This was the second year in a row that I participated in the Quarry Crusher Run in Columbia, SC. This year was the 6th annual event and they changed the start and finish line to make the course over 5k; I ended up running 4.5 miles according to my Strava tracker. There were over 600 participating runners, walkers, and even a few ruckers out there.

The first mile is relatively flat, so I suggest for beginning runners to go easy here and warm up and stretch your legs and body because you will need to save your energy for later. The second mile is even easier because you start your descent down the quarry. I saw some people pretty much sprint down the downhill, which I don't exactly recommend because there were a couple of spots with loose gravel. However, you will have a decent second mile time and along the way, you can see a few mini-waterfalls . There are spots along the way for picture taking, especially by one of the large dump trucks, which sounds unappealing, but so many people did it and it is more massive in size than what we usually see on roads. The third mile starts flat but quickly turns into an uphill battle, literally. If you haven't trained to run up hills for an extended period, don't be surprised if you somehow end up walking bits of this. The fourth mile and change is back to being flat and if you are done catching your breath, you can get a view of the Congaree River to your right.

Not a bad race overall; you get a medal for finishing, the shirt is nice and thin (not a Hanes or Gildan as far as I can tell). The organizers put a DJ at the starting line and makes it pretty festive. There are a couple of vendors out there, but they don't push you to buy or sign up for anything.

Here's a link to the video I did for this race (it's sped up so you can see the whole course): https://youtu.be/wRF_UmLWIMs