State Number 8
– Mississippi Blues Marathon, Jackson, MS
11 January 2014
“The ‘no smoking’
light’s on, the captain comes on the phone, if we start to fall, it won’t
bother me at all, just plant my bones deep in the heart of Dixie…”
Perhaps The Georgia Satellites would appreciate this, but for an
unfortunate resident of the left coast, the heart of Dixie brings my wife and
me to run marathons.
The first two marathons of the 2014 race calendar featured a
double-marathon weekend that included the Mississippi Blues Marathon in
Jackson, MS and the First Light Marathon in Mobile, AL.
Blues music that emerged from
Mississippi has shaped the development of popular music in this country and
around the world. According to
historians, the blues were born in the Mississippi Delta, an elaboration on
work chants, sorrow slave songs, and the lyrical and melancholy field hollers.
As early as the Civil War,
white soldiers noted a different music created by black soldiers – songs about
marching and other drudgeries of war in which they were a part of. These old songs were direct originators to
the blues, if not the real thing.
The blues is one of my favorite music
genres. Singers such as Merle Haggard, Louis
Armstrong, Hank Williams, BB King, Muddy Waters, and Ray Charles all sang the
blues and are at the top my list. Back
in the late 1990s, I was fortunate enough to see the late BB King and his famed
Lucille in concert. That awe-inspiring concert
is something I won’t forget.
Flying into Jackson or Mobile was pretty pricey and would involve
layovers. The nearest major airport with
reasonable airfare with non-stop service from LAX was Louis Armstrong New
Orleans International Airport (MSY).
I’ve always wanted to visit New Orleans, so this was a well-timed
opportunity. Although this trip will
involve a lot of driving, I will be able to add three new states to my
repertoire.
On 9 January, we boarded a Delta Airlines non-stop flight from LAX to MSY. The flight landed 3h 45m later on MSY Runway
10 around 1515 hours CST and taxied to Concourse C.
The new rental facility at MSY has been open for only a short while
allowing passengers to walk instead of catching a shuttle bus as in prior years. When we exited the terminal building, we
happened to come across a woman driving an airport transport cart. She asked if we would like a ride to the
facility counter, so we didn’t hesitate.
It was only about 300 feet or so, but it saved us from rolling our
carry-on bags.
After we took possession of the rental car, we drove to our hotel, Sleep
Inn & Suites, off Interstate 10 in the suburban community of Metairie. Although the place was easy to get to looking
at a map, it was a challenge to get to on the ground, however. We drove past the exit as it was kind of
confusing which direction we needed to travel.
Being in an unfamiliar environment and driving at freeway speeds leaves
little time to react. So, we had to
drive a few miles past and turn around.
When we settled in, we decided to drive to the French Quarter of New
Orleans and partake in some Cajun food and the flavors of the south.
As we exited off I-10 Exit 236A, Esplanade Avenue took us into a rough
looking part of New Orleans. The area
was littered with trash, run-down buildings and vagrants walking the
streets. “What are we getting ourselves
into?” we thought. After a few turns, we
were in the tourist section of the quarter and the clientele improved.
The next concern was parking.
After driving the narrow one-way streets, we stumbled upon a public
parking lot at the foot of Toulouse Street at Decatur. The fare was reasonable and it was close to
Bourbon Street.
We noticed the New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Co. restaurant on the
other side of Decatur Street. The place
was packed and we weren’t interested being put on a waiting list, so we
strolled up Toulouse Street to Bourbon Street.
There were plenty of places to eat there, but which one?
There weren’t many people out and about along the street that evening. Being January, I don’t believe it is peak
tourist season, even though the temperatures were in the 60s.
I can only imagine how crowded Bourbon Street becomes during Mardi
Gras. Countless souvenir stores,
restaurants, bars, Mardi Gras supply stores, Penthouse and Hustler shops,
lingerie and nudie establishments lined both sides of the narrow Bourbon
Street. Whatever suited your vices or superfluities of life was available at a whim.
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| Wow! |
We decided on the Red Fish Grill as a place to eat. After I looked at the menu, I had to have the
jambalaya with alligator meat while my wife settled on gumbo. I was eager to try alligator, and to my
surprise, it was quite delicious. Kind
of reminded me of a Mayan dish containing iguana meat I ate near Chitzen Itza,
Mexico.
