Triple Crown Road Race
Aiken, SC
- 10 Miler, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
The Triple Crown Road Race is presented by the Aiken Running Club. Net proceeds will benefit Great Oak Equine Assisted Programs in Aiken. The 5K and 10-Mile are USATF Certified timed events. Timing service provided Strictly Running.
Local Historical Weather (Mar 06):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 82 | 58 | 71 | 78 | 80 |
| L (°F) | 62 | 41 | 58 | 46 | 57 |
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Horses and Spring Flowers
I've done this race twice now (2025 and 2026), so my review is for both years. Pre-Race: We did packet pick up the morning of both years since we drove … MORE
I’ve done this race twice now (2025 and 2026), so my review is for both years.
Pre-Race:
We did packet pick up the morning of both years since we drove in from Columbia (about an hour drive). The first year they had our shirts set aside, this year they ran out of my size and I had to get a wrong size (and be glad they still had shirts available). I know nobody wants to be left with extra shirts, but it’s so frustrating to sign up a year in advance for a race and lose my shirt to somebody who signed up after the shirt deadline. I think races handle it best when they say “come see us after the race and if there are any extras, we’ll give it to you then”.
The parking situation is a little tight – I think there must be a lot of parking behind the community center, so if you’re coming from out of town or don’t know the area, plan to get there early so you can figure out where else to park if the main lot and second lot are full. Also, stop off and use the bathroom at a gas station – they open the locker rooms for runners to use and it’s usually a super long line. And it’s in a densely packed part of town, so no ‘I’ll jog off and go in the woods’ option. I’ve had to run to the start line both years after waiting in line for the bathroom. The race actually started while my husband was in the bathroom this year – he caught up to me, but it’s not a chill way to start a ten miler.
Race:
the race itself is solid. Starts off around the community center and into a residential neighborhood. The 5K and the 10 miler start at the same time but in two different rows, but we come together like .25 miles into the race and stay together for a couple miles. So, if you’re doing the ten miler don’t get sucked into the speed from the 5Kers – I always do and wind up running a sub-9 for my first mile. Which is fine for a 5K, but too fast for my ten mile pace.
The course does run by horses and a historic horse area, but the ground shifts from asphalt to sandy/dirty/muddy. So, bring extra shoes for driving home bc that ground includes runoff from the horse paddocks and, yknow, the equivalent of running on a public bathroom floor for several miles (but for horses). It’s much softer than asphalt, so emotionally prepare for your splits to be off/having to work harder.
One water stop area that you hit twice. And a couple portajohns plus several in people’s yards (spring is ‘do work on historic homes season’). No gatorade or fuel on the course, but it’s ten miles, not a marathon.
The last mile is dumb – you run WITH both lanes of traffic open, and since it’s later in the day traffic is heavier and people don’t realize there’s a race going on. IDK if somebody didn’t show up to close the road or if they just assume we can make it from the neighborhood back to the finish line okay or what.
Last year we got a whiskey glass at the finish line, this year we got a really nice medal. The shirts are the same every year, just a different color.
This is a part of the three race challenge with Augusta Half (often the weekend before), Aiken, and Palmetto Peach Half (in November). Do all three, you get a bonus medal.
All in all, I like this race. I liked it more in 2025 bc it was cooler temps and trees/flowers were starting to bloom – it felt like a nice ‘welcome spring’ race and it was cool to see so many horses in their yards. 2026 was much warmer and that negatively impacted my mood/perception of the race.
So, if you’re in the area or within an hour drive and want to do a longer race, this is a good one. It doesn’t run through downtown or the historic parts of Aiken, but it’s a nice course to see horses. And there’s enough to do in Aiken to justify the day trip. We got brunch and hit a couple state parks after the race this year, but you could do enough in Aiken to justify the trip.