David Archibald's Staging Area

This race has been around for 60 years! I had run this race three times before and didn’t plan on running again until I saw the swag. 5 inch penny medal, shirt. And then they added a hoodie and a finisher blanket. The folks putting this race together really take pride in it.
There is no other run option. This is a half marathon and nothing else.

You get to run past all of the Lincoln sites in Springfield, IL. You start by the Presidential Library and old capital building. You run past Lincoln’s home, past the “new” capital, and head to Washington park. The route there, surrounding neighborhoods, and the park itself are quite nice to run through.

Then come the hills. You leave Washington park at the 10k mark and proceed directly up hill. You run down Lincoln (of course). The next two plus miles are nothing spectacular. But there isn’t really anything (aside from more hills) between Washington Park and Lincoln’s tomb.

After a quick trip through the cemetery, you head to and around Lincoln Park before heading back downtown. Two more hills in the park. The last mile and a half is flat. You finish one block from the start on the other side of the old capital.

A local brewery made a special brew just for the race. And it was quite good.

This is not a PR race. I went out to fast and paid for it on the hills. But if you don’t want to mess with a city like Chicago, then Springfield is definitely a worthwhile option.

I’ve ran it enough times, only because there a lot of other races the same weekend I want to do. Maybe when it turns 75, I’ll be back.

This race was much smaller than I expected. There were about 1000 runners combined for the half and full marathons. We all started together. The race director implemented an ad hoc wave start, due to construction on the course. There were no corrals, just a couple of guys with their arms up telling people not to start when others did. It caused a little confusion for some, but also separated folks from pacers.
It was about 36 degrees at start, but not windy and the sun came up quickly which was nice watching the sunrise while running.
You start downtown by the capital building, which is an awesome backdrop. There is an overpass you run over at the beginning of mile 2 which isn’t bad as the race has just begun. But you get to come back over it at the end of mile 12 and it can make you sad.
After the first 5k or so you enter LSU. We had spent the day exploring the campus the day before, so I was familiar with the surrounding area while I ran. You run around the football stadium as well. There is decent lake section that the campus sits on that you get to traverse. That was nice. There are some unexpected little hills here and there. Afterwards, I spoke to a local runner who said that the route was different due to construction areas and that a lot of those hills weren’t normally on the course.
Shortly after mile 10, you come back to the route you started on and run back to the capital building.
There were plenty of water stations with both water and power aid and porta-potties throughout the course. As it was quite cold for Louisiana, there wasn’t a ton of crown support, although I did see a few made up stations with mimosas, shots, beer, and donuts for runners to derail their race with. 🙂
Finish line was fine. Medal is pretty cool, although I wished they had their older version that was in the shape of the state. This year was just round. The t-shirt is quite soft and the design is cool- I love soft race shirts.
Very glad I ran this one for my Louisiana Race. Would definitely run again if I were nearby.

This was a fun race for me to knock out Oklahoma with. The crowds are really good and there are plenty of people sabotaging your run along the way – donuts, jello shots, whiskey shots, all in good fun.
Many people were unhappy with the weather, but I loved it. It rained really good right up until the start and then stopped. There was a little drizzle rain in my last couple of miles but nothing impeding my run. The temp was low 50s which I love for running weather.

The first five miles are a little hilly. Only one big hill right about the mile 2 marker. But nothing to cry about. And after the big hill, you run through really nice neighborhoods for the next 4+ miles. Lots of crowds and support. I like twists and turns as well and neighborhoods help with that.

Miles 6 and 7 are both downhill and flat. You can really push your pace here. You turn right when you get close to the river and then run on the same road for nearly 4 miles. That is a little boring to me but I knew it was coming and there are plenty of folks cheering you on. At the end of that road you get up on the old Route 66 bridge where you run out and back on. Its really the only Route 66 road that you are on. As you come off the bridge there is one more hill that will make you sad. Once over it, its just over a mile to the finish with half of it being a slight downhill.

Race finish was ok. I don’t hang out long at the finish line of a lot of races. But I made some new friends and enjoyed the whole thing.

This race is wonderful. But it is capped at 1500 runners and registration sells out in a couple of hours. Registration opens in October so you have to be ready to sign up.

The race itself is great. But as the website says, it’s not a race for a PR. The race has the famous Whiskey Hill which will test your metal if you don’t want to walk. The last 50 meters or so of the hill, I am pretty sure I could have walked faster than I was running.

The race starts and finishes in downtown Lynchburg, home of Jack Daniels. The town is only a few blocks long so 90% of the race is on rural roads. You’ll run past fields, horse farms, sporadic homes, and beautiful Tennessee countryside.