After dinner, we walked back down Bourbon Street listening to the sounds
of zydeco and jazz music playing emanating from the bars and taverns. The music was great and only wish I could
stay longer.
It was getting late and nothing much was going on, so we walked back to the
car. The dinner we had at the Red Fish
Grill wasn’t enough to satiate our appetites, so we found a Chili’s on Veterans
Blvd. not far from the hotel where we each ordered a burger. My wife ordered a burger containing bleu
cheese based on a recommendation from the waitress and I ordered a “Tex-Mex”
type southwestern burger. Mine was
pretty tasty, but hers was not. The bleu
cheese made it rather unappetizing. I
finished what she couldn’t eat; however, I felt sick an hour or so later. I know I will never consume a burger with
that kind of cheese again.
The waitress was very nice, polite, and talkative and interested why we
were in New Orleans. She did recommend
we pick up some King Bread as a souvenir of our visit. I did see some on Bourbon Street and was
tempted to buy some, but I did not. Now
as I look back, I should’ve picked up a loaf.
When we got back to the hotel, we kicked back to watch some TV before
turning in for the evening. It wasn’t
long before I started feeling nauseous from the burger. It took a lot of focus to keep everything
down, but after an hour or two, the feeling waned and I was able to get some
sleep.
We woke up around 0800 on Friday morning to some overcast skies. The atmosphere was a little humid with some
haze reducing visibilities, but rain wasn’t in the forecast.
After checking out of the hotel, we drove into the Garden District to
see some stately homes. The area was
originally developed between 1832 and 1900 and is considered one of the
best-preserved collections of historic mansions in the Southern United States. The 19th-century origins of the Garden
District illustrate wealthy newcomers building opulent structures based upon
the prosperity of New Orleans in that era.
Most of the mansions were spectacular and the architecture is something
that isn’t seen in today’s world. We
spent about an hour driving and walking the old narrow streets and it was time
to begin our drive to Jackson.
The maximum speed limit on the causeway is 65 mph. The morning news on the radio and TV
announced that causeway officials said southbound traffic was being convoyed
and northbound traffic was being restricted to one lane only with a speed limit
of 45 mph due to the limited visibility.
Since we were driving in the northbound lanes and traffic was limited to
a single lane, it was a slow drive across the lake. It was still a delight driving over this
great structure, however.
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| Driving over the causeway |
I read that the speed limits on the causeway are strictly enforced. The spans have a day speed limit of 65 and a
night speed limit of 55. The bridge has its
very own police department and what constitutes day from night is up to the causeway
police officer; however, and they are extremely strict.
The major enforcement areas are at the "crossovers". If you're on the causeway, do not speed. You will get a ticket, and if you are not sure
if it's day or night, count on it being night.
In the for-what-it’s-worth category, the legal definition of “night”
according to Model Penal Code §221.0(2), begins thirty minutes after sunset and
thirty minutes before sunrise. Generally
a time which there is not enough daylight to discern a man’s face. Existing case law corroborates this.
Traffic on the causeway was designed for 1950s and 60s standards and
levels of service. Today’s traffic, cell
phone use, texting, and high center-of-gravity vehicles that didn’t exist when
the causeway opened are principal factors in many crashes and vehicles leaving
the causeway and plummeting into the lake.
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| NB Interstate 55 |
It’s a shame that we've become so habituated to our cell phones and
other devices. When driving, keep your
eyes away from these things and pay attention only to driving.
On a side note, Hurricanes Isaac and Katrina damaged several sections of
the causeway and record time was spent by various LaDOTD contractors repairing
the damage.
“Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo. ’For tonight I'm gonna
see my ma cher amie, oh. Pick guitar,
fill fruit jar and be gay, oh. Son of a
gun, gonna have big fun on the bayou.” Hank Williams said it, my visit to New
Orleans was big fun.
After exiting off the bridge and a short drive through Lewisburg, we
merged onto westbound Interstate 12, thence, northbound Interstate 55 for a
direct route into Jackson.
The drive from New Orleans to Jackson was nearly three hours, so we were
ready to check into the hotel and visit the expo.
