Natasha Mayton's Staging Area

I found this race because I was dead set on completing 50 lifetime half marathons by the end of the year. This race was nearly 5 hours away from home, but I was willing to make the trek. Natchez is a beautiful city on the bluffs of the Mississippi and I was impressed by the quaint, yet beautiful architecture. I stayed at the Magnolia Bluffs Casino that was about a mile from the start line. I drove because its a small enough town, that I didn’t think there would be traffic issues. There weren’t. The race had 63 registered and 61 finishers and the course was not closed! This was the first time during a race I had to dodge cars and wait at lights like I would during a training run. As in the description, there were definitely hills, but not too dreadful. There was a little bit of a dirt trail section that was nice on the legs for a change. There was a party water stop that you would see in the beginning and the end. Also another good stop with pickles and snacks. The finish line was at Natchez Brewery and I enjoyed my free beer. Overall, this was definitely the smallest race I ever ran in, but I did definitely enjoy the people I ran with and saw at the water stops.

Have you done a Ragnar with the traditional 3 legs and wondered, what if I did them all at once, back to back? Then this is your race, lol! I “only” did the Half and after a few minutes started the 5K for the Skyline Challenge. But, I had the option to do the Half, 10K & 5K. I found it odd that they did not offer race day packet pickup, considering the race was at night. Due to the timing of my flight, I chose to have my packet mailed. My friend arrived earlier in the day and said it wasn’t a race expo, rather packet pickup on a restaurant patio. We were both shocked to see the number of vendors and tents that they had on race day. They could’ve easily had a tent for packet pickup. When it was close to time for the race to start, participants were meandering around looking for the start line. Well, it hadn’t been laid down yet. Traffic was still flowing past the start area up to 10 minutes before the start time. This pushed the race back 15 minutes. Once the race started, it was pretty fascinating to run on the Margaret Hill Bridge and I took a few pictures. Then there were portions of the race that had a smidge of a dirt trail portion, about 3 hills, and lots of night lights to see. Once I finished, I felt good, so I started on the 5K course, which was the last 3 miles of the half course. After the race, there were lots of vendors to visit at the tent, but just one food truck, Cousin’s Lobster. Plenty of Sam Adams and Truly though. The race location was right next to a thriving entertainment district, which is where I walked over to keep warm as I waited for my friend to finish. As a 50-State Hopeful, I’d recommend this race.

This race is completely flat…well there’s a bump at mile 13 that can hardly be characterized as a hill under normal circumstances. The first 4 miles wind you through downtown. Then the remaining parts of the race are an out and back along the Schuylkill River. The finish line is near the “Rocky Steps” aka the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Food is typical of a RNR race. But, I will say I appreciated the pretzel. Apparently that’s a Philly thing I was not previously aware of. This is good if you need PA. And I did Wilmington, DE the day before, so 2-state weekend. Woot!

The 3rd race of the Trifecta was in the lovely beach town of Garden City. I opted to start at 6am with the marathoners so I could finish early to make my quick cleanup and get on the highway to the airport 3 hours away. Anywho, this course took us through town, through neighborhoods, had some challenging hills/mountains, a little gravel, and 2 miles it trail! Aid stations were positioned every 2 miles as before. The weather was perfect for running and was incredibly my best day is the series. When I finished, there were medals, a Trifecta flask, and immediate results. BUT, after I got home, I learned that there was possibly a 4th medal and jacket I did not receive. I expect to hear more about this soon.

As a previous reviewer notated, a new company bought this race just 6 weeks ago and the first race of the Trifecta had a bumpy start. This was a different course than previous years and it was 90% on a rocky/gravel road. There were aid stations every 2 miles that had pretzel, Gu, water, EFS for electrolytes, and watermelon. The course measured about .2 miles short. When I finished, initially there were no ribbons for the medals and the promised pizza never materialized. On the plus side: your name was announced as soon as you crossed the line. But the race director was kind, so I didn’t complain. If you’re just looking to knock out a state, go for it.