The race has a water station contest. All of the water stations really come out and support wonderfully. Your race bib has a ticket to vote for the best water station after your run. I voted for the little kids dressed up as super heroes. 😁

The good news about running up Whiskey Hill, which starts at about the 3.8 mile mark, is after you run the Ridgeline, you get a lot of downhill on the back half of the race.

After your race you get a hat and socks, on top of the wooden finisher medal. And the food and atmosphere at the finish line was also awesome. Grilled cheese and Hoe Cakes!

And every race Bible is personalized and the announcer at the finish line does an awesome job calling out every name as they come across.

Only warning about the race: the entire town shuts down from 8-12 for the race. Don’t plan on leaving quickly when you’re done. The same road closures that supported you are still in place to support everyone else.

We popped into a bathroom, freshened up, and explored the downtown shops that were all open. We left about five after 12 and drove away easy.

Great race. Would definitely do it again!

This small town race is absolutely gorgeous. You run from the Berry College Main Campus to the Mountain Campus and back. There is a reason it is called the mountain campus. And the elevation guide on the webpage is not accurate. The steep hills came a mile sooner than it portrayed.

Once on the mountain campus, there are three little out and backs to do, which gets kind of boring. But the entire race is closed traffic, which is nice. And running through the forest is just amazing. Definitely a challenging course.

Water stations are plentiful- there is one almost every two miles or so.

The race does a t-shirt reveal the day before the race…. I am not sure why, nothing special. And I think a lot of the stuff on the shirt requires you to be affiliated with Berry College to understand. But whatever. The medal is nice enough.

Post race was chaotic. I crossed the finish line into a crowd of people who were already complete and just hanging out. I had to walk through them and go to the medal station to get my finisher medal. I didn’t stick around for the awards because I ran poorly, but some of the comments on Facebook were not happy because they were given a water bottle for age group awards.

Maybe if I lived in the area, i would run it again. But if I am travelling to GA for a race again, there are a bunch of others I would like to try first.

If you want a challenge that is a different race distance, this is it. It’s usually the last Saturday in July- so it its HOT! Additionally, the first 3/4s of a mile is UP HILL. It is an out and back course so you get to run down the same big hill. The entire course is surrounded by spectators and fans. You will not get a break from people cheering you on.

I believe they only do finisher medals every five years so don’t expect a whole in swag. Repeat runners get a pin every so many of years.

Great post race area with beer, food, and music.

This race is gorgeous! You run along Lake Michigan, though a very nice downtown harbor area, and past some beautiful homes. I drove from Tennessee to Michigan just for this race. There aren’t many hotels close by that don’t cost a million bucks so you have to stay in another town about 20 minutes away. No big deal, parking is plentiful.
Its a point to point race, with shuttles bringing you back to the high school where you started. You run through neighborhoods for the first few miles until you get to the harbor district with art galleries, restaurants, and all of the boats. Very nice. You cross a small fairly flat bridge and then go up the biggest hill the race has. But you get to run down it during mile 12 which is wonderful.
Once on top of the hill, you run through some more neighborhood as you work your way towards Lake Michigan. There is one STEEP but short surprise hill! Both myself and a guy 2 steps behind me let out little exclamations of shock as we rounded the corner and immediately went UP!

But then you are running past amazing homes, surrounded by huge trees, with Lake Michigan in the background. You run this road for a few miles, then turn around and see half of it again. Normally that is boring but not here. You turn away from the Lake between miles 9 and 10 and work your way back through regular neighborhood streets, go down that bigger hill, and then, out of know where, end up in another gorgeous little section of town with a small park and little boutique shops for the finish line.

Finish line party was small. Finished second in my age group (thank you small town race!).

Swag- shirt was meh. Medal was cool.

Would definitely run again if I were in Michigan. I picked the right race to knock Michigan off my 50 states list.

Third time running this race. There are some hills in the end but a good overall course. It can be chilly at the start. I think it was 41⁰ and windy this last year. Great support. The changed up the finisher medal. It was a lincoln penny for years.

Great small-town race. There was some nice running along the river. Pretty flat. Finished 2nd in my age group which is always a great surprise!

Swag is always massive!

Run through all parts of Little Rock, which is a great town by the way. I ran the year of the crazy ice storm. I was done and gone by the time it hit but it affected a lot of folks.
The is huge. There are a of corrals. I was done with mile 5 and coming back around and there were still corrals waiting to start. The weather was great for running (while I ran)- 40ish degrees, light sprinkle of rain. The finish line is awesome. You can gets beads and wipe your face about a quarter mile out to get a great finish line photo. That was a cool touch. My beads are on my medal rack along with the big ass medal.
Will definitely run again