Kris Erskine's Staging Area

This race was surprisingly nice! Although I’ve lived in WNC and Eastern TN for most of my life I don’t recall spending any time in Johnson City, TN. It’s a cute town and worth finding a place to eat at after the race. The race was organized well, parking was plentiful and close to the start line, and the course was very nice. The only part of the course I didn’t care for was maybe a mile or two along a divided four-lane, but the rest of the course was through nice old neighborhoods with folks sitting out on their porches cheering runners on, through the ETSU campus, and through the downtown area. A charming course in a charming town. It was a three hour drive for me but I’d definitely do this one again.

The post-race food came from Publix. It wasn’t fancy… basically your typical post-race snacks, and the aid stations had water and Powerade. Certainly adequate, with plenty of volunteers.

We drove in from Chattanooga so I’m not sure what the hotel situation is like near the start line but the course starts right downtown and so I’m certain there would be a few options within easy walking distance.

I’m from Asheville. Born there, but moved away when I got married at 26. I still have family that live here and visit regularly, BUT I generally do NOT go downtown. The city has become overcrowded and overpriced in the last 30 years, unfortunately. I was visiting family and friends in AVL over this weekend and decided to run this race. I’m glad I did!

Although I generally avoid races that require you to come into town the day before the race for an early packet pickup, or that require you to pay extra for race day packet pickup, I was already coming to town so I went ahead and registered. The packet pickup location is at a brewery and the festival there for pickup was maybe the best race festival I’ve seen anywhere (and that’s over more than 100 races). It was really a cool thing going on at packet pickup at the Highland Brewery.

The race itself was also great. Parking was easy and I think I walked less than a block from where I parked to the start line. That’s unusual for an urban race in a town this size. Asheville is a beautiful small city. I love my city, but I’m biased. But this was a big race and I talked to a few people from out of town who came to town for the race and who loved AVL as well.

Because I spent 26 years in this town I didn’t expect to be awed by the course. But I’m telling you that Asheville put its best foot forward with this race. Parking was easy, plenty of toilets, a super pretty course through town, the river, and nice neighborhoods, and then a finish back into the downtown.

To the race organizers, I’d change two things. First, have the finish come in flat or down hill. That last two blocks running up hill through the finish line was not fun or appreciated. Second, and this is a bigger complaint, I saw two things to drink at the finish line… water handed to the runners as they crossed the finish line, and beer in the finish festival area. No sports drink? Not even a water table in the finish festival area??? And runners like to drink, but a lot of runners don’t drink at all… tell the breweries to bring NA beer, or get some Athletic Brewing Company NA brews. And if you add an actual meal, this would be one of my top 5 races. That is literally the only thing missing to make this a serious contender for a top 50 road race in the country. Despite the lack of a meal, or sports drink, this is a race that I’ll be doing again next year. Worth coming from out of town for the race and a visit to AVL.

This is a great park for locals like me and I train here on a regular basis. I probably would not run this race if I wasn’t local though. The trails are only okay, there are no views, no water crossings or water at all, and plenty of hills. I’ve run this race three times I think, but only because it’s only ten minutes from my house.

With that said, if you are not local and haven’t been to Chattanooga, it’s worth a weekend to come do the race if you were already wanting to come to the area for a visit. It’s not a bad race at all, and the race org is fine… they check all the required boxes and not really any of the extra boxes. There are only a few aid stations and the food at the end is basically just bananas and granola bars. That’s not a complaint, really, but these days that’s a below average post-race snack menu for as expensive as races are these days.

Parking is fine and there are port-a-potties at the start (and you loop back to the start where you do a second loop on a different trail, so you see them twice in the half marathon). I wish they would do a road race in this park but the race org is called Wild Trails, not Wild Roads, so I doubt that’s likely from this group. 🙂

First the pros.
– Really easy parking and packet pickup.

– The absolute best aid station I’ve been to. Ever. In 100+ races. It wasn’t the food that made this aid station great… the food was average. But the guys running the aid station dressed as prisoners – orange pants and a white tank top – and were absolutely excited when I rounded the corner by myself, but well below 50%th percentile in the race. They screamed, shouted, whooped, cussed a little, and did ALL of my water bottle filling for me and then whooped and hollered as I headed on down the course.

