Tobacco Road Marathon

Tobacco Road Marathon

Tobacco Road Marathon

( 22 reviews )
95% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Cary,
    North Carolina,
    United States
  • March
  • 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Trail Race
  • Event Website

Alastair Vance

Morrisville, North Carolina, United States
27 18
2019
"My first Half, and now my first Marathon!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Alastair Vance's thoughts:

WHAT A DAY!

Well, it's obvious that the memories of pain and tiredness are starting to subside. It was probably a great idea waiting a day or two to review! ;-)

As the title says, I ran Tobacco Road Half Marathon last year, and it was my first half. That race was an amazing experience for me. Somehow I got talked into running the full marathon this year, and again the experience was amazing and so rewarding.

A lot of that can be attributed to how smoothly this race is executed. Everything from parking, pre-race coffee and snacks, plentiful porta-potties, aid stations, and post-race party -- it's top notch.

We arrived early to the race, around 5:15am, even as a coveted parking pass holder. There was a few grumbles from the team about that, but it good to get parked so close to the start line. We stayed in the car for a while and made a couple of trips to the port-a-potties. The longer you leave it, the longer the lines will get. :-)

We still had time for some pre-race photos. Coffee and some snacks (bananas, etc.) were available at this time if you needed them.

We started to line up around 6:45am. The start-line gets a little busy but with the army of pacers with signs in the air, it's easy to find where you should slide in.

The weather was perfect. It started off a little cold, but if I had worn anything other than shorts and short-sleeves I would have got too warm.

After the National Anthem under a huge American Flag, off we went. It was the first time I was running a race that I hadn't actually experienced the full distance yet. My training took me to 20 miles, so all I could think about was the remaining 6.

The half and the full race starts together and shares the road for 2.5 miles, at which point we hit the American Tobacco Trail. I live close to the trail and had run every section of the course many times. It's flat, tree-lined, and really nice, no matter what time of the year.

When the runners reached the trail, the half marathon turns left, while marathon turns right. Half marathon has an out and back and then back on the road to the finish line. The full marathon has an out and back, then also runs out and back on the half marathon trail section and then back on the road to the finish line.

The trail for the most part is hard packed gravel which makes it a bit easier on the joints.

There was aid stations every 2 miles or so with water and Gatorade. They also had plenty of GU gels available. I hadn't trained with GU, so I carried my own gels with me. There are also a number of porta-potties next to each aid station.

There was apparently some unofficial aid stations as well, set-up by neighborhoods connected to the trail. The Mimosa stand was the most intriguing. I really wanted to have some, but decided it wouldn't be a good idea. The 7hr sweeper would probably have caught up with me.

There is not a lot of spectators along the route, there is more at the various road crossings. I don't mind this too much as I'm fairly zoned out and listening to my marathon playlist. There are plenty of runners passing you due to the out-and-back nature of the course.

On finishing the race you get great medal, some water and a foil blanket to keep you warm. Then you can go pick up some pizza, chocolate milk, beer, oranges, bananas, etc. while listening to live music in the tent.

I pre-booked a massage at the Expo, so immediately after consuming some pizza I jumped the line (because I pre-paid) and had a massage. Yes! Another first for me.

After some more post-race photos we left for home and we'll all still talking about the experience.

I may not run the full next year, but I definitely want to run the half again and PR.

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