Midsouth Championship Marathon, Half & 5K

The Midsouth Marathon is a nice, small town race. Aid stations are plentiful, and volunteers do a great job. The course isn't too difficult. It's an out and back course on some rural roads, but don't expect too many spectators. Non-stop rolling hills from miles 6 to 21ish, but none of the hills are large. Finish area experience at the football stadium is pretty cool. They serve what is apparently really good BBQ to all finishers. My stomach can't handle food like that after a race, but other runners raved about it.

Very well organized, and a fun place to race. The few spectators had a ton of energy. Out and back, helped to see runners heading to the finish. Wonderful people, so sweet. Loved the barbecue pork & chicken buns with Cole slaw & beans at the finish! The massage was so relaxing. I would like to see moisture wicking shirts for next year. A must on your 50 state marathon list!

This is a very nicely- organized local race. I chose it because it is an easy drive from Saint Louis, and I hadn't run a race in Arkansas yet. Im very glad I got the opportunity to check it out! The course was very true to the description posted on the race website: The vast majority of the race is run on rural state highways, but its a pretty stretch of road with lots of fall foliage. There are rolling hills throughout, but they aren't bad at all and help to keep the course interesting, even the one that is mentioned at mile 24 isn't awful. (I assume that if you usually run on very flat terrain you would notice the inclines more, however.) You do run on the road alongside traffic, but again, this is a rural area so there aren't a ton of cars out on a Saturday morning. Most of the traffic that I saw were race officials driving by to check on the runners. (There were a TON of race vehicles out checking up on us, which was really nice!) Although this is a smaller race (about 175 finishers) I could always see other runners on the course. The out and back format was also nice because you have an opportunity to see and interact with everyone participating. The abundance of aid stations was also fantastic. They are set up almost exactly to the mile, so they make great distance markers and gave me something to look forward to. The volunteers were all very friendly, and I loved how many kids were helping to man these stations!

The weather in 2015 was near perfect. It was a little windy (13-15 mph), but it was really only against us during the first half. The temperature stayed in the mid 50s, and we had a cloudy day. I can see this course being a beast on a hot sunny day or a super- windy or rainy one, but if you get typical fall weather, it makes for a great morning!

For those traveling from out of state: There aren't really a lot of restaurant choices in Wynn that aren't fast food, so I'd recommend the pasta dinner the evening before. My GPS wasn't able to find the church for packet pickup or the high school, so I was grateful for the directions printed on the race website. I stayed at the Days Inn, which is an older hotel and somewhat run-down, but it is clean and the staff were very courteous. The walls are VERY thin, so I'd recommend bringing earplugs or a noise machine to block out other guests.

Overall, a very nice weekend!

I picked this race because it was an easy drive from St. Louis and it had received good reviews. I am *so* glad that I did! I have run big city marathons, but I would rather run this race any day. After the half marathoners split off, I was largely running by myself, but that is fine with me. This race is so well organized and really focused on the runners. You could sit inside the high school before the race, all of the aid stops were spot on, and the volunteers staffing them were super supportive. The description of 'rolling hills' is also accurate you can tell that you are running hills, but they are not overwhelming. I even managed a PR here this year. :) Come run this race!

This was a lovely little local race with small town charm and southern hospitality. The course was rolling hills along a lovely rural country route with farms and residential areas. The foliage was beautiful! There was little traffic, except for one road crossing, but the officer directing traffic was great. There were few spectators, but volunteers at water stations one mile apart were super enthusiastic and very obliging to help runners with odds and ends things, like I needed salt at some point and a girl went out of her way to find it among the bulk of stuff they had. I loved that there was a water station every mile. Even if I didn't need water, I liked that there was something to look forward to in short increments and I liked seeing volunteers that often. It kept my motivation high the whole race. The post race food was super! We had pizza and homemade desserts. I went to the pre-race dinner too and it was a tasty pasta dinner with very delicious potluck desserts. I highly recommend this race for the runner on a budget, for the runner that prefers the small town experience, for the runner that likes to keep it simple. Read my detailed take on the race on my blog: http://empoweredbyrunning.com/?p=564