Immediately following March 11, when it was announced that Forrest County had its first case of COVID-19, more than 200 events were canceled throughout Hattiesburg – a trend that continued when it became apparent the pandemic would be around for some time.
However, some good news was released on that front on Nov. 12, when Mayor Toby Barker and other officials announced that the Hattiesburg Half Marathon will return to the Hub City on April 10, 2021 as an in-person road race after being held virtually in 2020. The race is led by the Pinebelt Foundation, and is held in cooperation with VisitHattiesburg, the United Way of Southeast Mississippi, Forrest General Hospital and the City of Hattiesburg.
“Yesterday, we hit the eight-month anniversary of COVID-19’s existence locally,” Barker said. “And while keeping our three goals in mind – protecting the vulnerable, preventing the overrun of the healthcare system, and prioritizing public health while giving the private sector space to operate creatively – I’m proud to say that we continue to make great strides in moving toward a more functional normal in this city.
“Together with our city staff and community partners, we are working through protocols that are slowly helping special events find their footing, specifically ones that take place outdoors and where great efforts can be made to space out crowds. We’re proud to partner with so many of our friends across several sectors – nonprofits, tourism and healthcare – who continue to help our trajectory as a premier city in the Gulf South.”
The half marathon, which includes a 5K and a 10K, provides fundraising opportunities for participating area nonprofits and attracts runners from several surrounding states. The course will start at the Saenger Theater and wind through downtown, head toward The Avenues, and loop around the Hattiesburg Zoo.
A portion of the route also runs through the University of Southern Mississippi’s campus and will take runners down the Longleaf Trace toward the finish line.
Registration for the race will open on Dec. 1.
“We are just excited about this,” said Michael Dixon, executive director of the Pinebelt Foundation. “We weren’t sure this would be a possibility, but we feel confident that we’re going to move forward with this event in a way that is safe and productive for the entire community.
“We’ve been working hard behind the scenes in the past several weeks with our partners to find a way to make this happen in a safe way. Last year, the Hattiesburg Half Marathon was named Mississippi’s best half marathon by Race Ravesmagazine, and many people helped to make that possible, and we’re excited that we’re going to get it going again.”
The race, which raised a record $205,000 in 2019, was modified this year to meet COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. Pre-registered runners were given a two-week window to complete their committed distance from a location of their choice.
In addition, by submitting photo verification, runners were able to continue fundraising for charity while also receiving virtual finish line photos, medals, age group awards, race T-shirts and hats.
“We feel like the marathon is a way that we can care for our community and offer our support,” said Millie Swan, chief marketing and medical staff services officer at Forrest General Hospital. “We can encourage people to take action for their health; this encourages getting out and exercising.
“Whether you run or whether you walk, your family can participate and be a part of this wonderful event. We also recruit a lot of healthcare professionals to our area on a regular basis, and it’s very important that when they consider coming to our city and our organization, they see activities and events like this.”
Race participation is capped at 1,000 runners; over the last two years, almost half of the event’s participants traveled from outside a 50-mile radius.
“It certainly has been a great effort to be able to put forth an in-person road race event for 2021,” said Marlo Dorsey, executive director of VisitHattiesburg. “We know from last (time) that we had a great virtual race event, but included in that were more than 300 registered participants who deferred their registration until 2021.
“When people come to Hattiesburg for the first time, we often hear rave reviews on everything that this wonderful city has to offer. But if we can keep them overnight or for the weekend in a safe way, we’re seeing a tremendous path for tourism recovery efforts to be able to do that. So this is one more way for us to be able to showcase our beautiful community and welcome runners.”
