A temperature in the mid-20s at race time didn’t faze Jay McCurdy one54 bit.
“It’s called the Frostbite for a reason,” said McCurdy, who won the Frostbite Half-Marathon in 1 hour, 18 minutes, 1 second on Saturday morning in Starkville.
“It’s been this cold at least once when I’ve done it, but it’s been warmer every other year,” said McCurdy, who said he has run the race “at least four or five times” in the past.
McCurdy, a Starkville resident, ran with neighbor Carter Campbell who, at 20, is 17 years younger. But there they were at the finish line, with times just 2 seconds apart.
“We talked yesterday about what we were going to wear today,” McCurdy said, referencing the cold. “It’s rare to have to race in tights. It’s a tough decision for a competitive runner, or, in my case, a moderately competitive runner.”
Campbell is a more competitive runner, saying he runs four or five such races annually and has been running for nine years. Asked if he races often, McCurday, who estimated he has been running for 20 years, delivered an emphatic, “No!”
But he does race in the Frostbite semi-regularly.
“It’s a local race,” McCurdy said. “I think it’s worth supporting. It’s well run.”
Campbell said he ran better last year, when he won the race.
“I’m a little disappointed, but it was a good effort,” Campbell said. “It was a little bit colder, and a little bit more windy, but besides that it was pretty good.”
McCurdy sounded somewhat surprised he was able to keep up with Campbell when the younger runner appeared to make a move.
“At around 10 miles, we were working together real well,” McCurdy said. “We got to the water tower on Hail State, and Carter dropped from about a 6-minute pace to about a 5:35 pace, and I thought, ‘He’s killing me.’
“I said, I’m going to have to go with him. I didn’t think I was going to be able to … I thought I was done.”
But after catching his breath after the finish, McCurdy was just fine.
“I’m good,” he said when asked how he felt. “I’ve got nice pizza and soup and warm clothes.”
Meanwhile, Campbell’s brother had already savored his morning run. John Campbell, 18, won the Frostbite 5K race, crossing the line in 17:46, 10 seconds better than 15-year-old Starkville resident Giles Jones and more than a minute and a half ahead of everybody else.
“The wind felt great,” John Campbell said of the weather. “It was cold starting off, but then when I got more into the race … I felt fine.”
The Starkville High School graduate and current Mississippi State student said he had run the half-marathon before and was happy with his time. Although he did not run last year, he did run the Frostbite in 2020.
This time around, the 5K suited him just fine.
“It was a very nice course,” Campbell said. “It’s a fun race.”
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