Second, Time around doing a race with fresh junkies racing as I had competed in the Louisiana Marathon with them as well, and once again, I was completely blown away by their over-the-top production for such a small-ish mid-level race. These guys know what they’re doing. I wish they were in charge of some way bigger races that don’t operate even half as good.

Let’s start with the small expo that they produce but it has everything you want need and desire, including race-specific swag items that are 2nd to none.

Transportation to the start of this point-to-point race was flawless, and the buses just stayed there in case of bad weather, as they have plenty of buses for a one-way trip for every race participant, and that blew my mind.

This race course is absolutely pancake flat minus mile 24 1/2 to 25 1/2 which is a bit of a challenge running up at Cloverleaf after zero elevation gain but as somebody from the Midwest, it was not an issue except for the 20-mile-an-hour headwind, which they obviously can’t do anything about.

Finishing inside the baseball park stadium was an absolute thrill and being up on the Jumbotron coming across the finish line was a very special touch. After race, food and drink were plentiful and varied, including all of the other southern favors that you would want to have both in the way of food and beverage from local breweries.

Race swag is everything you wanted to be with a nice comfy T-shirt and a beautiful metal which happened to be a really cool turtle for the marathon this year that I really enjoyed

Cannot recommend the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon enough to friends and foes alike would be an absolutely great first marathon or 50-state addition.