Charleston Marathon

Charleston Marathon

Charleston Marathon

( 18 reviews )
88% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Charleston,
    South Carolina,
    United States
  • January
  • 3 miles/5K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Kanyi

Royersford , Pennsylvania, United States
2 5
2016
"Mostly Flat Race, Sea Level. Big City Race But Small Country Feel To It."
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Kanyi 's thoughts:

⁃ Please note. (as explained to me by a local) The fact that the race starts in Charleston and ends in North Charleston is due to (mainly) the city of Charleston asking for their police and medical personnel to be paid for the time they spend on marathon activities. (As opposed to the personnel of North Charleston providing the services for free, so I heard!) Some people complain about the fact that the marathon doesn't pass through the exotic streets of downtown Charleston (a bland, unexciting race) but this is entirely not the organizers' fault. Big City, big city politics. Many city marathons run through 'rough, depopulated and desolate' stretches and a seasoned (meaning having run more than one!) marathoner would know that by now. I also have this uncanny feeling that the bourgeoisie don't want you running in their neighborhoods and they probably have a say in marathon routes. Can't please everyone! In any case, all marathons have stages where they'll have 'filler roads' that are not ordinarily used by traffic or have light traffic to reduce congestion when a race of such magnitude is going on. 'You are not in Boston anymore!'
⁃ I watched the video of the entire 26.2 mile course that was on their website (and YouTube I think) From the video, I could tell that the route was not taking you through the scenic downtown Charleston that they show on brochures but I was mentally ready for that. Watch the video to get an idea of the race and where the runners pass through so that you may make the decision as to whether the race is 'scenic' enough for you...
⁃ Bring along sunglasses (for the first 3 miles and more, as you race next to the water and the sun shining brightly on your face) and shoes with good cushioning. Some parts of the race have a pebble like feel to them (for the full marathon) and I was thankful for the good sole cushioning. If you usually don't run with, or accustomed to minimalist shoes, this is not the race to do it.

The various reasons to run the Charleston marathon.
1. ALL The proceeds from the marathon are used to fund the arts in Charleston public schools, a very noble and selfless cause especially in these days of non-existent funding for the arts and dying art forms in the USA.
2. As a marathon in January, it is a perfect race for many of those (like myself) who live in the snowy Northeast, Midwest and Northwest respectively. A January race forces you/one to keep training through the winter months instead of hibernating, keeping you well trained and toned throughout the year, meaning that when majority of the races in Spring start, you shall be ahead of those who didn't train through the winter. It was a balmy 60 degrees in 2016 but it was below freezing some years before so just beware.
3. It is a relatively inexpensive race to register for and Charleston is a relative inexpensive city to visit. For the winter months, most marathons are mostly in the warm states of Florida, California and Texas. If you are traveling from far away, the races in Florida and California are more expensive to register for and the flight, accommodation and rental car fees are higher than those found in Charleston for the most part. If you are racing on a budget, keep this in mind. A man of modest means like me jumped at the opportunity. Book early for reasonable deals.
4. If you are doing the 50 marathons in 50 states challenge, this is the perfect marathon to cross the state of South Carolina aka South Cackalacky off your list!
5. At sea level, ideal running weather and a relatively flat course, this is the perfect race to PR and BQ in.
6. They have a 60 mile bike race for cyclists on the Sunday after the main running road races on Saturday, which is a unique and additional attraction.
7. They allow bib transfers (for a fee) and same-day early morning race registration! I have never come across a race that does this. In case you get injured, a loved one or family friend can run in your spot! You can jet in/drive in and sign up for the race that day! Amazing!
8. It's a big city race with a small country feeling to it. You need to be there to experience it.
9. It's held on the Martin Luther King Jr weekend, so, since the Monday after the race is a holiday, (assuming you have Monday off) you have the extra day to recuperate, tour Charleston or volunteer on the actual Monday in events in Charleston. A win win in my opinion.

Traveling to Charleston

⁃ Travel arrangements are very personal and differ from one person to the next. For the out-of-towners, if flying into Charleston, the Charleston International Airport is the main airport and they have car rental services right beside the main airport buildings which you have to walk to. (When it's raining, it's not pleasant, so be aware) I purchased a vacation package from Priceline which covered airfare, car rental and hotel accommodations. This is the cheapest way to do it. (I think)
⁃ There is Amtrak, especially for us folks from the NorthEast and Greyhound for those who use buses.
⁃ Alternatively, if using public transportation is your thing, or you watch your carbon footprint, after you get to Charleston, there is a public transit bus that will get you from the airport to Burke High school. You can get the information from google maps or Apple Maps and see the schedules for the buses. There are a couple of hotels about half a mile from the start line and many runners had booked these hotels due to the ease of walking from the hotels, to the expo or the start line respectively. These hotels are the Charleston Marriott, downtown Charleston Comfort Inn and Hilton Garden Inn respectively.
⁃ I had carried a couple of GU gels (about 5) and salt stick capsules through security and there was no problem. You can get your gels from the expo or if you use GNC products, there is a GNC store in Charleston in case you don't want to deal with airport security throwing away your prized gels and protein shakes!

