Mountaineer 10 Miler
Boone, NC
- Double Down Challenge (4 + 10 miler), 10 Miler, 4 Miler
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Take on all the hills and thrills of Boone, NC & prepare to takeover App State at the Mountaineer 10 Miler & 4 Mile Run! All runners will receive participant shirts and finisher medals! Embark on the Double Down Challenge (DDC) adventure. Complete the 4 Miler, and then head back … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Jun 14):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 76 | 79 | 79 | 74 | 82 |
| L (°F) | 63 | 63 | 56 | 49 | 63 |
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Has a lot of potential but fell short
Let me preface by saying my overall rating was based on my personal experience as a Double Down Challenge (4 mile plus the 10 mile back to back) participant who … MORE
Let me preface by saying my overall rating was based on my personal experience as a Double Down Challenge (4 mile plus the 10 mile back to back) participant who has an average pace of longer than 7:30 minutes a mile. If you are faster and did the challenge or did the 4 or 10 mile options then you might feel different. All that said, the event wasn’t without some other pieces that I didn’t like either
The Double Down Challenge and 4 Mile events started at 7:15AM and the 10 mile started at 7:45AM. If you were able to complete the 4 mile in 30 minutes then you could start with everyone else. I am not that fast and ended up starting about 15 minutes after the initial start with maybe 10 other people. Barely having anyone else around me made it incredibly boring. There were times when you could not see another runner in front of you or behind you
What went well – It’s Boone and App State so it’s hard to go wrong there. The Greenway Trail portion of the course provided some nice scenery. The Double Down Challenge offered multiple shirts and medals for a reasonable registration fee. The post race “party” being inside the football stadium was a nice touch. Wasn’t much there to do, but was cool to be there
What could have been better – It was a small event had more than ample room for day of packet picket up. The actual pick up was at a local brewery that had a cluster of a tiny parking lot. The Double Down Challenge was basically an individual 4 mile and then you ran much of it again as part of the 10 mile which was a little boring considering how pretty so much of Boone is. The course also had several instances where you were directed to take a hard right and do a u-turn to go right back to continue on the same path as you were just headed. This was obviously just a way to get the distance up to 4 and 10 miles and felt like a lazy design. The hype guy at the starting line sucked all the energy out of the moment. 30 minutes prior to the start he would interrupt an energetic song once or twice telling people to get the the starting line “right now”. I heard no less than a dozen people making comments about how he just needed to shut up. While the swag was nice, the medals felt a little lazy too. The 4 mile and the 10 mile received the same medal with the 4 mile being slightly smaller. The combo challenge got the 4 and 10 mile medals plus a third medal. Why do I want 2 of the exact same medals? And what about the distances – who is clamoring for a 4, 10 or 14 mile distance? 5K, 10K and half marathons are popular for a reason. Do these even show up when people search and filter by standard distances?
Overall, if you are interested for either of 2 non standard distances, then I think you would have a nice time. If you desire a distance that makes no sense and you can complete it in under 8 minutes a mile for the first 4 miles then you will like it too. But there is absolutely no way I would ever do it again which is sad because I love Boone and visit a few times a year