Monte Hansford's Staging Area

This race starts in the town of Travelers Rest, travels mostly along the Swamp Rabbit Trail (a paved rail-to-trail), and ends up in downtown Greenville right on the Reedy River. There is a ‘net elevation loss’, which I’ll elaborate on later. I recommend this race even though I had a crappy run!

I’ll start off with the cons:
1. There are a few hills at the beginning and a big one thrown in for good measure when you loop around the Furman campus. This isn’t a negative unless you’re a flatlander like me.
2. I talked to a local runner who said that the weather is highly variable, especially in the humidity department. We had rain until about 15 minutes before the race started, so the humidity was killer. The local said that they have a half in February which is much better in that regard.
3. It’s advertised as a net downhill run. The elevation profile on my Garmin confirmed that to be the case, but it sure didn’t feel like it!! The key word is ‘net’.
4. Could have used another aid station or two in the middle section.
5. This is a point-to-point race, so there is a shuttle. However, it’s $20, even for runners. This didn’t affect me since I had a friend running and we both had cars, but…

Now, the pros:
1. Great looking tech shirt and medal. Nice swag!
2. Excellent organization and a nice finish at the TD Center.
3. Decent post-race food.
4. The Swamp Rabbit Trail isn’t super scenic, but it is definitely nice enough, mostly shaded, and well-maintained. The loop around Furman University’s campus is beautiful, however! And the town of Travelers Rest is quaint and charming.
5. Since it’s mostly on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, there isn’t too much concern with traffic; however, all of the intersections are manned by police.

A couple of other notes:
– Greenville has several events going on that weekend, so hotels are not as cheap as I expected. I stayed at an AirBnB in Travelers Rest, and that was a great option! We were only about a 3 minute drive from the race start.
– Re. the shuttle – fortunately, Greenville has plenty of parking garages, and two of them are free on weekends. If you need to park downtown, I recommend the Richardson St garage, which is about 4-5 blocks from the race finish. And it’s right near all the good shopping and eating in downtown Greenville. Greenville is a great little city to visit.

There were some really good things about this race, and some areas that could use improvement. Overall, I’m glad I ran it, but it’s not one I’d plan on running multiple times.
Good stuff:
1. I met up with several friends and family! So that made up for the downsides I saw.
2. Overall, not a bad course (but see the downsides). Fairly scenic in some portions, and you get a good look at the city of Augusta.
3. BEST PART BY FAR: on the back side of the course along a trail, there was a tribute to fallen service personnel (military, law enforcement, etc). They had placards along the course with pictures, names, etc. Right down from there, a group all held American flags along the course as they cheered you on. I was proud to be an American as I ran through this part of the course!!!
4. Great afterparty in the city park, which had been resodded not too long before the race.
Bad stuff:
1. A really long hill – around 3 miles! For us flatlanders, that was hard!
2. Something they couldn’t control: Awful humidity for February. It was pretty miserable.
3. Packet pickup: (NOTE: I am very picky about packet pickup convenience) They only advertised packet pickup until 7 PM on Friday night before the race. For those of us coming from out of town who had to work, this was very inconvenient, and I had to take off 1/2 day from work to get there on time. Fortunately I was allowed to pick up packets for my friends also coming in late. It turns out that for $20, you could get your packet the morning of the race, but this was not advertised. I just think that they didn’t really consider out-of-towners, as the vast majority of runners appeared to be local.

The swag was ok, although the shirt ran really small. But that’s not a big deal to me. Overall, I did end up enjoying the race, despite the negatives.

The course was modified since my first go-around 2 years ago. It had fewer out-and-backs and a spur out to an ocean overlook. A very couple of rainy, cold days beforehand dampened it a bit but actually made for good running weather, as the rain cleared out just before the start. Personally, I did worse than my first time (20 minutes slower), but I actually enjoyed it more – I wasn’t as exhausted, so I thoroughly enjoyed the post-race buffet. The 40th anniversary long-sleeve hoodie (still tech fabric) and medal were very nice! And the organization is top-notch, even better than 2 years ago.

One thing for out-of-towners to know: the traffic going onto the island in the morning is awful – arriving at the traffic jam prior to 6:30, it took us another 25 minutes to get to the parking lot to catch the shuttle (race starts at 8). There is only one road leading to the island. So, if you can afford it, stay either on Kiawah Island itself or Seabrook Island.

2nd thing to know: Weather in December can be erratic compared to other times during the year. Two years ago, it was humid and in the 70s. Last year, it was clear and cold (mid-30s at the start). This year, it was rainy leading up to the race and low 40s. So be sure to check the Charleston weather forecast just before you leave home.

This race was a hidden gem to me. I live in the Charleston area but had never run it, and I’m wondering why I didn’t run it before! The hospitality and organization are what sets this race apart in my opinion! The course itself crosses two bridges, twice each for the half marathon, and winds through the streets of Georgetown, a ‘sleepy’ little Southern town along SC’s coast. The section from miles 8-11 is difficult for the lack of scenery, but otherwise it’s a nice course. But back to the hospitality: although there aren’t that many locals cheering you on through the majority of the course, at the finish there is lots of support. And the best part for me was when the last runner came down the home stretch, all of the volunteers were notified, and they cheered him through the finish as if he were the winner! As a late October race, the weather can be fabulous, or still hot and muggy. It was a little muggy when I ran it, but I was ready as a local. If you haven’t been to Georgetown, they’ve rebuilt the boardwalk and local businesses since the fire that ravaged the town several years ago. It’s a great little town to enjoy!

This is one of my favorite races to date despite my relatively poor showing as an eastern US flatlander. The first couple of miles on this mostly-trail race are killer as you climb up to the mesa, and part of the logging trail is somewhat difficult, but the views are just amazing! The race organizing team, the other runners, and locals were all extremely friendly and helpful, and it’s a relatively small race so you don’t get lost in the crowd. No wonder Flagstaff is rated the #19 running city in the world.

This is a small race located in a mountain valley in southwest VA. If you want an extremely beautiful course at about 3000′ elevation, this is your ticket! (Full disclosure: I now run this race every year, as we own some property in Burkes Garden.) The first mile is downhill, then there are two relatively big hills in the next 3 miles or so. After that, it is mostly rolling until the end when there is a hill coming out of a gully to the finish. It’s not an easy race, but the weather is usually good, the medals and trophies are distinctive (trophies are sheep!), and the scenery is just incredible. And it’s cheap – $40! The upside/downside (depending upon your viewpoint) is that since it’s out in the country, hotels and amenities nearby are not plentiful.

As someone who prefers smaller races, the 30K+ runner aspect had scared me from running this for several years despite being a local race. However, this race was run very efficiently, with plenty of bus locations to get you to/from Mount Pleasant (start) and downtown Charleston (finish). This is best run with friends, though! The post-race food and entertainment is great, and I highly recommend the views of Charleston from the Ravenel Bridge and through downtown. The only negative was that they had out-of-town bus drivers for the shuttles who didn’t know their way around town and sometimes got lost.