– The waterfall and creek crossings. Really pretty, and unexpected. It was nice to stop and wash the poison ivy off of my legs and then drench myself in the water.

The cons:
– The course was brutal. Brutal ups. Brutal downs. And it was very technical. I did the 18 miler and I think maybe only 6 miles was flat’ish and not super technical. It was a lot like what you’d expect to find at a Spartan race.

The average:
– The swag. No metal, which is fine by me, but it’s not the norm.

– The post-race food was not what I expected it would be. My impression was that there would be some great post-race food. Unless I missed something there was just a lot of post-race snacks and drinks, the same stuff they had at the aid station. They did have some cake at the finish line.

– The post-race beer. First, bring some local craft beer. Second, get some non-alcoholic beer for those of us who don’t drink.

Overall, I’m glad I did this race but I wouldn’t do it again. If they could plot a course that had more good views and less brutal ups and downs then it would be good. I don’t mind the ups and downs but that is a lot of effort to really have the only payoff be a single pretty waterfall. Much of the rest of the time it is like you are running through a green tunnel that feels like it’s closing in on you. I heard repeat runners talking about this course, that they liked it, and so some will really like this sort of race. Run your own race, they say.

Even if you do want to do this race it’s not really a destination or bucket list race. I drove 3 hours to get to it. If you are driving to the race the night before, the hotels are very close by. The park is easy to get to. Parking is simple. There were indoor flush toilets close to the start line. This was not a bad race, just not a great race.

This was my first 30k and I chose this race because it would be an easy entry into the 30k distance. It was along a gravel road and was almost completely a gentle downhill grade. The host town was St. Regis and the highlight of this town was the Travel Center at the gas station. I don’t like touristy stuff but the Travel Center was pretty cool. And get a mulberry shake!

The course was okay. Although it was down, and it was a pleasant course to run with regards to scenery, it felt more technical than a gravel road should feel. It was a shuttle ride to the top of the course and that was easy enough. And there were plenty of aid stations, and I believe there were toilets at all, or almost all, aid stations. The post-race food was great and the best post-race food I’ve had in a while. But… please start offering food that vegetarians can eat. After all, part of our race fee is going toward the post-race meal. And those veggie meats are where we are going to get protein replacement… that’s not coming from fruit salad or cole slaw. I don’t think I’ve been to more than one or two races, out of more than 100, where post-race food had anything for plant-based eaters. A minor complaint though and this was a decent race and if I were in that area next time the race was held I’d likely run it again. But it’s not a destination race or a bucket list race. Still it was a fun race and I am glad I did it.

The draw for this race is where it is held, as in the nearby towns and Sun Moon Lake. The course was okay, nothing special. A good course, but not a destination course except that it is near a very pretty part of Taiwan.

The SWAG was endless. All sorts of things in the goodie bag, including a frozen chicken filet (in another TW race the SWAG bag included a bag of rice). The toilet situation was good. If you do this race you’ll likely want to take a taxi from your hotel. As I recall the parking wasn’t good and that’s why I and two other racers at my hotel got a taxi. And we all took a taxi back as well.

Overall this was a good race. I was in Taipei at the time and I’m glad I took the train / bus down to Nantou for this race but it’s not a destination race and so I’d not likely do it again, unless already in the area.

I enjoy these races because of the friendly people, and the race organizers. The courses aren’t especially pretty, but they are usually in a state park. There is one port-a-potty and one aid station. The aid station is stocked with more food than you can possibly eat. I had to discipline myself to not eat too much each time around! You loop around and you see the same people and wave. It’s unlike any other race or race series I’ve done before.

I enjoy these races because of the friendly people, and the race organizers. The courses aren’t especially pretty, but they are usually in a state park. There is one port-a-potty and one aid station. The aid station is stocked with more food than you can possibly eat. I had to discipline myself to not eat too much each time around! You loop around and you see the same people and wave. It’s unlike any other race or race series I’ve done before.

I had a nose cautery on my nose three days before this race and so I walked it. The course was easy, the scenery along the ocean (for part of the way) was nice, and the post-race food was decent. At this time of the year there weren’t that many people in AC and so it was easy to find affordable accommodation near the start line. I do not appreciate needing to pay extra to pick up the packet on the day of the race, or to arrive a day early to pick up on site. This feels like a money grab to me and I generally don’t register for that type of race.

