(March 9th, 2013) At long last I was headed home (well, to see family that is) to Greenville. For those of you that haven't been up to the mountains of South Carolina yet, I can't glow enough about Greenville. For runners, it has a fantastic trail system cutting through the city and their Falls Park. If one was so inclined, you could easily run 30 some miles point-to-point along the Swamp Rabbit Trail. And the revitalized downtown - a surprisingly metropolitan collection of restaurants and shops that always leaves me wishing that I had more time to visit.
This trip was scheduled to coincide with the Swamp Rabbit Half Marathon. This was the second year it was being run, and I was hoping for a new PR. The course itself is fast and slightly downhill (though long by a few tenths of a mile despite what they claim about the measurements...), so always a good situation to try to run a new personal best. A month before, while in Phoenix, I had set my previous PR on a rather hilly course, so I was enthused for this opportunity as a final tune up before Boston.
The race itself went well enough for me. The man in black was drafting behind me almost the entire race (and not being very talkative either) until I got frustrated and took off with about a quarter mile to go. I ended up finishing second and setting a PR by about 30 seconds, so it was a good race. The organization of the race, though, was lacking. Many of the half marathoners reported there being no water left at the aid stations as they were woefully under prepared. And the prize for finishing second overall was the same as all other prizes (such as finishing third in a random age group): a slightly broken thermos.
I've mixed feelings about running this race again, so I've decided to find other "excuses" to go back to Greenville to visit.
After the race, we all headed out to Salida, NC where we visited the Saluda Grade Cafe. Despite all of my travels, some of my favorite food in the world is the simple food that I grew up with...blackened fish, salads with vinaigrette and walnuts, and that certain charm that you don't find outside of the South...
This trip was scheduled to coincide with the Swamp Rabbit Half Marathon. This was the second year it was being run, and I was hoping for a new PR. The course itself is fast and slightly downhill (though long by a few tenths of a mile despite what they claim about the measurements...), so always a good situation to try to run a new personal best. A month before, while in Phoenix, I had set my previous PR on a rather hilly course, so I was enthused for this opportunity as a final tune up before Boston.
The race itself went well enough for me. The man in black was drafting behind me almost the entire race (and not being very talkative either) until I got frustrated and took off with about a quarter mile to go. I ended up finishing second and setting a PR by about 30 seconds, so it was a good race. The organization of the race, though, was lacking. Many of the half marathoners reported there being no water left at the aid stations as they were woefully under prepared. And the prize for finishing second overall was the same as all other prizes (such as finishing third in a random age group): a slightly broken thermos.
I've mixed feelings about running this race again, so I've decided to find other "excuses" to go back to Greenville to visit.
After the race, we all headed out to Salida, NC where we visited the Saluda Grade Cafe. Despite all of my travels, some of my favorite food in the world is the simple food that I grew up with...blackened fish, salads with vinaigrette and walnuts, and that certain charm that you don't find outside of the South...
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