I participated in a preview run of the 2018 Governor’s Cup 13.1-mile race. The preview had us go over the first eight miles of the overall course. The last couple of years, the Governor’s Cup had taken place in November, April, and May. The 2018 Governor’s Cup is set to happen in May and it will be this route that I will (mostly) review.

On a cool Saturday morning, about 30 runners and walkers from various running groups gathered to get a feel of the course, see the sights along the route, and to enjoy a sneak preview of the oldest race in Columbia, South Carolina. This year should mark the 45th year that the South Carolina Governor’s Cup has occurred, and that morning felt a little special as we all stood in front of the State capital building and went over the route before we took off.

I walked and jogged the majority of the course with one of my friends. This let me soak in some of the buildings and parks that I normally miss when I’m running downtown. I definitely appreciate being able to see how this course incorporated parts of other race courses in this particular route.

You will start off facing the State capital building and go along a relatively flat route for the first mile and a half. After that, we got a pretty downhill grade for the next mile and a half. It’s in these first three (3) miles that you can appreciate looking at some of the older homes, fixtures, and neighborhoods in Columbia, this includes a repurposed building that used to print Confederate currency before the Civil War but now is open as a Publix grocery store. After the third (3rd) mile, you will cross the first of two bridges that spans over the Congaree River; if you’re into taking running selfies, this would be a good spot.

Just after mile four (4), you will start to feel the uphill burn, though it would last long. However, and this is because the preview run didn’t have markers out there, I forgot to read the map and I missed my turn for mile five (5), so I lost an entire mile out of the official route. We did make up a little bit of the mileage by overwalking our planned route, but we got back on track when we circled back to Naples Ave. At about the six-and-a-half-mile (6.5) area, there will an intersection that should be clearly marked on which way to go, because when you left turn to run north along the course, there are actually two roads that go north. Like I said, there should be markers showing which way to go.

After mile seven (7), you will cross the second of two bridges that go over the Congaree River. I suggest caution on this bridge if you do a selfie because the safety rails and walls are lower here than on the Gervais St Bridge. But that means you will have more of the river in your picture.

Once you cross the second bridge and hit mile eight (8), catch your breath as much as you can because this is where you will start hitting all those uphills and elevation increases. There’s a bridge that goes over the railroad tracks and I had flashbacks to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5k race; that bridge can be a pain while going over it, but it doesn’t last long. A little bit after that bridge, you will catch a short reprieve before you climb up somewhat steep hill. It was after this hill that our preview run ended when we headed back to the State capital building, but when I looked at the map, I could see that the elevation kept fluctuating with an end result of higher altitude and hills.

On our preview run, we had two scheduled water stations, but the race will have more than that. Water stations are scheduled to be at the 1.5 mile area, the 4 mile marker, near the 6.5 mile area, 9 mile marker, the 10.5 mile area, and the 11.5 mile area.

Since the race will take place downtown, you could park where I did, at the Taylor Street public garage. It’s two streets away from the starting line. There are several other garages in the area and they will all be free since public downtown garages are free on Saturdays (contrary to what some of the meter parking signs say… they need updating).

Based off of what I saw, the Governor’s Cup race looks like it will be very scenic, test your cardio, and worth going to.