The Sleep Inn & Suites on Gallatin Street was our home for Friday
night. The hotel staff was gracious
enough to allow a late check-out time due to the marathon.
When we arrived in Jackson, it was a little cool with a slight breeze,
which made for a chilly wind chill.
After we checked-in, we drove to the Jackson Convention Complex on
Pascagoula Street. Even though it was
only three blocks away, we weren’t in the mood to walk in the cold air.
Once we entered the building, the sweet sound of live blues music
permeated the atrium from renowned musicians like Chris Gill and Christone
Kingfish Ingram. Naturally the theme is
blues, so guitars and harmonicas decorated the complex atrium. We found the packet pick-up area and
proceeded to pick up our swag bag.
Inside the bag, we found a “Made in Mississippi” blues CD featuring a
variety of musicians, advertisements, samples, and a neat little blues
harmonica.
Instead of the usual tech shirt given out by most races, this event
featured a black long-sleeve fleece pull-over shirt with the event logo on the
front. It was a nice change from the
usual shirts. I noticed that the ¼
zipper felt cheap and needless to say, the zipper jammed and failed to work
properly after that. We later found out
that due to numerous complaints about the zipper, the race officials decided to
replace each pull-over with a larger zipper.
The organizers sent each participant a new pull-over a few weeks after
the event. I have to give some appreciation
to the organizers for their concern and excellent customer service.
After we spent some time in the expo, it was time to sightsee and find a
place to eat.
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| Old State House |
Our first order of business was a visit to the Old Capitol Museum, the
site of the first capitol building, for a quick tour. It was a real engaging tour of the confederate
history of the state, poll taxes and other voting documents, and the lower and
upper houses. The 94-foot high rotunda
dome was impressive. What really
fascinated me, though, were the original record survey maps of the Jackson
Townsite from the 1800s and how the city was laid out.
At last, after spending over an hour in the historic building, it was
time to eat. We drove around Jackson and
found the Pizza Shack off Fortification Street.
Of course, pizza. It wasn’t the
best around, but it satisfied my hunger.
After our meal, we went across the street to McDade’s Market for some
drinks and food for our pre-marathon breakfast.
The marathon began at 0700 hours starting at the Art Garden at the
Mississippi Museum of Art kitty-corner to the Convention Complex. We walked from the hotel to the start line
braving the cold morning temperatures, knowing it would only take a half mile
or so of running for me to warm up.
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| Convention Center Complex |
I would estimate 2500 runners (marathon and half) assembled at the start
line. As with many other runners, we
waited in the Convention Complex to keep warm.
Just before the presentation of the colors, we worked ourselves
into position in the start line in time for the National Anthem.
After the Anthem, the starting gun sounded and off went the platoon of
runners for the 2014 running of the Mississippi Blues Marathon.
The first couple of miles took runners through the campus of Jackson
State University. Then runners circled
back through the start line and back up State Street and into nice residential neighborhoods.
Spectators along the course were plentiful at the beginning, but as we
began our journey through the residential areas, mostly homeowners relaxing in
their lawn chairs cheered on as runners passed by.
Right from the beginning, the course had more hills than I
expected. Knowing that I had a marathon
the very next day, I kept a steady easy pace (around 10:30 per mile or so)
without overdoing myself. I wasn’t
running for a PR, but just to finish without being too exhausted.
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| Picturesque Neighborhood Lake |
It is well known that the asphalt concrete pavement conditions in the
city of Jackson are deplorable. The lack
of maintenance is very evident. Runners
must be aware of their footing throughout the entire course, with some
exceptions. Maintenance in the upscale
neighborhoods seem to take some kind of precedence since the conditions weren’t
that bad, but runners had to contend with those preposterous speed humps. As a practicing engineer, I will reserve my
comment and opinion on these “traffic calming” devices.
The neighborhood bounded by the Pearl River and Ridgewood Road (Eastover)
was quite scenic with stately upscale homes, manicured lawns and scattered
lakes. The only thing that made it hard
were the hills. Between Marathon Miles
18 and 19, I began conserving energy by walking the many inclines in the
area. I had conversations with a few
runners about Ironman experiences, running double marathons, where we hailed
from and general marathon experiences.
