The Mountains to Main Street Half Marathon is a net downhill 13.1 mile run that starts in Travelers Rest, SC and finishes on the TD Stage at the Peace Center along the banks of the Reedy River in world famous downtown Greenville, SC. The route begins with two miles on …
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The Mountains to Main Street Half Marathon is a net downhill 13.1 mile run that starts in Travelers Rest, SC and finishes on the TD Stage at the Peace Center along the banks of the Reedy River in world famous downtown Greenville, SC. The route begins with two miles on surface streets around the Town of Travelers Rest before entering the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail for the next four miles. Then it is a 2 mile loop around the beautiful campus of Furman University before returning to the Swamp Rabbit Trail for the final 5 miles of downhill bliss. The run is entirely on paved surfaces and aid stations are placed approximately every 2 miles.
The Mountains to Main Street 5K starts at the Swamp Rabbit Cafe and ends on the TD Stage at the Peace Center along the banks of the Reedy River in world famous downtown Greenville, SC. The first mile of the run leaves the Swamp Rabbit Cafe on surface streets of Greenville before entering the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail for the last 2 miles which are downhill and fast. All of the course is paved and a bulk of the final 2 miles offer a rubberized running surface alongside the paved running path.
So whether you want to accomplish your first 5K or even set a PR in the Half Marathon, this is your race festival. The Mountains to Main Street Race festival has something for everyone.
The cut off time in the 5K is 1 hour. The cut off time in the Half Marathon is 4 Hours. Please make sure you can complete the race in the designated time.
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Nice race
I was looking for a mostly downhill race with nice sightseeing. I felt the race could have been organized better. The Swamp Rabbit Trail is beautiful, but after about five … MORE
I was looking for a mostly downhill race with nice sightseeing. I felt the race could have been organized better. The Swamp Rabbit Trail is beautiful, but after about five miles of the “green tunnel,” it starts to feel repetitive when your legs start getting tired. It was nice to finish downtown and see the farmers market afterward.
Great greenway race in an awesome town
Traveled out of town for this race from CLT. Pick-up was very smooth, albeit with minimal swag or "production" compared to larger races. I expected as much, given the race … MORE
Traveled out of town for this race from CLT. Pick-up was very smooth, albeit with minimal swag or “production” compared to larger races. I expected as much, given the race had about 1,500 people in the half.
This is a point-to-point race and they run shuttles between the start/finish lines. My husband drove me to the start line and picked me up at the finish, so I don’t have any feedback about that part of the experience.
PROS:
– For a small race, they had a lot of pacers, volunteers, & tons of aid stations (with water, electrolyte mixes, Gu, and porta-potties!).
– The Swamprabbit Trail is beautiful. The scenery is great and it was a fun run. From reading past reviews, it sounds like the course has changed over the years. Overall, I really enjoyed this course. It was easy to follow and beautiful.
– Super high-quality medal and t-shirt (more of a soft cotton sleep-style shirt).
– Mile markers along the way to keep you aware of where you are.
– High energy end in beautiful downtown Greenville.
– For this race, the weather was perfect. It was overcast and 76 F when we started. It rained briefly between miles 2-4, which kept it cool. I was very worried about being too hot, but I was perfectly comfortable. The rain also did not make the course slippery, in case you were wondering.
– Net downhill. Nice but not nearly as easy as expected though as there are hills at the beginning. They were tough; however, I have to say I expected them to be a LOT harder based on past reviews and the incline chart on the race website which made it look like they were going to be steep as hell. I was pleasantly surprised by mile 5 when I realized that all of the hills were behind me.
CONS:
– Limited freebies at the pick-up and post-race. They had free beer, which lots of people loved, but I don’t drink. Would have loved some chocolate milk as an option instead of just soda for those who don’t drink.
– Start was a little messy. No corrals, so you just tee up near the pacer you want to follow. The bathroom lines were LONG. We arrived at 6:20am for a 7:00am start and it took nearly 25 minutes to wait in the bathroom line. Several folks were still waiting for the bathroom after the race started. Additionally, the porta-potties were on the race path, so once the race started people who had just finished going to the bathroom and were trying to walk to the start got in everyone’s way.
– This is a very small complaint, but the first portion of the race is around the track, which is kind of lame. It’s only a 1/4 mile, if even that, so not a huge deal given how beautiful the rest of the race was.
– This was my first time running a half on a greenway and, while it was beautiful, there were moments where I felt like stopping. Because of the great tree cover (yay shade!), you couldn’t see much around the bends, and running in one straight long line made the race feel very long. Crowd support was better than expected, but realistically you only saw them at a handful of intersections. All of these factors made it a very tough race for me mentally.
– Race felt a little congested on the trail, but that also could have been because of my pace.
Overall, glad to have done this race! I love the Greenville-Spartanburg area. A fun area to make a race weekend trip. We went to a Greenville Drive game the night before the race and we got some great food after the race.
Beautiful Course
Hilly at the beginning (first 3 miles). Current map on website is outdated. Final 10 miles are on the Swamp Rabbit trail. Only negative was lack of restrooms at the … MORE
Hilly at the beginning (first 3 miles). Current map on website is outdated. Final 10 miles are on the Swamp Rabbit trail. Only negative was lack of restrooms at the start line. Definitely plan on running again!
Some hills, but good race in Greenville
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. … MORE
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.