I ran this half marathon again this year and my husband ran the 5K. It is a great local race and Charleston is lucky to have a marathon.

It is not the most frilly, spectator filled, marathon/half out there. You will not get tons of bells and whistles, but not everyone wants that (or wants to pay for that, because when you do a marathon that offers all the "free swag", you're really paying dearly with your entry fees).

Course support this year was a lot better. There were performers on the course, lots of aid stations, and enough porta potties. Everyone waited inside before the race, which was nice. The gym was open for people to stretch, etc.

The half marathon and marathon have pace groups if you have a time goal in mind, and you can sign up to run with the pace groups. Most people didn't realize or know that, but hardly any half marathons offer that option. More should take advantage of it!

The shirt is a tech shirt, white, and you can get a ladies cut. I wasn't a huge fan of the art this year, but I am thankful they at least use local art. In fact, the whole race strives to be as local as possible, and I like that.