The conversations made the miles tick off rather quickly.
As we passed by the Mississippi School for the Deaf and made a left turn
onto the I-55 frontage road, I only had less than 10K remaining. I was feeling very good by taking the
conservative approach and not overdoing myself.
We ran alongside Lakeland Park and over I-55 and into another scenic
neighborhood and around Belhaven University, with only two miles remaining.
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| Yummy Place |
The final two miles took runners back onto North Street, a right onto
Amite, left onto State by the Old Capitol Museum. It was a slight downhill grade to the finish
line once on State. Then a right on
Court Street and a final right onto Lamar Street to the finish at the plaza
area between the Museum of Art, the Convention Complex and the planetarium.
My 19th marathon was a great run for me and I really felt
good. My finish time was 4:48:23 for an
11:00 per mile pace.
Age graded score: 47.8% Age
graded time: 4:25:20
At the finish line area, I grabbed a few food items and water to
replenish myself until the next meal. We
didn’t stay long, but I was hoping to stay a little longer and listen to the
blues music. Since we had a 3-hour drive
to Mobile ahead of us, it was time to check out, grab a bite to eat and hit the
road.
For lunch, it was on to Hal & Mal’s on Commerce Street. We heard this was a good place to eat and if
runners show their bibs, we would receive a discount.
With the assortment of burgers and sandwiches on the menu, I ordered a
Mississippi catfish po-boy sandwich with a side of fries and my wife ordered a “better
burger.” My sandwich was quite good and
the catfish was well seasoned.
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| Our Next State |
After the great lunch stop, it was our time to bid adieu to Jackson and
embark on the 3-hour drive down U.S. Highway 49 to Mobile, AL via Hattiesburg.
The Blues Marathon was chosen because of the bling and it was rated high
for marathons. It is a challenging
course with never ending hills and rolling terrain. For those who love a good challenge, it’s a
perfect race.
Jackson is famous for terrible road surface pavement conditions. There are a lot of pot holes, broken pieces
of asphalt concrete, exposed base material and uneven surfaces. Be sure to pay extra attention to the road
surface as not to injure yourself. I
don’t know if it’s a lack of maintenance, weather related deterioration or a
combination of both, but a majority of it could be improved or patched each
year prior to the event.
The course was quiet in some areas.
There wasn’t a lot of cheerleaders or pep squads. Many held their cheering for those who they
supported. Anyway, the quiet gave me the
time to take in the scenery of the Jackson area and the course showcased
Jackson nicely.
The blues bands and entertainment were not as
advertised. There were some bands at the
beginning, but as the course went on, they were absent. I thought there would be much more music along
the course.
The race director and staff organized an awesome event with great swag
bags, long sleeve fleece pullovers and a GREAT blues CD. The pullover had a cheap zipper that would
jam or break, but after complaints, they sent each participant a new pullover
with a larger zipper that now works.
I can’t say enough about the finisher’s medal. It is one of the largest, craftiest and sparkliest
(if such a word) medals in my collection.
They take the ultimate pride in their medal. Kind of reminded me of Flavor Flav’s clock
medallion, actually.
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| GREAT Bling |
The finisher area provided everyone with beer, pizza, water, fruit,
cookies and other refreshments. The expo
was small, but well done and I loved the blues musicians performing for all to
appreciate.
The volunteers were AWESOME. They
did a great job cheering and ringing cow bells.
They were the best. I didn’t
experience any rude or impatient drivers who were held up by police at
intersection crossings.
I recommend this marathon to anyone interested. The pros definitely outweigh the cons of this
great marathon and is worth repeating.
With a little extra work, especially with the public works department
repairing potholes, the course would be much better. I believe the city could budget some extra
money in their road fund to cover annual expenditures to prepare for the
marathon.
I’m sure the city benefits from on the revenue generated from the
marathon participants staying, dining and spending money in the city. Extra tax revenue could be diverted into the
road fund to cover additional maintenance costs. Just a thought.
This marathon makes a great pairing with
the First Light Marathon in Mobile for those completing the 50-states quest.
The Servis 1st Bank First Light Marathon in Mobile, AL is the
venue for State No. 9.
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