Sizzling Soles Half Marathon
Cary, NC
- Half Marathon, 10K, 5K
- Road (Paved), Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
Fit & Able is proud to introduce the Sizzling Soles Half-marathon at Mills School Park! If you’re looking for a low-key race to keep you active over the summer, give you a goal to train for, and get you ready for the fall race season this is the race for … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Jul 11):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 92 | 91 | 90 | 92 | 83 |
| L (°F) | 73 | 73 | 73 | 68 | 64 |
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
Poorly Organized, RD Unresponsive
I would not recommend this race. The organization was atrocious and it is hard to know where to start. Parking was confusing, there were plenty of spots near the course … MORE
I would not recommend this race. The organization was atrocious and it is hard to know where to start. Parking was confusing, there were plenty of spots near the course but no signs/volunteers to let you know you are in right place if you arrive early. No signs leading to the tent to pick up my bib, just had to wander around until I found it.
Before the race started, a lady with a seemingly broken microphone comes through and tells the half-marathoners to line up on the track where the race begins. Luckily I was near her when she started talking otherwise I wouldn’t have heard her. So we line up and get a long speech about how our watches/phones might tell us the distance is incorrect but to rest assured that it actually is… by the end of the race my Garmin said I had run 13.91 miles. I don’t mind running a little more, but it does bother me that my finishing pace is slower than what I believe I ran.
So we get on the track and they let us go one by one so that they don’t let ~400 people onto the Greenways at once, makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is that this race format was not outlined on the website, it was a complete surprise. When I initially signed up, the race started at 8am. Then it changed to a staggered 7am start time without clarification that the stagger meant only one runner would be let onto the course at a time and that there would be no gun time for this race. I’ve never been a part of a road race without a gun time, and not knowing this in advance hindered my ability to strategize during the race.
I start off as one of the first runners. People were hesitant to go first and now I know why – the signs on the trails are insufficient for a runner to know exactly what path to take. If nobody is in front of you, you come to forks in the trail where you just have to guess which direction to go. You can usually make an educated guess (ex. the path that leads to an apartment complex probably isn’t the right path), but it is stressful to have to guess at all.
Then comes more stress – at the turnaround point for 5K distance a race volunteer points to me and another lead runner and tells us to follow him on his bike. This was approximately 10 minutes into the race and there should not have been any 5K runners on the course according to the schedule. 1 runner followed him but I studied the course map and knew I had to go further than the 5K turnaround. So I keep going hoping I’m doing the right thing and eventually come to right turnaround point. After the race I find out that the runner who followed the volunteer on a bike was a half marathoner. He won an award for the half-marathon. I alerted the race director via email multiple times to ask if anything was done to correct this mistake, and I have yet to hear a response. It seems they don’t want to address this issue and are content to sweep it under the rug.
One positive about the race is that the Greenways are beautiful. The aid stations were mostly well organized, there was one station at mid-way/start/end point that did not have any water or Gatorade out when I arrived. Not a huge deal for me, but this race does take place during summer in Central NC and I can see how it might be a big deal for someone else.
The “swag” was pretty bad as well. You had to pay extra for a shirt, and it was a thick cotton shirt. Not something most people would wear for exercise. They did give you a choice of what medal you wanted, but the medals are the same for everyone – 5K, 6.55miles, and 13.1 milers get the same medal. They also gave a beach blanket. I ended up throwing my stuff away because honestly this a race I just want to forget.
Appropriate name
Our soles were definitely sizzling as it was quite hot for this inaugural race. The race was well organized. Runners were started one at a time, a few seconds apart, … MORE
Our soles were definitely sizzling as it was quite hot for this inaugural race. The race was well organized. Runners were started one at a time, a few seconds apart, to lessen crowding on the greenway. I thought this worked very well. The course itself started on a school track then went out to a local greenway. Half marathoners ran the full course twice with 10k runners running it once. The course was NOT USTAF certified. Finishers received a medal and a nice drawstring bag. Shirts were available for purchase.