The Expo

⁃ The expo was small but very well organized. Everything was within reach. It was held at Burke High school in Charleston (on Friday, January 15 2016, the day before the marathon) which is where the marathon starts. There were various vendors at the expo, mainly local. Some of the vendors included Community coffee, local Apples, Talbot juice, cheese, grocery store, xrcel energy drink and common fit personal trainers. The previous year's running gear was on sale at a discount just in case you misplaced yours or just needed a souvenir. I saw individual vendors selling Running buddy pouches, GU gels, body glide, shoe inserts, running gear and so on. If you don't have cash, all have card readers for your debit/credit card purchases.
⁃ They had a local band doing cover songs!
⁃ They have a pre-race dinner between 5-8pm on Friday, which caters for both herbivores and carnivores. It's priced reasonably at $10 (or $7 online prior to the date)

The Marathon

Mile 1 to mile 13.1

⁃ All runners (half and full marathoners) start at the same time so the start is crowded. At the start, they have pacers who carry placards up in the air showing you expected finish times, from 3.30-3.45 full marathon finish time with 15 minute time increments till 5.00 or 5.30, for both the half and the full. The placards are visibly high and hard to miss. The pacers have pacer t-shirts on them. (Kudos to those pacers for carrying those placards for 26.2 miles!) They have no corrals like the bigger races so if running fast or keeping ahead of the pack is your thing, then keep to the front. The first 3-5 miles are a bit crowded but I don't think there is a big city marathon where you shall avoid a crowded beginning. Mile 1 starts from Burke High School and curves through Lockwood drive and Murray Boulevard, with the waterfront on the right. After mile 3, the race runs from the White Point gardens through the city of Charleston on King Street before inching its way forward towards North Charleston. As the race approaches North Charleston, there are industrial areas that would probably put off someone out to enjoy scenic views while running the race. No big deal here.
⁃ From mile 6-8, you pass through some North Charleston neighborhoods. Not all houses here have a white picket fence but a marathon should take you round neighborhoods that don't have million dollar houses. There are thousands of runners and there is nothing to be 'afraid' of when running through some of these neighborhoods. Very friendly people who are cheering you on I might add.
⁃ As the runners approach mile 8 or 9, there is a slight incline on Viaduct Street, not really steep. Once you are past the incline and bridge, the half marathoners run straight and the full marathoners keep left on their way to the Marina and the Federal facility. This might be discouraging to some runners as one sees elite runners running back to the 'main course' to join the rest of the runners while you have quite a bit to go. Never mind, there are slower runners than you and that might act as a 'motivation' to let you know that you are not doing too badly. The energy gels are to be found on mile 10 and there are water stations. I learned from runners to create a v-shaped wedge/funnel on the paper cup that contains the Gatorade or water to have the water go into your mouth perfectly with no spills! You have no idea how handy this tip is. You can always tell I have just completed a race by my Gatorade stained clothes! There are places that had a puddle of water on your way to (and back from) the marina and runners' shoes did get wet. It had however rained the day before.

Mile 13.1 to 26.2
⁃ This is where the fun and agony begins! This is a very desolate race at this point and its devoid of the mainly huge crowds you would find in, say, the Philadelphia (insert mega city here) marathon. The only people you'll see are your fellow runners, volunteers manning water stations and police and medical personnel. Once you are past the marina and Federal facility, you trudge on to N Hobson Avenue, close to Hunley Observation Laboratories. You shall be running through mostly industrial buildings and there shall be a couple of rail tracks that you shall have to run over. The rail tracks are not raised and it's no big deal. On mile 18, you shall get onto Buist Avenue where you shall meet runners faster than you running opposite you 3 or so miles before the finish line. You'll hit Park Circle before coming to the Academic Magnet High School on mile 20 and go round the school as you go back to the residential neighborhoods. As you approach mile 25, the scenery changes and you are exposed to a beautiful water view on Riverfront park. The stretch is about half a mile long and you are back to Noisette Blvd as you head towards N Charleston High School for the finish.

The Finish. Post run refreshments and entertainment.

