I took an early morning American Airlines flight out of LAX with a layover at DFW. I was able to finally catch Blade Runner 2049. It was an okay movie. It made me want to go back and re-watch the original movie since I don't remember much of it anymore. I landed at Memphis International Airport just a little before 1:30 pm local time. After getting off of the plane, I made the long walk over to the Ground Transportation Center to pick up my rental car. The walk seemed long because about half of the moving walkways was not operational. After signing paperwork at the Budget rental counter, I went to go get my car. Even though I had reserved an economy car, I was given a red Jeep Wrangler. It turned out to be quite the gas guzzler.
Before I started my drive down to Greenville, Mississippi, I stopped in at the McDonald's just west of interstate 55 to get some food. I didn't want to waste too much time so I went through the drive-thru and ordered my usual Big Mac combo. When I got my food, I found a parking spot and ate my burger. I then hopped on the road, ate the fries and drank my iced tea along the way.
It was a pretty relaxing 2.5 hr drive. There was a little bit of rain falling as I got closer to my destination. I rolled into Greenville at about 5:15 pm. I pulled into the Days Inn just off of highway 82. I checked into my room so I could drop off my bags and use the bathroom before I went to pick up my race packet.
US State #48 for me
Brown water from the Delta
Lots of emails with important pertinent information were sent out in the weeks and days leading up to the race. That was very well done and most helpful. I was certainly well informed. The packet pick up was located at the Leyser Gallery on Washington Ave near Poplar St. It was a well organized and a quick packet pick up process. After getting my bib, I got a long sleeved 1/4 zip race shirt and a drawstring bag.
After picking up my race packet, I stopped in a CVS Pharmacy along the way back to my motel. I picked up the usual bottle of water and a Powerade. I then pulled into the McDonald's just around the corner to pick up something quick for dinner. I went through the drive-thru. It took a while before the person was ready to take my order. It took so long that I thought that the intercom was broken. After I paid, I waited at the next window for my food. All I ordered was the Double Quarter Pounder meal. They brought me my drink, but told me to pull up to the next window to wait for my Double Quarter. It was about another 10 minutes or so before someone brought me my burger. It was long enough that I thought about parking the car and going inside to check. So much for a quick meal. At least everyone that I interacted with were all pretty friendly. Perhaps they were just short-handed for the night.
I took my food back to my room and polished it off before laying out my flat runner. I watched some TV and relaxed a bit before calling it a night.
Saturday 2/10
Man, it was pouring cats and dogs. I waited in the car for as long as I could. Once I saw the that rain had let up for a bit, I walked over to where the buses were parked. Then the rain started coming down hard again. The marathon buses were on the left side of the road. It was almost like a small Marathon Maniacs/50 States family reunion on the bus that I was on as I recognized a bunch of folks. We were bused over to Lake Village, Arkansas. As we got off of the bus, everyone made a beeline for the cache of portapotties. The ground was pretty muddy from the rain. Once we were done with the portapotties, everyone congregated underneath the pop-up tent to stay dry. I happened to bump into my friend from CA. I didn't she was also running this race. I also had a nice chat with a couple of people from Minnesota.
Right before the start of the race, the race director invited us to look for him at the finish line and to give him comments and suggestions on where they could improve the race. I really like races that aim to improve and are open to constructive criticism.
The race started with my legs not feeling too fresh. My hamstrings and glutes still felt tight. The rain wasn't too hard, but it was steadily coming down. I stuck to my regular walk breaks after every 30 minutes of running. After my first one, I ended up running with the 4 hr pace group. There was only 4 of us. I hung with them until my second walk break. The tendon in my left foot was giving me trouble, so I couldn't push off very hard with that foot.
Crossing the Mississippi River
After getting off of the bridge and during a walk break, I decided to take the rain poncho off as it was starting to feeling a bit stifling with it on. It wasn't raining much at that point. I still hung on to the poncho in case the rain came down hard. At about the aid station at mile 17 just north of Basf Rd, I came up to the welcome to Mississippi sign. I pulled over and tried to take a picture of it, but my phone screen was too wet for it to work. I did manage to wipe it just dry enough to check-in to my Southwest flights. At about mile 20.5 I turned right onto Tampa Dr. Then it followed with a left turn onto Bayou Rd. It was pretty cool to see some nice houses, but the road was partly flooded. At about mile 22.75, I turned north onto Main St. I ran up Main St until the road split to the right as Washington Ave. During the last mile, I somehow picked up a large pebble in my left shoe. The 4:45 pace group had just passed me, so I didn't stop to remove the pebble. I just wanted to follow them as much as I could to the finish line. After the road took a left at the railroad track, you could practically see the finish line several blocks up ahead.
