Two Races, One Weekend: Hattiesburg and Huntsville
We recently ran two half marathons in a single weekend—the Hattiesburg Half Marathon in Southern Mississippi and the Bridge Street Half Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama. We ran a tight schedule with one race Saturday morning, then driving 4.5 hours to make our second race Sunday morning. While there was an unexpected storm and over 14 hours of driving, we’re so glad that we followed through and ran two more half marathons!
On Saturday morning, we ran the Hattiesburg Half Marathon which passed by the Hattiesburg Zoo, through the University of Southern Mississippi, and the downtown area. The course was mostly flat with a few rolling hills. All the neighborhoods were lovely, and the campus was beautiful and neatly maintained. We enjoyed the architecture downtown and there was a nice southern town feel throughout. The most difficult part of the race was the heat and humidity at 78° and 79% respectively. Luckily, there was plenty of water, gu energy gel, and food stops throughout the course, leaving us feeling very well supported. They also had a really nice end of race festival with food trucks, an ice cream truck, mixed drinks, and beer. We each were provided with one food ticket and one ice cream ticket, along with Smoothie King providing free small smoothie samples. For food, we chose the chicken strips which were fresh, hot, and delicious, but there was also a pizza truck and a hot dog truck. They also had a fair amount of race snacks and water, along with several parking lots nearby so it’s not too far of a walk to the car afterwards.
Aside from the half marathon, we had the pleasure of experiencing dinner at Movie Star Restaurant. We happened to find Movie Star on Yelp and we’re so grateful we did because it was absolutely wonderful. Movie Star is a buffet restaurant filled with delicious southern classics. They had fried catfish, warm dinner rolls, and yummy hush puppies. There was also sweet potatoes and mac n cheese, which are some of our favorites. But the fried chicken was by far the star of the show with the perfect balance of crispy and tender. Lastly, the banana pudding was the perfect dessert to end with and had us stuffing ourselves until we physically couldn’t take another bite. So, if you’re ever in Hattiesburg, we definitely recommend eating at Movie Star Restaurant for a flavor packed, satisfying meal that will leave you so stuffed you won’t want to eat again.
After our delicious meal, we headed over to Alabama, driving 4.5 hours to make our Sunday morning race. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side as there was a severe storm warning. This storm had intense rain, thunder, and lighting, and it definitely wouldn’t have been safe to have hundreds of us running outside in such conditions. The race organizers managed to set up an “alternate route” in an underground parking garage so that if we wanted, we could still complete our half marathon. At first, we thought there was no way that anyone would want to run 13.1 miles in an underground parking garage, but come race day, there were 1,058 fools runners (including us) who showed up!
It was a truly unique experience, and although there was great reluctance at first, it ended with us feeling really glad we completed it. It was a flat course, consisting only of the first floor of the garage, with us running 20 laps in total. At first we were told it was 19 laps, but they miscalculated so after thinking we were done, we had to run 1 more! Since the course we were running was fairly small, there was only one water station that we passed with every lap. The folks passing out water to us worked tirelessly to accommodate us throughout the entire race. Similarly, the director could have easily cancelled the race due to the weather, but instead found a way for us to accomplish our run which was especially nice for us coming in from out of town. We’re so thankful to the many hands who worked so diligently for us during this race. It was a much better experience than we thought it would be, and was a good reminder to just how vigilant us runners can be.
Unfortunately, aside from the half marathon, we didn’t get much of an opportunity to see Huntsville due to the weather. However, the accommodations that the organizers worked so hard to make happen left us with a good feeling in our hearts and we would love to visit again and fully see everything. The one thing we were able to do in Huntsville was eat at Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen. For an appetizer, we got a plate of biscuits that came with jam and honey. We also got the fried green tomatoes that were on top of a little bed of grits, which were wonderful. For our main dishes, we got fried chicken and waffles (of course) which had our mouths watering and our tummies full. It was a truly delicious meal and left us excited for the next time we could eat in Alabama.
Overall, it was a busy weekend filled with running races, good eats, and lots of traveling. And we’re looking forward to our next time where we can run one more!