⁃ once you have hobbled to the finish line, your name is announced and a finisher's medal hang on your neck. The finisher's medal was an attractive medal that featured the art theme of the marathon itself, which was unique. The marathon t-shirt was also emblazoned with the same art. If you run with a smartphone like I do, ask the nice volunteers to take a pic of you at the finish line if you don't have someone (family/friend) to take it for you. This is for memories' sake.
⁃ There is an array of hydration options at the water station. There is water, Gatorade, beet juice, Coke and other types of soda, (never seen soda on offer after a race before) muffins, bananas, apples and so on. Once you are past the water stations, there are various tents with various refreshments. They include a delicious small bowl of shrimp grits, beer on tap (Samuel Adams cold frost and a grape flavor) and orange juice and champagne, redeemable from the stubs that are on your race bib. They also have peanuts on offer, both original non-flavored and chili flavored, which I enjoyed taking out of their shells.
⁃ One attractive theme of the races is the entertainment on offer at the finish line. There were various bands that were playing and these bands were very good, playing everything from country music, R&B, hip hop, country and pop music. Many were playing cover songs and I am sure some were playing original songs. There was also some bouncing castle thing for the kids that involved Velcro tape and kids jumping into the bouncing castle and sticking themselves on it!
⁃ There were various tents with sponsors of the race and most were manned to provide information about the products on offer.
⁃ There were announcements by the master of ceremonies announcing the 3rd place finishers, runners up and winners in the 5K, half marathon and marathon. Various winners in the various age group categories were also announced. The mayor of North Charleston was also present and participating.
⁃ They had places to shower at the school at the finish line and also at the start line. You can put your bath accessories in your race bag, which you can use to shower either at the start or finish line high school showers respectively.
⁃ There was a shuttle service (school buses) that was ferrying runners from the finish line (in North Charleston) to the start line at Burke High school in Charleston. It was very efficient and ran every 30 minutes or so. There were no waiting lines.
⁃ Remember the bags that you left at the start line in the UHaul trailer? They bring the bags to the finish line. I made the mistake of getting onto the bus thinking I was going to find the items at the start line and had to take the same shuttle back to the finish line to retrieve the items.
⁃ Some restaurants and eateries have discounts for runners on Saturday evening. You have to find out from the race organizers or social media.

Chip times and the running Apps and smartwatches comparisons
⁃ Amazingly, the chip times were being broadcast in real time to your (the runner's) email account. They showed the chip times at the 11.8 mile mark, 20 mile mark and 26.2 mile finish line mark. Maybe this may stop a potential future race bandit? Hopefully!
⁃ There were also loudspeakers that were broadcasting the amount of time one had spent on the road. This was helpful for those with no gadgets to tell time. However, many people looked like they had some sort of stop watch/smartwatch or were running with their phones on their armbands. (With running apps running most likely)

⁃ I primarily use Runkeeper from my phone and I have a Fitbit. Runkeeper showed the total distance to be 26.79 miles (showed my Philadelphia marathon distance to be 26.70 and Delaware 26.47) I also use the Walkjogrun app just in case the Runkeeper app crashes and it showed a total of 26.67 miles (26.47 in Philadelphia and 26.30 in Delaware) Two separate runners with Garmin had 26.47 and 26.42 respectively.

Race Photographs

⁃ Big races have expensive photographs! That's just the way it is. I used to believe that paying $25 for ONE digital photograph was outrageous, but I have realized that these are once in a lifetime opportunities and I need to memorialize them somehow. They claim that, even when they bring the prices down, people don't pay for the pics, so they charge a lot to cover for all the 'lost' pics that people won't buy. They also argue that camera equipment is pricey, they have to hire numerous cameramen/women and sift through the pics (using software of course) to match the pics to you. The choice is yours. I have made the painful decision to add $25 to my race budget as I feel that the finish line photo is very important to me. If you have a person positioned at the finish line, then maybe you don't need the official finish line photo.
⁃ Marathonphoto was the company that was taking the pictures. I saw an active lady taking pictures at the start line for anyone interested. I may be wrong (I ran the full marathon) but I saw none of the photographers on the way. They had photographers strategically lined up at the finish line and all my photos seemed to be from the finish line. They had one photographer who was positioned perfectly and he/she captured the finish line banner and the finish time. That picture was perfect I have to admit! Maybe that's why the photographs were ready and released so quickly! (race day was on the 16th, Saturday and the photos were ready on Tuesday 19th, 3 days after. The Philadelphia and Wilmington, DE marathon photos took a week before they were ready) I know photography is hard business but they should have at least had a photographer at the scenic 24-25 mile marker close to the water at Riverfront park where the bridge I-526 was in the foreground. A waterfront photo would have looked marvelous! They also needed photographers when runners ran through the streets of Charleston. If you compare photographs of the Philadelphia and Wilmington, DE marathon (the 2 I have run so far) you do see that there were various photographers at various points in the course. Bunching up a few photographers at the finish line and taking many similar photos just means that there are less desirable photos to buy, which means less sales.

I would run it again!

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