With less than a year of distance running under his belt, Dawson Tackitt was ready to test his young legs in the Frostbite 5K on Saturday morning in Starkville.

“I’ve been doing a bunch of 2-miles,” the 12-year-old from Tupelo said. “I thought it would be pretty cool to run here.”

Tackitt, or at least his parents, Kevin and Lesley, are part of the reason race co-coordinators Brad Jones and Wes Gordon changed the course of the races when they took over a few years ago. Back when Oktibbeha County Hospital organized the Frostbite Half-Marathon, the race began in Pheba and took Route 389 into Starkville

“The hospital stepped away from it, and we were going to try and make this a Starkville event and draw people to Starkville,” Jones said. “For people that aren’t familiar with Starkville, it gives people a reason to visit a college town when they might not have another reason to come here.”

That certainly applies to Kevin Tackitt, a Mississippi State graduate who doesn’t get back to Starkville too often. But with his young son in the early stages of running, and Dawson ready to tackle longer races, the Frostbite 5K brought him back.

And Dawson did well, finishing sixth in the male under-17 age group in 25 minutes, 29 seconds. 

“I feel like I did OK,” said Dawson, who added that he liked the course, which was roughly a rectangle that had participants start and end on Main Street.

And making the trip from Tupelo made Dawson Tackitt the only runner among the 28 in his age group to come from outside the Golden Triangle.

John Campbell, 18, of Starkville won the men’s 5K in 17:46, with Giles Jones, 15, of Starkville 10 seconds behind. The rest of the field was well off of their pace.

The top female finisher in the 5K was Katie Freeman, 24, of Starkville, who finished 10th overall in 23:08. The top three female finishers were from Starkville, with Sarah Peterson, 33, (13th, 23:36) and 12-year-old Alex Cougle (14th, 23:38) behind Freeman.

But that was not the only race held on a festive but cold Saturday morning.

“It’s three distances, 5K, 10K and half-marathon,” Jones said. “You can see all different parts of Starkville and the (MSU) campus. The half will take you through the historic district of Starkville and out on the campus, through the Cotton District and then finish running down Main Street.”

In the main event, Starkville’s Jay McCurdy, 37, beat out 20-year-old Carter Campbell, the older brother of the 5K winner, by 2 seconds to win the half-marathon. McCurdy, who acknowledged he does not run competitively often, crossed the line in 1:18:01 to edge his younger neighbor.

In third place, Christopher Bell, 18, of Starkville finished in 1:27.10.

The top three women in the half-marathon finished 18th, 19th and 20th. Laura Norton, 52, of Pell City, Alabama, was the top female in 1:43:16, with Jody Evans, 47, of Oroville, Washington, not far behind in 1:43:43. Less than a minute behind was Ashtyn Lecompte, 26, of Belden in 1:44:06.

Having out-of-state runners in the Frostbite races is nothing new, Jones said. 

“Two years ago, we had runners from London,” he said. “The reason was among the running community there are things that people try to do, like 50 marathons or 50 half-marathons in all 50 states. This happened to fit on their schedule, so they did it.”

Youth ruled in the 10K, with teenagers taking the top four places: Rhett Schimpf, 17, of Starkville in 36:03; Bailey Kosko, 15, of Oxford in 37:43; Max Bowling, 15, of Hattiesburg in 38:54; and Kenny-Dean Smith, 17, of Starkville in 39:50.

Comparatively, the top women fared best in the 10K. Top female finisher Anna Claire Allison, 27, of Ocean Springs was fifth overall in 40:01, with Lisa Ziegler, 27, of Starkville running seventh in 40:42. Molly Redford of Northport was the No. 3 women’s finisher, taking 11th overall in 43:44.

More than 700 participants ran in the three races, the largest turnout to date, and organizing races for that many people is not easy. 

“There are a lot of costs associated with putting on a well-run race,” Jones said. “The races wouldn’t be possible without the help from our sponsors.”

Chick-fil-A of Starkville was the presenting sponsor for the seventh consecutive year, with major sponsors including the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, Renasant Mortgage, Paul Davis Restoration, McDonald’s and Starkville Urology. But Jones said there were 22 sponsors in all.

Sponsors and entry fees cover the bills. What’s left over goes to charity, which this year is the Boys and Girls Clubs of Starkville. 

“We’ve done United Way, the Alzheimer’s Association, Starkville Police Department, Starkville Fire Department,” Jones said.

And much of what is spent before the donation goes directly to the runners. 

 “In my opinion, we give out some of the best swag among other races in Mississippi, and that’s part of what keeps people coming back,” Jones said. “Custom medals, moisture-wicking T-shirts, custom Frostbite bags, half-marathon beanies, half-marathon custom Frostbite cups.”

There also was water, bananas, cowbells with the Frostbite logo and pizza, courtesy of Godfather’s, waiting at the finish line.

Said Jones: “We want them to take something home to remember the event by.”

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