1. We landed at 5:45pm and the race expo closed at 7pm. I was nervous about renting a car and getting to the convention center before it closed.
Have no fear! The Jackson airport is teeny tiny. We breezed through, got our car ($25 through Hotwire) and had plenty of time at the smallish expo.
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| Even time for a picture at the airport. |
3. The Jackson Marriottt is the closest host hotel to the start line, just a half mile away. Special rates for race weekend, $99/night + $12 for parking.
As we walked into the lobby, S asked how much we were paying, as the hotel's elegance and southern charm exceeded the inexpensive rate. At check in, I received a special bag with bottled water and a granola bar. Race morning and post race, there were bottled waters and bananas in the lobby for all. This hotel understood us runners.
4. The expo had a handful of vendors. The race shirt is a softer, thicker tech fabric (SweatVac brand) and unique to me. E was able to exchange her shirt for a smaller size, after the race, not before.
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| Whew, we made it to the expo after traveling 12 hours. What a long day. |
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| White shirt, blue bag check bag, harmonica, CD. Neat swag. |
5. Inside the race bag, lots of restaurants offered discounts (if you brought your race bib). We ate at Bravo (15% discount) for dinner the night before the race. The place was packed, but we found seats at the bar. I enjoyed a chicken and sweet potato salad.
6. Post race, we went for brunch at Julep. E is a great foodie and could not steer us wrong. Of course, we had beignets. I ordered a Bloody Mary for the first time (not a big fan). Then, I went way out of my comfort zone and tried the fried green tomatoes (with cheese and crab meat). You can't get fried green tomatoes in Oregon, ya'll.
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| I had to stack them back up after I realized you'd want a photo. |
Yum! I realize most anything fried tastes great, but these were awesome.
7. I wish we could have stayed one more night. The race sponsors a Blues Crawl, where a trolley takes you around Jackson on Saturday night. All racers got a free wrist band to ride, additional could be purchased for $10. That would have been a great way to see more of the city.
If you get the chance, run the Blues.
10 comments:
Good post. It's nice to know the fun things about a race or area. I may have to check this one out!
oooh a BLUES CRAWL?!
hmmmm :-)
MizFit
I don't think many people stayed for the Blues Crawl because it wasn't well advertised. The RD needs to really advertise it so people will plan to stay an extra night. Many people in my group were disappointed that they were going to miss it.
Great post! Jackson is not too far from the ATL so I might have to try this race!
This sounds like a definite "must run race". Glad that you had so much fun and that you were able to get to the expo with plenty of time to spare. That would stress me out knowing that I only had a short time frame. Not sure I would try the fried green tomatoes, but they do sound interesting!
we didn't do the blues crawl either 2 years ago. Downside of staying an extra (both Elizabeth and me and B experienced this) is that the entire downtown is a GHOST town. everything shuts down and its hard to find something open for dinner unless you drive outside of downtown (but i guess the blues crawl would have covered that huh?)
still no medal in this post kim haha
Totally off topic, but I think we need to get together to watch this: http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/double-divas. The boob whisperer!
I love Mississippi <3 Went to school there and can't wait to return for a race.
Yes, the blues crawl sounds good. AND THE FOOD!! YUM!
must admit,not sure it was worth even staying for the blues crawl. we did find a fabulous dinner downtown, but not sure the crawl was actually worth it. but-i was sick. so maybe i would’ve enjoyed it more. best part was hanging out with you!
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