There were port-a-poddies at most of the aid stations, as I recall. I did not drive so I don’t know about parking. Overall, a decent run. It would be nice if it was in a different city though. AC is not a great place to hang out and wander around in. I was told by multiple people not to wander off of the boardwalk after dark. I didn’t want to anyway due to my nose cautery. I walked the entire race with gauze hanging out of my nose. 🙂

Either I ran past the Alamo and didn’t see it, or we didn’t run by it. I think the latter. After the race I walked to the Alamo and there was construction in front of the building so I think we didn’t actually run by it. Understandable and I suppose the road works will be done by 2024.

This race is worth it for San Antonio (and the Riverwalk) and for the Alamo itself. Otherwise this would not be a race I’d have wanted to do. With that said, production was great, the post-race food was awesome, volunteers, aid stations, port-a-potty location, everything… the production was very good. Most races this size have good production but this was better than most others I’ve done.

The course itself was okay. The first several miles were through downtown areas that were really a joy to run through. There were a few middle miles that were on busier roads and the scenery was nothing special. The last few miles were nice. I’d probably do this race again if I lived within a few hours drive but I wouldn’t fly out to TX from TN to do it again, as I did this time. It was probably just below a bucket list race for me and I’m glad I did it, but in retrospect it probably didn’t deserve the “near bucket list” status.

You’ll do this race because of the finish line in a great small city and because you expect to have a good time. The scenery is nothing special, but isn’t anything to complain about either. The first four miles are rolling along a road and sidewalk and the next nine miles are along a paved greenway. This has everything you could want in a race: easy packet pickup, port-a-potties at start and aid stations, plenty of aid stations, great post-race support, and the typical medal and t-shirt at finish.

The only two things that would make this race better are both possibly beyond expectation. The first is to have the packet pickup at the high school where everyone parks. That would avoid the 4-lane hwy crossing by 2,000 runners and it would provide an indoor place to wait, particularly in case of bad weather, which we narrowly avoided this year. It would also mean a lot less walking to packet pickup. Traffic up here for an hour before the race is jammed. Plan to arrive earlier than you think you need to arrive, just to get through traffic and parked. Heaviest traffic I’ve seen for a race, even for much larger races.

The second thing is to drop the cap of runners. 1,850 for the half was a bit crowded, although I’ve certainly run races that were more crowded, so that’s a minor issue, imo.

Another reviewer mentioned bag pickup. I didn’t use this so I have no observation. I also didn’t notice the food shortage, although that could have been after I finished.

If you are a runner who clocks a sub-9 minute mile but who doesn’t typically care where you start, or who likes to start in the back of the field, this is one race where you may want to reconsider. I’ve done that in previous years at this race and it’s not easy working your way up once the trail narrows down to a greenway after mile 4. I started near the pacer whose time I expected to match and things moved pretty much my preferred speed after the first quarter mile or so. So if you start with your pacer time then you should be fine.

I drove four hours to get to this race and this is my third time. And I’ll probably be back. It’s a really nice race and a great weekend destination. This is one that the non-runner wife is happy to return to each year.

This course had the best volunteers of any race I’ve ever done, in probably 75 races. They were super helpful, asked what we needed when we got to the aid station, helped fill bottles, etc. The aid stations were stocked. Plenty of junk food, sports drink (not diluted with water), water, bacon, quesadillas, and even Coke. Hands down the best aid stations and the best volunteers. Full stop. Weirdly, this is in contrast to the race I did last week that was put on by the same company. That race had great aid stations but zero volunteers. Zero. On the entire course, and I and others got lost due to one turn that had unclear trail markings, apparently. That was Frozen Falls. But this Eagle Ridge race was great, in that regard.

The start/finish line was close to the state park lodge and it’s a great lodge with an amazing view over the lake from the top of the mountain. Indoor bathrooms, a fire in the huge fireplace, plenty of space for runners to sit and relax before walking out to the start line 50m away. Parking was aplenty and located between the lodge entrance and the start line.

