Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon Attempt

It was a nice little race, and even though it turned out to be a bad experience for me, I can't give it a bad review. I'm not going to say much about it, though. For reasons already mentioned in my other blog, I ended up with a stress fracture, and did not finish this marathon. (Since there was a half marathon event, I did manage to finish that. I did not get a finisher's medal, but at least I can cross Mississippi off my list for half marathons.)

The Gulf Coast Marathon is a small race, which is my favorite kind. The race director runs, too, and sometimes comes in first!

The packet pickup was easy to find, although the race was not. There was not a lot of information online, and I wasn't very clear about where to go for the race. I was not the only one who got confused, and showed up at the wrong place! But no problem ~ when we did arrive at the race, with no time to spare, we learned that the start was delayed.

The weather forecast called for a torrential downpour. I hoped that the rain would hold off a bit. I knew that there was a good chance I would not be able to finish this marathon, and I asked if I could switch to the half, if necessary. They said that would be fine.

The race took place at the Stennis Space Center, about an hour's drive from New Orleans. (We took a little trip to the French Quarter the evening before!) There were all sorts of interesting things to look at. The route was basically a double-loop, so I saw most of it, even though I only ran the half.

My leg was hurting early on, and by mile two I knew I would not be able to do the full marathon. I wanted to do the half, though, because look at all the trophies they had set up. I guess I get my choice of trophy. And as usual, I left it there for others to enjoy, because none of these would fit in my trunk.


















I chose one of the little ones. You can see it, if you ever go to the Stennis Space Center. I didn't think I should take a big one this time, since I didn't do the full marathon.

They had a Sverdrup named after me. I don't even know what a Sverdrup is!



At about mile 12, the torrential downpour began. I put my camera away and just tried to get to the finish line without doing too much damage. By that time, I was obviously limping.

At the finish line, they had some kind of warm food. I don't remember what it was exactly, because I had other things on my mind (like extreme pain).

I was soaking wet, and it wasn't any fun. But before we left the space center, we stopped by the visitor center. I brought in some dry clothes, and changed in the bathroom, and then hobbled around to play with the fun things. Because I was determined to have fun, somehow!

There was a space shuttle simulator, and I tried to land the space shuttle several times. I crashed every time, and burst into a ball of flames.

This is what we look like in psychedelic colors.



That's me in the space suit.

Other than having a serious running injury, it was a good race, and I would recommend it. I would definitely consider going back and trying this one again for my Mississippi marathon.

That's all for my running reports for 2008! I was signed up for the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon in North Carolina, but of course, I did not run that one. (You can read about the trip, though, on my other blog!) I am also registered for Disney World in January, and will not be running that one either. (Somehow, I think I'll find a way to have fun on that trip, even without running a marathon!)

My next post will be in 2009, and I will document my big comeback from the stress fracture. Because I WILL make a comeback! With the doctor's ok, I will start my running from scratch. This will be a good time to lose some weight, and start a strength training program, as well. I plan to be up to a half marathon around Memorial Day, and if that goes well, then train for Marathon #26!

Happy New Year! (And happy old year, for a few more hours!)