The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama Montgomery Half Marathon course will take runners through the heart of the capital city of Alabama. The route unfolds through several of the city’s historic sites and districts, and brings runners past the state capitol building in the home stretch. The FIRST …
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The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama Montgomery Half Marathon course will take runners through the heart of the capital city of Alabama. The route unfolds through several of the city’s historic sites and districts, and brings runners past the state capitol building in the home stretch.
The FIRST two miles are uphill. So, be patient and don’t go all out here. Enjoy the sunrise, relax and let the ghost of Hank Williams Sr.’s tunes bring you pass The Oakwood Cemetery. Around mile 3, you will fInd yourself surrounded by massive oak trees in Montgomery’s oldest park, Oak Park. You will run over I85 and find yourself running faster as the Alabama State Marching Hornets provide some on course motivation at mile 5. Miles 6-9 will have you going through Huntingdon College and one of Montgomery’s beautiful neighborhoods, Old Cloverdale. Did you save enough energy to get you up Perry Street? Don’t burn all your matches as you make your way up this hill at mile 10. You will cross back over I85 and cruise through downtown Montgomery. Hold on as you find yourself flying down Dexter Avenue in front of the Alabama State Capitol. If you have enough left in the tank, you should burn it all in this last mile. Finish strong and run through the outfield at Riverwalk Stadium.
The 5K also starts in front of The Alley’s water tower in downtown Montgomery. The first mile is uphill. Hang a couple of right turns and hold on as you find yourself flying down Dexter Avenue in front of the Alabama State Capitol. Once you reach Court Square Fountain, give us that last mile kick. Finish strong and run through the outfield at Riverwalk Stadium.
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Rolling hills, nice neighborhoods
Well organized, with a pleasant course through nice neighborhoods, as well as going past the state capitol towards the end. Great hot breakfast served at the finish (inside the local … MORE
Well organized, with a pleasant course through nice neighborhoods, as well as going past the state capitol towards the end. Great hot breakfast served at the finish (inside the local minor league ballpark, home of the Montgomery Biscuits. So, yes, they served biscuits). Not a whole lot of crowd support, but not complaining.
Hills galore!
This was a nice race! the weather held out and the temperature was great for this time of year. The course through historical Montgomery was nice and running by the … MORE
This was a nice race! the weather held out and the temperature was great for this time of year. The course through historical Montgomery was nice and running by the Capital building was also really cool. THE HILLS were brutal!! but overall it was a great race.
13.1 doesn't always mean 13.1
I live in the west where mountain running requires you to understand tangents so you aren't running farther than necessary. This race was dead on every mile marker UNTIL mile … MORE
I live in the west where mountain running requires you to understand tangents so you aren’t running farther than necessary. This race was dead on every mile marker UNTIL mile 8 when suddenly, everyone’s GPS was reading 8.3 or more. Same thing at 9, 10, 11, 12 and then then finish 13.47 for me. Seriously, WTH? Packet pick up was easy to get to and navigate. You got a nice water bottle and shirt, there was supposed to be a beach towel but they had supply chain issues. I stayed at the Renaissance downtown because of it’s location, only a couple of blocks from the start/finish. DO NOT waste your money on this. Hella expensive, super noisy (aka NO sleep at all because of people in the halls all night, trains blowing their whistles, car alarms, totally ridiculous). Important note if you run for time, this is a gun time start, chip finish. This sucks because people don’t know how to self seed and you end up stuck behind people from the minute the gun goes off. There were a fair number of water stops and lots of course marshalls to keep you safe. It’s run on the roads of Montgomery which hare variable in terms of quality which means lots of potential for a twisted ankle. It’s March in the south so the weather can be touch and go but it was fabulous this year, crisp, cool and without terrible humidity. You finish in the outfield of the baseball stadium. The medal was ok, the post race food was over the top good–biscuits, grits, real eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes and two beers (??). The food really was nice. What wasn’t nice was finishing a race just before 9 and them not doing AG awards until 10:45. The awards were final but OMG. First off, no one stays that long unless you win and secondly, most hotels require check out before you could possibly get your award, get back and shower, and not all hotels will do late check out. Overall, did it because i was here for another reason and always looking for new states on my second quest but not sure I can recommend
Great local run
not a bad run around the capital. Swag is great. support is good. finishing at the stadium is cool. after party is fun. weather can always be iffy in south … MORE
not a bad run around the capital. Swag is great. support is good. finishing at the stadium is cool. after party is fun. weather can always be iffy in south Alabama.
Well organized event.
I ran this race 10 years ago for my first half marathon. (back then it was called the Hyundai Half and it was in October). This year was branded as … MORE
I ran this race 10 years ago for my first half marathon. (back then it was called the Hyundai Half and it was in October). This year was branded as their 10th anniversary. ((I’ve been trying to locate results from the first year, but no one seems to know either who was in charge then or who would have the results.))
This year, I ran as a pacer for Beast pacing.
I drove over the morning of and parked in the stadium garage. For a race this size, there should be race day packet pickup. Luckily, some of the other pacers were able to pick up bibs for those who drove in the morning of.
The course was well marked and members of the Air Force were spread along the course directing traffic and marshalling. Aid stations were well stocked and spread out evenly.
The race finished inside the baseball park on the outfield. There was plenty of food, drinks and aid in the park.
BOTTOM LINE: Well organized event. Not to big. I would definitely do it again.
Challenging course
Most of the race seemed uphill. Nice small local half marathon. The race was in residential areas and downtown. Nice ending in the Riverfront Stadium. MORE
Most of the race seemed uphill. Nice small local half marathon. The race was in residential areas and downtown. Nice ending in the Riverfront Stadium.