St. Jude Memphis Marathon 12/6 -by Gaile Loving
This was a good marathon -- from the expo to the run itself. We had cool weather throughout the run-- I don't think it got above 45 degrees and started in the low 30's. All the negative comments that were written on a response website were not true for us. maybe because we did hills to get ready for the race, but according to what we experienced and what we had practiced ---we were ready. We did stay at a hotel out by the airport instead of downtown, as the race hotels were all booked by the time we decided to go. It might of just been me, as we live out by Tinker, but being by the airport did not bother me -- even though others say they were awakened by early morning planes. Finding parking the morning of the run, or getting around the town was not a problem. The start was well organized with corral groupings for the start. Marathoners and half marathoners all started together. Water /Powerade about every mile and some water breaks had extra treats that Chuck and Jamie could testify to. Mary placed 6th out of 72 in her age group - finishing time was 3:53:42 . Chuck's time, which included two beers on the course and stopping to elevate his legs: 98th out of 195 with a time of 4:00:34 . Jamie finished 22nd in her age group (Jamie and Mary run in the same age group) 4:30:57 . I placed 7th out of 27 in my age group, with a time of 4:27:14 . Maybe if I can just stay in running long enough all the others will die off or quit! And one day I will learn the secret to keeping the pace up after mile 20. Bill and Alden ran the 5k Alden finished 7th out of 111 in her age group with a time of 30:56 Bill finished 7th out of 36 runners in his age group with a time of 27:20 While running was good - whether it be the 5k or the marathon, the company was better! It was fun to be with other runners and share the weekend with them. I did not mention that Bob was great support for all of us. I can hardly wait to see his pictures of the finish line. By the way -- we did have an Elvis sighting at the finish line. Jamie and I thought that nobody would believe us, so we had our picture taken with him!

Memphis Comments-by Chuck Mikkelson
If someone would have told me about the bottomless keg of Coors Light at the finish I might have been there sooner. Great marathon - beer stops at mile 17, 23 and 26.5. Plus the best part of the weekend was the post race dinner at Bill's sister and brother-in-law's house. Becky & Ben really know how to feed hungry runners-mouthwatering ribs, pulled pork and the best chocolate cake. The company we shared was priceless. Plus I finally got to meet the infamous Chris Knott-Craig who now lives in Memphis and ran a 4:04:34.