The Mullet Haul trail run is held each March on John's Island, which is near Charleston, SC. Charleston County Parks & Recreation hosts this run and they do a great job. The price is lower if you are a county resident (always nice to save), but this year, they offered a deal on one of those daily deals sites, which was another great touch. Racing a lot gets expensive.

For the cost, this race was well worth it. For a small local race, you got a great tech shirt- including a women's cut for the ladies. Everyone is encouraged to wear a mullet (fake or real... I guess if you're into getting a mullet just for this race), flannel shirts, cutoffs, and other country/redneck looking clothes. They also have a costume contest- which is fun, it makes it more like an event than a competition. Runners also got a fun "Mullet on the go" headband.

The after party had free beer, soup, macaroni and cheese, bread pudding, and the typical race refreshments. The awards were also great (winners got a "red solo cup" trophy), and they had a band and photo booth.

Another touch: I think it's the only 5 mile/10 mile run in the Charleston area, so if you're local... it's a good chance for an instant PR

I ran this half marathon again this year and my husband ran the 5K. It is a great local race and Charleston is lucky to have a marathon.

It is not the most frilly, spectator filled, marathon/half out there. You will not get tons of bells and whistles, but not everyone wants that (or wants to pay for that, because when you do a marathon that offers all the "free swag", you're really paying dearly with your entry fees).

Course support this year was a lot better. There were performers on the course, lots of aid stations, and enough porta potties. Everyone waited inside before the race, which was nice. The gym was open for people to stretch, etc.

The half marathon and marathon have pace groups if you have a time goal in mind, and you can sign up to run with the pace groups. Most people didn't realize or know that, but hardly any half marathons offer that option. More should take advantage of it!

The shirt is a tech shirt, white, and you can get a ladies cut. I wasn't a huge fan of the art this year, but I am thankful they at least use local art. In fact, the whole race strives to be as local as possible, and I like that.

The Charlie Post Classic is in it's 31st year and hosted by the Charleston Running Club. Things should be pretty much perfected. It's a very large race with over 500 participants, mostly in the 15K. I guess you don't get many chances to run a 15K (9.3 miles), so people take advantage of it.

I decided to run the 5K (3.1 miles). I like shorter races and the week after a half marathon, I wanted something short! The course is nice, well marked. The split for the 5K/15K is well marked- you cannot miss it. There are water stops, along with some spectators.

The post-race refreshments are from Black Bean Company and Triangle Char-N-Bar, and they were great. Veggie and meat burritos, cookies, yogurt, apples, bananas, etc. They also had coffee and water. The "swag" was good for a local race. Tech shirt, and you got a coupon for $10 off at Triangle and a water bottle. For the entry fee, the gear was awesome.

My gripe is in the awards. I won 3rd overall female, which is kind of a big deal in a large race. The overall winners got medals that say "age group winner". That would be fun if I'd won my age group, but I didn't... I placed overall!

It's a very nice medal and I understand they mass-order the awards, but I wish the ribbon was correct! I would still recommend this race to others, though.

In November, my husband and I ran the Thunder Road 5K, which is a part of the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon and Half Marathon. It was an excellent race and we enjoyed it. The 5K race is run through downtown Charlotte, with lots of great scenery and not much elevation difficulty (compared to other parts of Charlotte). Even though it's a 5K, you still have a great starting line and finish party, and the organizers try to give you the same energy as the half marathoners and marathoners.

The expo was pretty good, but we got there a little late and missed out on some vendors. There were nice custom items for the race for sale, such as shirts, stickers, Christmas ornaments, etc. Great selection of items and great race t-shirt (one of the really soft cotton ones). Your race entry also got you free entry into the NASCAR museum downtown with a special wristband, but we didn't take advantage of this.

The day of the race, we parked in a garage downtown, just a few blocks from the start. It was a nice warmup walk and I did a short warmup run. The course was well marked with a water station and plenty of volunteers and cheerleaders, and the finish had a great party- tons of free stuff like yogurt, free food from local businesses, and free beer. The half and full finishers got medals, and the 5K did not (I was totally fine with this), but the age group awards for the 5K were really cool checkered flags, which fits well with a NASCAR themed race.

I would highly recommend this 5K if you have a friend or family member doing the marathon or half marathon and would like to run a race while in Charlotte.