowed us to see and cheer the faster runners Bag check at the gym was a plus. Hot soup at the finish hit the spot!! I would definitely recommend this to someone doing the 50 states or anyone looking for a fast course and a well run marathon!! Oh yeah. The cool heavy finishes blanket was a great surprise!!

I was a little nervous signing up for an inaugural marathon but the race director answered any questions quickly before I hit the “purchase” button.
all the logistics that a runner could want, were addressed with the planning of this event, 3 hotels gave runners discounts and all 3 were an easy walk to the start, finish, gear drop and expo. we lucked out with the weather.. breezy and 40 degrees was very nice. the day before was torrential rain and wind.
the expo was very low key…. a few local vendors, but the race shirt was a long sleeve tech.
race morning went off without a hitch. corrals separated estimated speeds. the course looked very hilly on paper, but I didn’t notice anything substantial until the last 5 miles ( my legs were pretty shot at that point)
finishers medal was nice and we received a laurel wreath after crossing the finish line. I didn’t attend the post race event or food.
volunteers were absolutely spectacular and numerous as were officers directing traffic and keeping us on course
I would highly recommend this marathon for anyone looking for a smallish event (400 marathoners, 600 1/2..?). or any one looking for a scenic Georgia event . we ran in the university of Georgia campus, along bike paths and next to a river.