I was in Jackson for a job interview and found the Magnolia Meltdown, which happened to be 10 minutes from my hotel. Bonus for me is that flight/rental car/hotel was covered by who brought me in to town.

Expo: very nuts and bolts, which is nice for a change. Held at Hyatt Place, you walk in, get your bib and shirt and there ya go. They have other races that had advertising there which is good for people who are local (i.e. a majority of runners). Expo sign up if you want. They also have a 5K and 10K in addition to a kid fun run. A few local shops present and since it's sponsored by a hospital, a quick rundown of how to do CPR

Race day: Start/Finish located in Renaissance at Colony Park. Perk is they offer race day pick up for bibs and shirts. Porta potties present, but could have used a few more. They also had it down as a 730 AM start time, but they started announcements, prayer (Catholic Hospital sponsored the race) and the national anthem, so it started more like 735

The course: combination of roads and paved running trails. Well marked and police/volunteers at intersections. Water every 1.5 miles for the first like 7.5 miles, then every mile after that. Some hills (i.e. a lot) to the race

Weather: Hot and Humid! I could have dealt with heat, but the humidity made it tough for me and slowed me down. Didn't help that this was my 3rd half marathon since April 25th

Post race: food tent available with plenty of fluids (though chocolate milk would have been a plus!), food and pizza.

Bling: Amazing!

This was the inaugural half marathon (the 5K/10K are like 6-7 yrs old). Overall, well run I think!