Bob Mann: 2021 Memphis Big BBQ Marathon

Sat May 1, 2021

On Sat May 1 2021, I ran the Memphis Big BBQ Marathon in Memphis TN. For the second year in a row, I had been registered for the Nashville Rock N Roll Marathon as my Tennessee marathon of choice. But for the second year in a row, that race was cancelled due to Covid-19. That's not surprising, since it's a huge big-city event. However, I managed to find this small marathon, also in Tennessee, just one week later. Unlike a big-city event with thousands of runners and tens of thousands of spectators shutting down city streets, this small Memphis race was run in a park and on a bike trail on the outskirts of town. Not many runners, and not many spectators, so it was quite feasible to pull off, even during the pandemic.

I arrived in Memphis on Friday, and did the requisite day-before-marathon short warmup run. As I often like to do when I'm near a state border, I found a spot just over the border in Southaven MS where I could park and do a short two-mile run that crossed the border from Mississippi into Tennessee and back. So I can add that to my list of places where I've run across a state line. Friday evening I had the standard pre-marathon pasta dinner. But I managed to do it Memphis-style by getting Barbeque Spaghetti.

I was staying in downtown Memphis near Beale Street. I figured this would be the most interesting part of town. I'd been to Beale Street before and enjoyed it, so I wanted to be around there again. It was noisier and dirtier than I remembered. But that might just be because I'm getting old. I didn't get a great night's sleep because there was a loud band that I could hear from my hotel room until well after I wanted to go to sleep. Plus, there were loud drunks on my floor late at night, and even later somebody pulled the fire alarm in the hotel. Thankfully I had given myself enough time to get a good night's sleep even with these distractions. So I think I was good to go on race morning.

The start and finish of the race was at Shelby Farms Park, which was at the northeast end of town. In fact, the start line was in the town of Cordova TN. There was a 5k, a 10k, and a Half Marathon taking place as well. These races had existed in previous years, but this was the first year for the Full Marathon. Apparently noticing a void in the marathon world, they added the Full for this year. But they didn't put a heck of a lot of thought into it, since the Full Marathon course was just the Half Marathon course run twice. The Half Marathon course was a run around the park and then out a paved bike path until the Quarter Marathon point, at which point the course turned around and ran back. So I had to do that twice. Out and back, out and back. Running past everything twice. So it might not be the most interesting course. But with so many other things being cancelled this year, I wasn't in any position to complain.

In an effort to keep runners socially distanced, the runners crossed the start line one at a time, 10 seconds apart. There were so few runners that this was entirely feasible. The Full Marathon runners started first. Eventually the Half Marathoners started, and then eventually the runners in the shorter races. My start time was 7:07am.

The temps were cool at that time. But it was sunny, and it would get warm later on. The part of the course in the park was without much shade. But thankfully the bike path had plenty of shade. I might have struggled a lot more had the race been entirely out in the open.

Starting one runner at a time, there was certainly no traffic out the chute. My first mile was 9:06, which might have been faster than necessary. I settled into a pace closer to 9:40 for a while before eventually (and inevitably) slowing down. I completed the first loop in 2:07:39, which is right about what I expected. The second half went just about as expected also. My finish time was 4:33:30. I suppose I was hoping to finish in under four and a half hours, but based on the sun and the warmth, I'm not surprised that I didn't. In fact, despite being somewhat slow, I still felt fairly strong near the end. So I am still quite pleased with the results.

This recap didn't really talk much about the race itself. I guess that's because there wasn't much to say. It was a nice park and a nice bike trail. But it wasn't anything that couldn't have been located in (or near) just about any city in America. There were only 28 runners in the marathon, which makes it the smallest marathon I've ever done. 238 people ran the Half Marathon, 147 in the 10k, and 204 in the 5k. So while it was a small field, there were always people running one way or the other on the trail. And because the park and trail weren't closed to the public, there were plenty of people not involved in the race just out for a run or walk or bike ride in the park. There weren't many aid stations, but since we passed each one four times, there were more than enough. In another pandemic-related precaution, they only handed out unopened small bottles of water and Gatorade. So I carried my own water bottle, which I stopped to refill whenever necessary. And since I normally bring my cell phone in the pouch in my water bottle on my training runs, I did that here as well. So I was able to listen to music as I ran. This was the first time in my 49 marathons that I wore headphones. In the past, I didn't bring the music so that I could "experience my surroundings". But I figured that my surroundings in this race might not be interesting enough to exclude the headphones. I'm not sure what I will do in this regard in future races.

Overall I would say the race organizers did very nice work on this race. For such a small event, they did a fine job. So that's 49 states down, with only Rhode Island to go. It appears as though the race will happen this year, so God willing I will complete my 50 state quest in October in Newport, Rhode Island. Since the Nashville race was postponed again, I am still registered for that for whenever it does occur. If that ends up being April 2022, I might go back to Tennessee rather quickly. Tennessee was my 49th state in my first go-round of the 50 states, but it might be my first or second of Round Two.

And now the photos. Click any image to enlarge.