The course scenery was ho-hum. There were a few middle miles that ran along the lake and were quite nice. There were other miles that were super technical and it was basically walking. There as maybe a half a mile somewhere in there that was through a boulder or rock field and without markers everyone would have gotten lost as the trail itself wasn’t obvious. But the trail was marked really well and you know to keep the hanging orange ribbons to your right. At the end of the few miles on the lake you take a hard left and immediately start a climb up a very steep gravel road. I mean *very* steep. It was maybe three-quarters of a mile to a mile long but no one I could see in front or behind me was running. It was all I could do to walk fast without stopping. This was maybe around mile 10 (for the half marathoners) and so you are already tired. Once you reach the top you take a left and head down a trail again, hit an aid station and then run the last mile or two to the finish line. I was so beat by that time, and tired from the climb, I ate and drank too much (M&M, quesadilla, Coke, and sports drink). I know better! But that made the last mile or two slower and less pleasant with that sloshing around in my tummy. Not a smart move, but man, I was feeling a bit hungry!

This was a hard course. Maybe the hardest I’ve done. And the payoff in scenery was not a solid ROI for the output of effort. I’m glad I did this race, but for this reason I don’t think I’d do this course again. If I did do the race again I would take the wife to the lodge for the weekend and would run the race because of the aid stations and volunteer support. I recommend this race, at least once. But it’s not an easy course. And it is short of 13 miles. My GPS said 11.54, but I typically end up with a mile short on trail runs (Garmin Fenix 5). Not sure why, but whatever. But the trail organizers did indicate that the race was somewhere in the 12+ mile range. So if you are a purist looking for a certified course this probably wouldn’t be it.

The finish line was typical. They had chili and chicken noodle soup. I am generally a plant-based eater and always a vegetarian. Plant-based options are probably a bit much to ask for but it would be nice to see more races offer vegetarian options for post race food, other than the Saltine crackers I munched on at the end of this race. No complaints though. Most races don’t have soup at all and this was a solid race in terms of food, across the board.

This was a well-organized course. My hometown is Asheville and I wanted to go back to visit family, and so I stayed outside of town. But there is at least one hotel, maybe two, within easy walking distance of the start line. The parking was about a ten minute walk from the start but it was mapped out on the website clearly and so no issues parking.

The weather was cold, which is expected in January in WNC, but the staging area pre-start is at a school and it was nice, for a change, to be able to hang out in the warmth until a moment or two before the race started.

The course was pretty once it got to the river, and along River Rd., and you go by the old Asheville Speedway, and to the end of the riverwalk, then back. I’d do this course again, but only if I were in town visiting family over that weekend. It’s a good race, certainly worth doing, but maybe not one you’ll drive very far to get to unless you just want to visit AVL or were going to be there anyway.

Plenty of toilets along the route, aid stations were great, and the hot chocolate at the end was also nice. And good. Not cheap powder. But I’m puzzled why the French Broad Chocolate Co. would sponsor this race and provide the hot chocolate but serve it to runners in white (what looked like) hospital pill/med cups. Seems like a whole lot of free advertising to serve cups that are a bit larger – maybe espresso cups? – and marked with the FBHC Co. name. Not a gripe, just an observation.

Nothing negative about this race. Absolutely do it if you are local or regional and looking for a nice urban course and don’t mind the cold. I think it was 29 degrees when we started. 34 or 35 when we finished. Then head over to The Hole Donut Company about 1.5 miles away for some fresh handmade donuts. Top five donuts I’ve ever eaten.

I don’t know why this race doesn’t have more participation. Actually, it’s probably because there isn’t a great website for this race and you can’t register until just a couple of months prior to the race. I was worried it was going to be a flop. But it wasn’t…

This was one fun race! The course is through a lot of older neighborhoods and it is completely flat. The only complaint I would have about the course is that some of the roads were in desperate need of repair and there were a few places where I felt like I was on a trail run. But that’s a minor ding to an otherwise really wonderful race.

The race venue was downtown Mobile, where there are plenty of hotels to stay within easy walking distance to the start and finish line (not the same place), and Dauphin St. has plenty of great restaurants. Roosters, Mo’ Bay Beignets, Spot of Tea, Ruby Slippers, and more. Not a lot for plant-based eaters, but we did find options that would fit our diet.

There were porta-johns, the aid stations were aplenty – including one stop with kids handing out donut holes, and the spectators were better than most races. A lot of folks came out from their houses to wave and cheer, even the course volunteers did some cheering.

