Race Reviews

Here’s a rundown on a few significant races I’ve run over the last few years. I enjoyed my experience at all of these races, so my goal here is less to tell you which ones are “good” and “bad,” but instead to help identify what people/interests would make the most sense for which races. So, in backwards order to when I ran them, here are some reflections on major races I’ve done over the last 3 years.

Hatfield/McCoy Marathon (West Virginia/Kentucky): This was a gorgeous race that includes 13.1 miles in West Virginia and another 13.1 in Kentucky (I registered for it in part because I have an extremely loose goal of running a half marathon in all 50 states, so doing the full here let me cross two states off my list in one morning). You can run either have as its own race—- the first, the Blackberry Mountain Half, is in WV and involves a significant climb up a mountain/very tall hill and then the descent down the other side; the second, the River Road Half, is pretty flat and takes you through some small towns and countryside on the Kentucky side. Because of the topography, it’s probably not what you want if you’re looking for a PR, and some of the mile markers and the overall distance were off per my Garmin, but it was worth it for me for the countryside and the mountain air. There weren’t a lot of options for staying in town, but the town itself is pleasant and I appreciated the fact that they had showers available at a local gym. Crowd support was nice for a race this rural, and the overall crowd of runners was big enough that I never felt isolated (especially because the full marathon encompasses both halfs), but also never overwhelming or crowded. It’s not a big motivating factor for me one way or the other, but the swag was pretty nice—- high quality tshirt and a very creative if somewhat impractical medal.

Savage Gulf 25K (Tennessee): This trail race aggressively markets itself as being brutal and difficult, and they are not lying. I ran the 25k, but they also offer a full marathon. The full requires documentation that you have completed a marathon before, and having done the 25k I understand why. The location is beautiful but also somewhat remote (I stayed at an Airbnb cabin that was almost an hour away from the start). The first two or three miles are pretty standard trail running on a dirt track wide enough in places to pass with only some rolling ups and downs, but then you descend down into the gorge and everything changes. You go down a steep set of stairs carved out of the rocky walls of the gorge for about a mile, and then you run along very technical, bolder strewn paths for the bulk of the course. I was only able to “run” in small stretches—— most of the time I was walking/scrambling over rocks, boulders, roots, and branches. I enjoyed the experience because that’s how they market it and that’s what I paid for, but don’t sign up for this expecting anything resembling a conventional trail run. The descent down into the gorge was tricky and challenging, but the climb back up out was even harder— it’s the least technical part of the course to that point, but is just a punishing steady uphill climb after you’ve spent a few hours stumbling and leaping over obstacles. I honestly thought I was going to need to start a new life for myself at the bottom of the gorge instead of finishing the climb. But, I did, and I’m happy for the experience. There was basically no swag for the race—- I ordered a sweatshirt but there was a problem with the printer and I got a refund instead. But the race admin and other runners were all great—- highlights included a veteran of this race who told me a few miles in “Just remember nobody out here is trying to earn a sponsorship, just keep going and finish” and the race director who hooked me up with salt tablets and sugar when I finished because my legs were cramping so bad I couldn’t run. If you read the promotional materials for this race and decide that it sounds like the kind of experience you want, you won’t be disappointed.

Columbus Half Marathon (Ohio): This is my favorite urban race on roads that I’ve done. It is very flat and very fast with amazing crowd support. The course takes you through a variety of unique and interesting neighborhoods (the full goes through the Ohio State campus, but I only did 13.1 so I don’t have firsthand experience). The race is a fundraiser for the Columbus children’s hospital and they actually have patients out on the course at the mile markers to remind you what you are running for. If I wanted to set a PR, this is the race I would set my sights on. Good swag too. Overall great experience!

Grand Island Half Marathon (Michigan): This is my all time favorite running experience. This course for this trail race is on an island in Lake Superior. You start the day with a 5 minute ferry ride from the town of Munising out to the beach. There is very little development on the island itself, although there are some legacy properties left over from before it became a nature preserve. The course is wide dirt trails, with plenty of room to pass, except for about a 1 mile stretch on the beach. You get amazing views of the lake and the woods throughout, and there’s enough topography to make it interesting without ever being too challenging. The highlight for me is that the finish line is about 100 yards away from the beach, so if you like you can just keep on running out into the water, which felt great after a few hours of exercise. Make sure to bring your own hydration system since they don’t allow cups or anything else that would bring trash onto the island. I appreciated the way they staggered starts for the full marathon and the 50k before the half, which meant there were always runner out on the course and you didn’t feel too isolated even though it is a smaller race. I did a few days of camping up in the UP for this race as well, which is a pretty great way to spend your July. I honestly think everyone should have this race as a bucket list experience.