Finish: 4:45:26
Click here for my Garmin data.
Click here for my finish line video.
After getting my medal and mylar blanket, I hung around the finish line area talking to a guy from New York that had just finished right ahead of me. His support crew was there to greet him. His support crew was very encouraging to other runners out on the course. We talked about him qualifying for the Marathon Maniacs as he had another marathon to run tomorrow. After that I spoke to the race director to tell him that he had put on a fine race. Always love a race that gives out free race photos!
I then ducked into the Leyser Gallery to get out of the rain and to get some post race snacks. They had a little bit of everything! I saw pizza, bananas, and food from McDonald's. I grabbed a Nequik, bottle of water, a banana, and a sausage biscuit sandwich. My stomach wasn't quite ready for food yet, so I took it with me back to the motel. I ate the sausage biscuit sandwich and got cleaned up.
Post race food
I then headed over to the Birthplace of Kermit the Frog Museum as it was stated on Google Maps to close at 4 pm. As I entered, I signed their visitor book. I ended up having a very nice long conversation with the lady that was watching the place. She told me that she was actually a substitute. She pretty much told me everything there was to know about the place. After a quick little tour, I ended up buying a t-shirt from their little gift shop. So if you've grown up watching Kermit the Frog and you're in the area, you really should stop by for a little visit!
I was pretty hungry and didn't eat a proper lunch, so I stopped in at Shoney's. I just had to stop in because of its cameo in Rick & Morty and it was right next door to my motel. Apparently a lot of people come here for their buffet. I didn't want to eat too much, so after getting seated, I ordered their All American Burger. I think it was a good burger and just enough to tide me over to dinner.
All American Burger
I then went back to my room to rest up until dinner time. At about a quarter to 6, I went back out first to fill my gas tank at the nearby Exxon gas station at Colorado St. I then drove out to Doe's Eat Place to eat a steak dinner. I came at the recommendation of a friend that used to live in Greenville. There's a small parking lot and street parking available. The surrounding area doesn't look at that nice, but you'll be fine as long as you stay at the restaurant (it looks more like a house) and don't wander off. The decor inside was very unique to say the least. The food was pricey, but it was good. It was also very nice to experience good 'ol Southern hospitality! I arrived pretty early at 6 pm and was seated right away. I wasn't given a menu as the lady taking my order just verbally told me what they served. I ordered their bone-in ribeye steak cooked medium rare and an order of shrimp, half broiled and half fried. Make sure to bring your appetite! It was a big steak. It was pretty good piece of meat without having to add any sauces. Man, that certainly hit the spot! To complete my surf and turf, these shrimp certainly fit the bill! Both versions were good, but if I had to choose, I would get the fried version. They was perfectly breaded and came with cocktail sauce and tartar sauce. It looked like this place will most likely be busy for dinner. The front waiting area was filled with hungry folks as I was leaving. If you're in the area and have a hankering for a steak, you should stop in here for a good steak!
Unique decor!
Bone-in ribeye and shrimp, half broiled and half fried
Bone-in ribeye, medium rare
With the big dinner, I went to sleep early and slept pretty well. That was perfect as I had an early drive to make tomorrow morning to catch my flight home out of Memphis International Airport.
Sunday 2/11
I got up early, packed up my stuff, and left the motel at about 3 am for the 2.5 hr drive up to Memphis. It was raining most of the way, but overall an uneventful drive. There weren't many other cars out on the road at that time of the day. As I was nearing my destination, I got off of the interstate and pulled into a Circle K to gas up the car before returning it. There was no attendant on duty at that hour, so I took down the mileage and noted the full tank of gas on the rental agreement papers. I dropped that and the keys into their drop box before heading over to the terminal.
My flight home had a layover at Dallas Love Field. I took the opportunity to try out Whataburger for the very first time. The line for the place was definitely much longer than any other food joint in that food court. What? What's so special about a Whataburger? I guess I'm one of those that can't understand the hype with Whataburger. It wasn't bad, but it was okay at best. If we're going to go with an okay burger, then I would rather eat at McDonald's because they're okay and I have plenty of fond memories eating at McD's as a kid. It definitely didn't even come close to a burger at The Habit, In-n-Out, or Shake Shack. The appearance of the Whataburger was lacking and so was the taste. There was nothing special about it. Perhaps it was because of this airport location. I'm willing to give it a second chance ordering at a location outside of the airport. As of right now, what a disappointment!
Well that's US State number 48 completed for me. Only Rhode Island and Massachusetts are left.
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