The post-race gala had a jazz band, ice cream, beer, the typical post-race food, and breakfast catered by a local restaurant. The one request I’d make of this race, and all of them, is to include some sort of plant-based protein for plant-based eaters. Find a restaurant that will do that sort of thing. A lot of runners are vegetarian or plant-based. Include chocolate milk, and soy milk. But these are requests, not complaints.

I live six hours away and won’t be driving down for this race again, but if I were within an hour or two of Mobile I’d absolutely do this race again. Worth it!

I’ve never been a race or event organizer. I’m sure it’s a heck of an undertaking, especially a race like this where you have a few thousand runners across multiple races of different distances. This race was superbly organized, any comment about this race must be prefaced by giving credit where credit is due.

Parking. There is ample parking all around the VBC, although it was either a $5 or $10 to park. More on that later. You should have no issue parking in one of the multiple lots that surround the venue.

The event location. The Von Braun Center is a great location for a race. There are multiple bathrooms, there is plenty of room to host thousands of runners as they wait for the race to start, and if the December weather is cold, it’s nice being indoors. The Back Half course is a point-to-point race and you have to shuttle to the start line. Park at the VBC since you’ll finish here. I did not have to wait at all for the shuttle up to Univ of AL at Huntsville (UAH) and once at UAH there is an indoor student union building, or something like that, where the 800 runners can wait, use the bathroom, sit and relax, or hang outside and stretch. Kudos to the organizers for both the use of VBC and UAH for start locations. Over the 55+ half marathons I’ve run, I’ve never seen one that has such runner friendly or indoor start lines. Even the finish line at this race is inside the VBC. At the finish the volunteers handed out the medals and an emergency blanket. Most winters that would be useful. In 2022 the weather was probably in the mid-50s at finish, so most probably didn’t need them, but many took them anyway.

The course. The course is decent (I did the Back Half Marathon) and it was rolling but a net downhill, and it’s a fast course. You run through the Paul Marshall Space Center and it is here that you see runners, including me, stop to take a few pictures. That was the highlight of the course. It didn’t run through any attractive downtown space, nor was it particularly scenic otherwise. And although rolling, it was basically a downhill course. Very fast course, actually.

The aid stations. There were more aid stations on this course than I’ve ever seen on a course. They had Powerade and water at all stations. They had Gu gel at most stations, and one station had chips and M&Ms.

The post-race food. This was great. I’d like to see something other than pizza, or pizza that is vegan friendly, but pizza was only one of the several options. They had chocolate milk (but no soy chocolate milk), soda, water, bagels, oranges, bananas, PBJ sandwiches, pizza, and a few other things. Top 5 for post race food in the races I’ve done. I’m sure offering a beer ticket would please many, although I’d like to see Athletic Brewing Company set up a non-alcoholic beer table. Overall, the food was great.

The bad? Not much, to be honest. The volunteers were super. The race organizer answered my facebook message about shuttle service (they sent an email, but apparently some runners never received it) within a few hours, and there was just so much to like. The one complaint I have is cost. I get that races are expensive. I know it takes a lot to put on a good race, but the race registration was $95, which is on the high end for races in this region. Then runners had to pay an additional $20 to do race-day packet pickup. Then it was $10 to park. I can deal with the parking and the race fee, but same-day packet pickup is a money grab, imo. For that reason it’s unlikely that I’ll do this race again. But if you don’t mind the extra $20 then you should absolutely do this race. It’s not a bucket list race, but if you live in within a couple of hours drive, it’s worth the drive.

So I registered for this course because of the Christmas-y website and description. I’d have Christmas cookies at the aid stations and everyone would be dressed like Santa, or so I thought. The course was decent and was along a greenway the entire time, which was nice. I think this course would be nice for a spring or fall race since it is tree-lined much of the time. It was a bit more out-and-back, and then out-and-back again than I’d have preferred. Sort of like a Y-shaped course, where you start at the bottom of the Y, then run the left side of the Y, then back to the down, and then up the right side of the Y, then down again, and then back up the left side of the Y again, then finally back to the the bottom of the Y. A minor complaint, tbh. It seems the course is this way because they simply ran out of greenway at the top end of the Y segments.

The volunteers and race organizers were also friendly and helpful, which has always been my experience at the races I’ve done. When it’s 30 degrees outside and you stand there behind a table for two or three hours to hand out water or gel, you deserve a “thanks” from the runners.

