I love my home town of Winchester, Virginia which has many local races throughout the year. However my personal favorite is the Battlefield Half Marathon. First of all it is held during one of the most beautiful times of the year in early November when the leaves are usually at their peak autumn colors. Second, the course runs through the back country side roads of Winchester where the traffic is scarce and the scenery is wonderful.

The race is highly organized. Thought not much communication is sent out via prior to the race, and email with detailed information is provided a few days prior to the race. Packet pickup is available the day before or race day morning, and the swag provided by Frederick County Parks and Recreation Department is awesome. This year included a t-shirt, long-sleeve pull over, and a hat!

The parking and logistics of this marathon are incredibly smooth with close to 400 runners attending. Being held near a historic battlefield, there is plenty of parking with room to spare.

Through the first 2 miles the course does a loop through a local community before heading back through the battlefield and then out onto the roadways. The course is moderately hilly with some sloping inclines from around mile 3 through mile 10. I used my hydration pack for the race, but if I recall, water stops are roughly every 3 miles or so (maybe shorter). Some stops provided snacks, but not all.

Note that there is not much course support during the middle of the course aside from the water / relay team stops, but the country side scenery makes up for it. It is really peaceful during the middle of the race which I particularly enjoy.

All finishers receive a high quality medal upon finishing. I set a half marathon PR on this course last year, and ran it this year for fun having just run a marathon PR 3 weeks prior. I plan on running it next year again and highly recommend it if you are looking to run a half marathon full of peaceful country scenery.