The Carl Touchstone Memorial Mississippi Trail 50 is held in early March each year on the Longleaf Horse Trail in the De Soto National Forest just south of Laurel, MS. The race was moved from Leland to Laurel in 1996 by Carl Touchstone, a local dentist and accomplished ultra runner. …
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The Carl Touchstone Memorial Mississippi Trail 50 is held in early March each year on the Longleaf Horse Trail in the De Soto National Forest just south of Laurel, MS. The race was moved from Leland to Laurel in 1996 by Carl Touchstone, a local dentist and accomplished ultra runner.
The Longleaf Horse Trail: The course features soft dirt trails, pine needle paths, and fire roads on 12.5 and 6.1 mile loops through the piney woods. The 20K runners do the long loop and are finished. The 50K runners run the big loop twice, and finish on the small loop. The 50M runners do the big loop three times and the small loop twice. Note that since all 50K and 50 Mile runners come by the start area several times, they can leave a drop bag with extra socks, a change of shoes, or special goodies in the area provided. Plenty of parking along the entrance road and in the campground means you can even go by your car on each loop.
This is a relatively easy course and a good first 20K / 50K / 50 Miler. An interesting feature of this race is that the organizers allow runners to switch races after one or two loops (anyone who switches during the race will not be eligible for a trophy, but will be counted as a finisher). This makes the Mississippi Trail 50 a great place to try a new distance. If you get part way into the run and decide you have bitten off more than you can chew, just switch down to a shorter distance. The only way to get a DNF is to sit down and make us carry you out!
Awards to top 3. Post race food, T-shirt, finisher mementos. Belt buckle to 50M finishers.
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Tupelo Marathon w/ a little extra oompf
Needed an ultra distance for MS, since the page won't let you edit marathon distances for marathon events and we decided to run the tupelo marathon but go a bit … MORE
Needed an ultra distance for MS, since the page won’t let you edit marathon distances for marathon events and we decided to run the tupelo marathon but go a bit further to get over 26.2 (virtually but in MS of course), so here we are tweaking this event. Drove to Tupelo again. This time from home. Ran the event but ran direct from the car to the start to get the extra oompf needed. Race swag was great as always.
Flat and fast trail run
In a dry year, this course would be very flat and fast. Much of it is on old Forest Service roads that are smooth and level with a soft pine … MORE
In a dry year, this course would be very flat and fast. Much of it is on old Forest Service roads that are smooth and level with a soft pine needle cushion. This year was very wet in the days leading up to the race, which turned the lower parts of the course into a muddy bog. The weather was almost ideal though, with temperatures in the 50’s and a good cloud cover. There was plenty of Longleaf Pine trees though, so there would be shade if the sun had come out. The field was small enough that you could enjoy the quiet solitude of the trail and listen to birds and possibly see a white-tailed deer or two. The aid stations were well supplied to meet almost anyone’s needs, although there wasn’t any hot food except for bacon. All runner’s were given a shirt and a Ulitimate Direction hand-held water bottle. I also received a beanie cap and a nicely designed medal as finisher’s awards. I waffled back and forth as to whether or not to give this a 4 or 5-star overall rating because I would have liked to give it a 4.5 because of a lack of a post-race meal which is becoming more and more common at ultras, but everything ran so smoothly that I decided to give them a 5.
Back to nature in Mississippi
Multiple loop course on a trail used primarily by horses. Nicely flat, but with several streams to cross, the horse traffic makes those areas muddy. As the RD said in … MORE
Multiple loop course on a trail used primarily by horses. Nicely flat, but with several streams to cross, the horse traffic makes those areas muddy. As the RD said in announcements, you may as well go straight through – it is possible to find a less muddy path / hop the stream, but I found this introduced briars that left my legs with tiger stripes. One other runner planted his foot with a loosely tied shoe – leaving the shoe behind. Another runner’s bib got caught on a briar – he was very appreciative when I stopped and let him know. Volunteers and supplies were amazing. I was thankful that we had a relative of my friend who drove us into the park – great crew and nice to have people who know the area. Race swag gets the highest rating because they give a shirt and a belt buckle. I wear both with pride.