This was a 24-hour fixed time run on a 5K loop course along mountain bike trails of Croft State Park near Spartanburg, SC. I'm glad the weather cooperated enough that … MORE
This was a 24-hour fixed time run on a 5K loop course along mountain bike trails of Croft State Park near Spartanburg, SC. I’m glad the weather cooperated enough that I was able to get into the Greenville-Spartanburg airport as there was a winter storm warning this year. Fortunately, the snow stayed mostly to the northwest of the race venue, and I had no problems driving to the park. There was enough rain the day before to make the trails slippery though, which helped the run to live up to its namesake. The trails were in good shape, which is to be expected for mountain bike trails, but there was enough hills, roots, and rocks to make it interesting. Temperatures this year hovered in the mid 30s, which made for comfortable running weather (but doesn’t explain the two people I saw running without a shirt, lol). The course started heading down a steep slope to the bank of Fairforest Creek. It then crossed over a long footbridge, and then up a steep bank, followed by a continuous climb of about a mile. Along the back of the loop, the course bordered a firing range which was being used during much of the day (protected by a high berm), which made for an interesting distraction. The second half of the loop was mostly a fast, gradual downhill along the banks of the river, then back to the bridge, and up the steep bank to the start. The course was almost completely runnable, but only if you trained a lot on hills. There was only one well stocked aid station at the start/finish, but it was well supplied with the usual aid station fare, plus a wide variety of drinks, and a good selection of “real food.” Some of the food items that were available included vegetable broth, meatballs, hummus wraps, pretzels, candy, pickles, beef jerky, donuts, pizza, pb and jelly sandwiches and much more. All entrants were given a heavy duty hoodie, but there were no finisher’s medals. I completed a total of 34.1 miles, and wished that I could have stayed longer to do a few more laps. Unfortunately, I had an early flight out on Sunday morning, so it wasn’t feasible to run all night.
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Southern charm and hospitality
This was a 24-hour fixed time run on a 5K loop course along mountain bike trails of Croft State Park near Spartanburg, SC. I'm glad the weather cooperated enough that … MORE
This was a 24-hour fixed time run on a 5K loop course along mountain bike trails of Croft State Park near Spartanburg, SC. I’m glad the weather cooperated enough that I was able to get into the Greenville-Spartanburg airport as there was a winter storm warning this year. Fortunately, the snow stayed mostly to the northwest of the race venue, and I had no problems driving to the park. There was enough rain the day before to make the trails slippery though, which helped the run to live up to its namesake. The trails were in good shape, which is to be expected for mountain bike trails, but there was enough hills, roots, and rocks to make it interesting. Temperatures this year hovered in the mid 30s, which made for comfortable running weather (but doesn’t explain the two people I saw running without a shirt, lol). The course started heading down a steep slope to the bank of Fairforest Creek. It then crossed over a long footbridge, and then up a steep bank, followed by a continuous climb of about a mile. Along the back of the loop, the course bordered a firing range which was being used during much of the day (protected by a high berm), which made for an interesting distraction. The second half of the loop was mostly a fast, gradual downhill along the banks of the river, then back to the bridge, and up the steep bank to the start. The course was almost completely runnable, but only if you trained a lot on hills. There was only one well stocked aid station at the start/finish, but it was well supplied with the usual aid station fare, plus a wide variety of drinks, and a good selection of “real food.” Some of the food items that were available included vegetable broth, meatballs, hummus wraps, pretzels, candy, pickles, beef jerky, donuts, pizza, pb and jelly sandwiches and much more. All entrants were given a heavy duty hoodie, but there were no finisher’s medals. I completed a total of 34.1 miles, and wished that I could have stayed longer to do a few more laps. Unfortunately, I had an early flight out on Sunday morning, so it wasn’t feasible to run all night.