The Santa hat and tech sweatshirt were also fun. Loved seeing everyone wearing the red shirt and Santa hat.

But… I would not run this race again. This is a Christmas race and is advertised as having Christmas cookies. But there were not actually any Christmas cookies. There were multiple aid stations, but only the first two had anything sweet to eat. The first station had packaged cookies. Oreos, Famous Amos, that sort of thing. The second station had M&Ms, Snickers, and other similar candy. Maybe bring in Little Debbie holiday cakes? They are more moist and I won’t choke on the crumbs. All other aid stations had only water, or water and sports drink, and I think a few had gel. My beef is, if you advertise Christmas cookies, then perhaps put actual Christmas cookies at the aid stations. The finish line food was water and more of the packaged cookies. There were bananas and trail mix as well, but no hot chocolate, or candy canes? Hey, it might be a minor thing, but these days with so many half marathons if you want to stand out as a race better than the rest, then do what it takes to stand out. And also, advertise the race accurately. I think this race has a lot of potential, and it already has a good course and great volunteers, but it does need to up its game a bit so that the actual race matches the advertising. Or keep the same race and change the way it’s advertised.

Parking was ample, and easy, and very close to the start line. There were port-a-poddies at the start line, and packet pickup was easy. This was a small race… maybe only 300 people running all distances? Anyway, there is lots to like here, but in future years please bring out the cookies and hot chocolate, or cider, or coffee, or candy canes! 🙂

I’ve run more than 50 half marathons and I don’t often give a negative review. But this is perhaps the worst race I have run, and it is solely because of a) the course, and b) how the race is marketed on their website. From the website:

“The half marathon route starts at the scenic Melton Lake Park peninsula. Considered a great PR course! Course runs along the beautiful Melton Lake then down by an operational quarry for a change of scenery. Continue along a serene tree-lined private road then wind through Oak Ridge. Finish your race along the water’s edge right back to the peninsula.”

I registered for this race after reading this description. I knew I wouldn’t PR because I’m not in PR running condition at the moment, but was looking forward to at least an easy and scenic course, and it was only 90 minutes drive from where I live, so not a terrible drive.

It wasn’t fast. It’s a slow course. The only people who will PR on this course are those whose first race is this race. There is no way people are getting a PR here. Here is some context: Of my 30 half marathons this year, 10 of them have been sub-two hour times. My best time this year was 1:50. My worst time this year was on a trail and I finished at 2:40. Across 30 races I have averaged 2:08, and that includes a handful of slow trail races. My time for the Secret City race was 2:09. Not a PR course. Nineteen minutes slower than my PR from earlier this year. It’s got a couple of lengthy hills, one of which is about three-quarters of a mile.

It’s not scenic. Like… except for the first two miles and the last half mile. The course itself was promising for the first couple of miles, but then turned onto a separated four lane highway, and it continued on busy roads until maybe the last half mile to mile. While the police presence was pretty good in most places, the orange cones keeping the speeding cars from hitting the runners were spaced at probably a quarter mile apart in some places. At one point on the four lane highway I crossed an exit ramp and there was no cone and no police to slow or stop traffic. The runners just had to turn around and make sure no speeding cars were going to run us down while taking the exit ramp.

I would absolutely not recommend running this race. If the entire course could be like the first few miles and the last half mile it would be great. But as is it is both unsafe and not a fast course. It is not an enjoyable course. Unless you are local and just absolutely must get a race out of the way, then look elsewhere.

The race organization itself, at the start/finish, was fine. Easy packet pickup, port-a-potties, water and snacks at the finish line, pint glasses with the swag (if you pay extra), and all the standard things. It was the course that was the problem, the rest of the race production was up to snuff.

I love the races this race company puts on. They are local, or at least have a lot of local races. But the races are also low production and very small. This was a race weekend and all meals from Friday evening through Sunday morning were included in the race fee.

The course was pretty but the leaves on the ground made it hard to see the roots and rocks and I tripped and fell hard three times. Not the fault of the race organizers, just be aware of the hazards of this fall trail race.

I’m local to Chattanooga so it’s only a 20 minute drive for me to the race. If I lived more than an hour away I probably wouldn’t drive to this race. But it’s def a great race for locals who want a relaxed race. Oh, and the single aid station – which you pass with each loop – is probably the best aid station you’ve ever seen at a race.