Ben and the Memphis Half Marathon

When: December, 2004
Who: Just the boys.
Recall: Road trip for me and Ben. He beat me as usual. Afterwards we toured the Gibson guitar factory. The picture was taken in front of Elvis on Beal Street.
Overall: Great time with my favorite son.
Rating: 5/5 mini-carbs

Ben and The Country Music Marathon, 2004 (#10)

When: April, 2004
Who: Ben and me with Lesa as the support team.
Recall: The start was postponed due to a thunderstorm which was kind of neat. Ben ran the half-marathon while I went on to do the full marathon. Lesa and Ben saw Calvin Smith (from Charleston) at mile 19 and were surprised he finished but he's now 70-something and is still running marathons.
Overall: Probably my least favorite marathon. I didn't like the course.
Rating: 3/5 gee-tars

Back to Memphis (#6)

When: December, 2002.
Who: Me, the ghost of Elvis, and Lesa as support team.
Recall: A different and much better course than in 2000. I liked the run down Beal Street, through the Liberty Bowl and the finish in Auto Zone Stadium. Lesa and I had a great time in downtown Memphis.
Overall: The course was fun except for too much slope on the side of the road along the last few miles.
Rating: 4.5/5 carbs.

Brownies and The Memphis Marathon (#2)

When: December, 2000.
Who: Brett Bartlett and Tim O'Neil (with the wives in support)
Recall: No Elvis at Graceland, stopping at Church's Chicken to buy a Dr. Pepper at mile 18, taking a brownie from a hippie at mile 21, finishing inside The Pyramid.
Overall: This was the old course that went south to Graceland and then back to The Pyramid. We had rolling hills and a head wind coming back. (Not good.) No IT band problems so I ran faster than at Top of Utah but it's easy to improve upon slow. Tim O'Neil is also from Charleston so I finished third in my city. Again, Brett just missed qualifying for Boston. Bummer.
Rating: 4/5 carbs (mostly for the stories).