I enjoyed this race! It’s small and doesn’t have a lot of course support by way of cheering crowds - fine by me, but if you’re looking for a large, … MORE
I enjoyed this race! It’s small and doesn’t have a lot of course support by way of cheering crowds – fine by me, but if you’re looking for a large, boisterous affair, this isn’t your race. The course goes through the downtown, plus many miles of forest and quiet roads (all paved). Don’t take the “rolling hills” lightly, though — they were all along the course, so be sure to prep! The packet pickup was fine – the race swag isn’t particularly exciting (just a t-shirt and eventual medal) and there wasn’t an expo. But the Olde Mistick Village, where pickup happened, was nice to wander around.
Overall, fun and relatively fast, plus the town of Mystic really provides a cute weekend getaway.
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Mystic-al!
I enjoyed this race! It’s small and doesn’t have a lot of course support by way of cheering crowds - fine by me, but if you’re looking for a large, … MORE
I enjoyed this race! It’s small and doesn’t have a lot of course support by way of cheering crowds – fine by me, but if you’re looking for a large, boisterous affair, this isn’t your race. The course goes through the downtown, plus many miles of forest and quiet roads (all paved). Don’t take the “rolling hills” lightly, though — they were all along the course, so be sure to prep! The packet pickup was fine – the race swag isn’t particularly exciting (just a t-shirt and eventual medal) and there wasn’t an expo. But the Olde Mistick Village, where pickup happened, was nice to wander around.
Overall, fun and relatively fast, plus the town of Mystic really provides a cute weekend getaway.
Scenic Half in CT
HMF Events always puts on a solid race event. Mystic was no different. Plenty of port-o-potties, solid race support throughout, well organized, and I never felt like I was lost … MORE
HMF Events always puts on a solid race event. Mystic was no different. Plenty of port-o-potties, solid race support throughout, well organized, and I never felt like I was lost (back of the pack runner here). This course was nice and scenic along the CT coast in the quaint New England town of Mystic. Nice shirts and medals, good post race beer and food. Bag check if you need it.
The area is nice
Mystic itself is cute, everything is pretty convenient. The race itself was one I wouldn't run again. If you need a race with lots of people out on the course … MORE
Mystic itself is cute, everything is pretty convenient. The race itself was one I wouldn’t run again. If you need a race with lots of people out on the course to cheer you on, this isn’t the race for you.
Bib pickup, at least for me, was at the old Mystic Village, which is a small collection of stores located next to the aquarium. It was pretty simple, and pretty fast as long as the volunteers aren’t ignoring you and having their own conversation. The shirt pickup is in a different part of Mystic Village, there’s a single sign to point directions, and after that you have to know where to go, because there’s no one to give you directions and no additional signage. I had to ask another runner who already had a shirt, and had several other runners asking me when they saw I had my shirt. There isn’t a expo, but the running store Kelley’s Pace in the village has really great and helpful staff. The store is small, but worth the visit.
The race start is a mess. Or at least it was this year. The 10k and the half start together, with no division of runners. So it was a blob start with some runners lined up down the straight part of the road, and others coming up from the village. This created a traffic jam.
Make sure to use the restroom before you leave where ever you’re staying. There were 4 (?) porter johns at the start, and 1 or 2 every 3 or more miles along the race route.
Water along the route was about every 2 miles, and at the water stops they also had NUUN, which was a great change from Gatorade which I normally find on courses. There were time clocks at every miler marker.
The first 6 miles are gently rolling, after the 10k splits off to finish the half goes up a large hill, after which it’s both rolling and large hills for the remainder of the course. The scenery of the course is fairly attractive. You start just outside of Old Mystic Village, and end in front of the aquarium, making the course a loop. To start you run down the main street of Mystic and over their drawbridge. You go around the water, where there’s a nice breeze. After that isn’t a mix of back roads, and roads with houses.
The end of the race is in front of the Mystic Aquarium itself.