Rhode Island has a rich history of distance running, and is fortunate to be able to celebrate that history with this beautiful, seaside course along Narragansett Bay & Bristol Harbor. Participants will be rewarded with ocean views and a fast, flat course in the beautiful, patriotic community of Bristol. Shoreline, …
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Rhode Island has a rich history of distance running, and is fortunate to be able to celebrate that history with this beautiful, seaside course along Narragansett Bay & Bristol Harbor. Participants will be rewarded with ocean views and a fast, flat course in the beautiful, patriotic community of Bristol. Shoreline, salt-air and non-stop views of Narragansett Bay and Bristol Harbor.
This 2-loop course is true Rhode Island coastline. You’ll begin near the Colt State Park Headquarters, running straight out towards and down Surprise Hill towards the water. You’ll weave through the park’s beautiful walking paths, along Narragansett Bay and Mill Gut, and then out towards the park’s main entrance. The course then joins the East Bay Bike Path, and around Mill Pond and Bristol Harbor, towards Independence Park in downtown Bristol. Just before Independence Park you’ll turn around and run along Poppasquash Road and into the Coggeshall Farm Road entrance of Colt State Park, to begin your second loop. Please note that there is a 3.5 hour limit on this course. The Colt State Park Half Marathon has a strict capacity of 500 runners to maintain a minimal impact on this beautiful Rhode Island State Park.
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Pretty, Double Loop Half
This is a half marathon that takes place in Colt State Park in Bristol, RI which is about 25 minutes outside Providence. The main reason I chose this race was … MORE
This is a half marathon that takes place in Colt State Park in Bristol, RI which is about 25 minutes outside Providence. The main reason I chose this race was it had a 3.5 hour time limit while all the half marathons this weekend that were closer to me had a 3 hour time limit. It was also the same weekend as Rhode Island Comic Con so along with a longer time limit it was a fun weekend to visit the Providence area. This is a smaller half marathon with 400-500 runners so logistics are pretty easy and there is race day packet pick-up. There was an email with all the pre race info needed. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Swansea, MA which was about 15 minutes from Colt State Park. While it is a smaller race that they described as an “old school” race there were a few production elements that were excellent. The first was there was great signage in park where to go to the parking area at the race start/finish. Packet pick-up was easy and included a solid tech shirt and the bib. I thought the corral could be a bit more organized. There were kind of two lines that merged and there were supposed to be pacers but I didn’t see them at the start though maybe I missed them because I have more thoughts on the pacers later. I stood in the mid-back as I’ve been faster lately and no longer needed the 3.5 hour time limit (though I still like the lack of stress) but this race seemed to attract a faster race field as it is the RI championship for the half marathon distance so I probably should have been further back but there was no pace signs or pacers to tell me that. Definitely not a huge deal but an area of improvement. The course is very nice through the park. It is mostly on paved trails though a few small portions are on open roads. I’m kind of glad there weren’t many back of the packers as I was doing run walk intervals and some of the paths were a bit narrow. The course is beautiful with a good mix of waterfront views and forest views with fall foliage. It is mostly flat and there weren’t really any hills just a few inclines and bumps. The hardest part is some sections had a headwind but as it was a loop it was not the entire race. It is two loops which is not my favorite format and why I marked scenery 4 sneakers instead of 5 as the second half of the race is a repeat. Race production was quite good though again it’s a bit old school and missing some of the bells and whistles at bigger races. It was impeccably well-marked. Another great production aspect was they had small flags marking the entire course. I loved this as I am always paranoid about going off course and didn’t have to worry about it. There were 3 aid stations you passed twice. While volunteers were friendly and aid stations were well stocked despite there only being ~ 20 runners behind me I do think they could be improved a bit. The main thing is the first and third just had water while the second had both gatorade and gels. I agree with the other review that I’d prefer gatorade and gels at different aid stations to mix it up. I also had very even splits but lost about a minute the 2 miles with the big aid station as I had to get all my nutrition there. Not a huge deal but a small tweak could improve the race. Another production complaint which is outside the race’s control is I don’t know what the 3 hour pacer was doing. As I said I didn’t see the 3 hour pacer in the starting corral. My goal for this race was to finish somewhere between 2:45 and 3 hours as I wanted a comfortable cushion from 3 hours but didn’t want to overexert myself and risk injury pushing myself as hard as the week before so I wanted to have a 3 hours pacer as a guide to not fall behind. I didn’t see any pacers in the beginning but suddenly at mile 3 one appeared. I’m not sure if she started late or was ahead of me in the corral on the other side but I was glad to see her so I could pass her and use her as a marker to not fall behind. However she stayed the same distance ahead of me for several miles and was going about the same pace which was ~12:30 min/mil which is around a 2:45 pace and not 3 hours. I eventually did pass her but then about 10 minutes later she passed me and told me to not worry about her as she was no going much faster than 3 hours. What? That is literally your job. I’m pretty sure pacers get a free race entry. Even if no one is in your pace group you should still run the pace you signed up for in case someone falls behind and wants to use you to pace them. I mean I get human error and pacers aren’t gonna be perfect and sometimes start off a bit faster to bank time but this was not that. Anyways after she said don’t worry about me I’m going too fast I told her I was hoping to use her as a gauge to not fall behind and she seemed surprised someone would request that and not just let her do her thing but she did stay behind me the rest of the race. Anyways I digress as this is not really the race’s fault but if you are a pacer do not do this. Everything else production wise was solid. A few areas I felt like were a bit tight with running on open roads but it was always a small portion of the course and there were enough course marshals to keep it safe. Finish line was a bit lackluster near the end of the race. I was very happy with my time and finished a bit over 2:45 which is what I was aiming for but most people already finished so the finish area was kind of quiet. No one was even handing out the medals I just grabbed mine. It was a nice wooden medal. I did overhear someone saying they were concerned they may not have been enough medals so I’m not sure if the last finishers got them. Even though this race had a 3:30 time limit it still wasn’t a great back of the pack course but it wasn’t my worst back of the pack experience in Rhode Island. The finish area was nice. There was clam chowder, huge delicious muffins, granola bars, fruit and athletic brewing company non-alcoholic beer. Overall this was solid race. I wouldn’t call it a must run but it’s a fine choice for Rhode Island and if you are a comic book fan you can pair it with a trip to Comic Con which was also fun and I got to meet Dogpool.
Beautiful scenery and great course!
By far one of our favorite Half Marathons. well run production. Gorgeous scenery. And Chowda at the finish line! Weather was perfect ! Definitely put on your list! Also one … MORE
By far one of our favorite Half Marathons. well run production. Gorgeous scenery. And Chowda at the finish line!
Weather was perfect !
Definitely put on your list! Also one of those races to repeat yearly.
Beautiful Race along the shoreline
This was my race to check off Rhode Island. It was two loops, really beautiful and weather was great. There were about 400 runners, so small but good because the … MORE
This was my race to check off Rhode Island. It was two loops, really beautiful and weather was great. There were about 400 runners, so small but good because the trails can be narrow. Volunteers were terrific! Course is just beautiful, harbors, farms, etc. Parking and packet pick-up were super easy and right near the start.
The water stops are a bit further apart than I used to, and gels/electrolytes were only available at one aid station (run by twice). It would be better if gels were at one and electrolytes were at a different one. Even considering this, I would do it again and just prepare differently.
I’d recommend this one for Rhode Island!