• Gettysburg,
    Pennsylvania,
    United States
  • October
  • 3 miles/5K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Sarah Shupp

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, United States
4 2
2013
"Review of the Gettysburg Blue-Gray Half Marathon"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Sarah Shupp's thoughts:

Located at the foot of South Mountain (part of the Blue Ridge Mountains), Gettysburg is the site of the largest land battle fought on US soil and the Battle of Gettysburg was considered to be the turning point of the Civil War. Though the actual course did not transverse any battlefields, it still was a beautiful and unique run especially due to the timing; late October is peak leaf-changing season.

This race pits blue (north) against gray (south) in a civil war themed race. When registering, you could choose to run for the north or the south- each shirt and bib was customized with the color of the side you chose. The top female and male finisher times for each side were added together and whoever had the fastest time, "won" the challenge. All finishers that were on the "winning" side got a special commemorative item- a coffee mug with the race logo.

Everything about this race was low-key. Packet pick-up was a breeze, there was plenty of race day parking, and no lines to get food at the end of the race. Small, local half marathons really allow participants to enjoy the experience- for a low cost. I think I paid $60 for this race and it was absolutely worth it.

This year, packet pick-up was located in a movie theater in a shopping center. This would be the same parking lot for the race the next day. I picked up mine and my friend Kelly's bibs. Mine was blue and her's was gray- we figured by running for opposing sides at least one of us would get the special commemorative item :-)

For shirts, we had a choice of unisex or women's cut long sleeved. On the race's facebook page, they had announced that because the field was more than half women, they would offer women's cut shirts. I picked up a blue and a gray shirt and was out the door in less than 10 minutes. There was merchandise available for purchase from a local running store but I didn't get anything.

On race day, there was ample parking and just a short walk to the start/finish line. There was a small bag check and plenty of port-a-potties. The race started with a gunshot from a gentleman dressed in a Civil-War era costume. The course itself was all on country roads- while the course was open, I saw very few cars traveling at that time in the morning. I would say this course has a few rolling hills, nothing that was really difficult.

There were water stations every two miles on this course staffed with local track and cross country teams. They were amazing! An added benefit to running in the back of the pack is that there is more time between runners so the volunteers sometimes are cheering just for you as you may be the only person at the station at that time. We also had our names on our bibs so the volunteers would yell things like "Go Sarah!," "You're doing awesome, Sarah!," "Keep going, Sarah! You're looking great!" It was so cool. Definitely the best volunteers I've EVER seen at a race.

The metal was absolutely gorgeous. It featured the blue and gray logo and a thick ribbon with the date and name of the race listed. At the finish, there was plenty of food for runners- chips, bananas, bagels, etc.

I would absolutely recommend this race to others. Very well organized, great swag, and a fun course.

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