Tupelo Marathon: Tupelo, Mississippi, September 3, 2023 – Marathon #28
My journey to the Tupelo Marathon started off a lot crazier than I expected. I overslept and was late to the airport, which created an uncomfortable level of anxiety I don’t usually encounter when preparing for a race. Normally, I live life in the fast lane, using every bit of runway, but being late—especially to the airport—always gets me panicked. A tight timeline meant that, even though it was a holiday weekend, the airport parking garage was almost full. However, I was feeling good when I reached the airport and saw the TSA PreCheck line was empty, especially compared to the standard check-in line.
That’s when things went sideways. The TSA agent at the PreCheck line looked at my ID and boarding pass and said, “Denied.” Shocked, I tried explaining that my boarding pass clearly said PreCheck, and I fly every weekend. She didn’t seem to care, directing me to the airline desk. After running over to speak with the airline staff, they confirmed everything was fine on their end, and they printed me a new boarding pass. But when I returned to the TSA line, the agent (a different one this time) told me I’d been randomly selected for standard screening, so I couldn’t use PreCheck. After wasting time there, I ended up in the regular security line, which was a 10-minute wait, while my flight was in 22 minutes. I finally made it to the gate just three minutes before boarding.
Let’s hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly. But, with a 1.5-hour drive back to the airport after the marathon and a tight 4:45-5:00 hour run planned, I’m hoping I’ll make it on time. One thing’s for sure, though—I always live life at 110%, no matter how crazy it gets.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of my travel challenges. I made it to Memphis but faced a 32-minute delay due to maintenance concerns with the plane. Once there, I spent the next 6 hours in the parking garage waiting for a rental car I had already paid for—but, as it turns out, there weren’t any available. Apparently, just because you have a reservation doesn’t mean they’ll have a car for you. After waiting for so long, I ended up meeting several others in the same situation, and I even offered to give them rides to other places where they could rent cars.
Now, onto race day. I didn’t sleep much the night before, but I was hopeful for a good race. The early 5:00 AM start time suited me well, as I typically wake up early and feel better when races start earlier. The downside, though, is running in the dark in unfamiliar surroundings, which means I have to stay hyper-focused on the ground to avoid tripping.
The race course was an out-and-back, where we ran 13.1 miles, turned around, and ran the same route back. I’m not the biggest fan of this kind of course—it gets a little monotonous once you’ve seen everything. But I was pacing well at a 9:00-minute mile. I knew I’d need to slow down eventually, but I was feeling strong and pushed myself. To my surprise, I hit the 20-mile mark at 3 hours and 38 minutes—faster than usual, since I typically hit that point around 4:00 or 4:05. I decided to challenge myself, and that decision paid off.
While I didn’t hit a new personal record, I finished just 3 minutes off my PR. The biggest win of the day, however, was finishing 1st in my age group. After running 29 marathons, this was the first time I had ever won my age division.
Mississippi turned out to be a memorable trip. Despite all the travel chaos, I met some great people, and I’ll always remember the day I took 1st place in my age group for the first time.