Dances With Dirt Gnaw Bone (Indiana): If you’re someone who enjoys the outdoors and you live in Indiana, you will end up at Brown County at some point or another. This area is about as hilly as Indiana gets (banks of the Ohio excluded), and the trees here are famous for their fall foliage. I did the half at the Dances with Dirt trail race here last spring and I really enjoyed most of it. The first two miles or so and last two miles (the course is a loop, but you you repeat the straightaway from the start line to the loop) were very difficult. It’s mostly horse trail, so the ground was torn up and soaked into mud. I enjoy running through some difficult terrain, but this seemed like I was trying to cross No Man’s Land at the Somme in several places—- I think challenging trail races are great when there is some kind of natural beauty to appreciate because of the experience, whereas the beginning and end of this race felt more like it only existed to be difficult and uncomfortable. BUT, once you get out of that initial section, it is some very pleasant trail running with some challenging climbs but nothing too overwhelming. I did enjoy the fact that on the way to the finish line you run through a creek for about a quarter mile. This was refreshing and also went a long way toward getting the worst of the mud off me before I had to get back in the car. The tshirt is great and I wear it all the time. I do think they redesign the course pretty regularly, so take everything I just said with a grain of salt.

Fort Ben Half Marathon (Indiana): I live in central Indiana, so I’m pretty familiar with the big races in and around Indianapolis. The most famous and popular race here is the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon, the Spring half the takes runners from down town out and around the famous speedway. It is worth doing once, but outside of the speedway the course itself doesn’t have much to offer and the overwhelming number of runners is tough to deal with. The best long race in Indianapolis is the Monumental Marathon. The course is flat and fast and the production is impressive and professional. But my favorite is this one at Fort Benjamin Harrison. I ran my first full marathon on this course back when they used to offer one, but now it is just a half. There are no where near as many runners for this as the other big ones in the city and the vibe is laid back but still competitive. The course takes you all around Fort Ben, which I believe is the largest State Park inside a city in the country. There are some hills, but we are still talking about central Indiana here, so it’s not going to set any records in that department. The weather in this part of the country in late October/early November when this race is run is pretty fantastic. I don’t think you’re going to travel to Indiana to run this one, but if you’re already here it is a great experience.

Winter Trail Frosty/Winter Night Trail Run/Summer Night Trail Run (Indiana): I’m grouping these three races together because they are put on by the same group and run on the exact same course, but the changing seasons make for three very different experiences. The course is at Eagle Creek Park out on Indy’s West Side. Eagle Creek is built around a large, manmade reservoir, which isn’t the most amazing scenery in the country, but in Indiana you get what you get. There is a pretty good hill that takes you down from the start area to the water, and then a matching climb up out of it as you go around the loop, but otherwise it is pretty flat. There are large sections of single track where it is hard to pass and some stairs that feel pretty treacherous depending on the conditions, but otherwise it the trail makes for very nice running. The course itself is a 10K loop, so if you want to run the half you do it twice—- this also makes it easy to change your mind and stop after the first half if the trail takes more out of you than you thought it would (this happened to me the first time I ran here). If you run the summer one, be prepared for insects—- I put on plenty of mosquito spray but still breathed in some huge clouds of gnats. You are required to wear a headlamp for the night/evening iterations, and it would be dangerous to run either race without one. When I did the winter night one, my headlamp was more a “let other people know where I am” style than a “illuminate my feet so I see where I’m going” one, and it made things pretty tricky. It’s worth doing all three of these races to see the park in different conditions and to have some cool stories to tell.

Gulf Coast Marathon (Florida): When it is family vacation time, I usually try to build a trip around a race I can run, so last year on Spring Break we drove down to Pensacola so the kids could enjoy the beach and I could run this race. The race is in the town of Pensacola Beach, so you have awesome views of the water and the unique houses along the shore almost the entire way. There wasn’t much in the way of crowd support, possibly because its a tourist town and this race was a little early for the season to really be going, but the weather was perfect. The course itself involves a very long out and back section, which isn’t my favorite thing to do (I spend most of the time assuming we are almost to the turnaround, getting disappointed every time I go around a little bend and see we aren’t doubling back yet, and then getting frustrated by the continuous stream of people faster than me going back the other way) but also involves some interesting people watching and absorbing of local color. My experience of this race is a bit colored by the fact that I was out of shape, went out to fast, and struggled hard for the last few miles, but if I had been prepared for it I think I would have enjoyed it more. And it is nice to finish at a little local resort with food on the beach.

So there you go, some thoughts on some of the more interesting races I’ve run over the last few years. I’m currently training to run 5 half marathons in 5 different states in July of this year—- you can learn a lot more about that project and the associated fundraiser on this website. If you want to donate directly to the project, you can click the big donate button at the top of this page, which I would appreciate! Otherwise, stay tuned for more running content here!