The Race That Reminded Me Why I Love Running
Since this race took place in April 2014 and I’m writing this post retrospectively, I won’t be able to chronicle each mile of the course, but hopefully the race details will still be helpful.
The Charlottesville Half Marathon was an important race for me, not only because it runs through the same town I called home for five years while attending the University of Virginia, but also because it was my first event since tearing my quad muscle the previous year. It was an injury that left me on crutches for a few months, and ate away the strengthen I had worked so hard to achieve. The injury wasn’t due to overuse thankfully, but rather just an unfortunate fall while playing soccer.
Needless to say, as race day approached, I wasn’t feeling confident despite the weeks of physical therapy. After waking up four hours before the event, and spending the morning relaxing with a cup of coffee, I was able to shake some of the nerves. While I kept telling myself that the goal was to just cross the finish line, I knew in the back of my mind, I would be disappointed if I didn’t finish under two hours.
It’s a pace I hadn’t achieved in my practice runs, but as I’m sure most of you experience, during the race itself, the enthusiasm around you from other runners and spectators can often drive you to push yourself even further. And that’s exactly what I was hoping for. My boyfriend and my dog, Bentley, were there to cheer me on, and I knew seeing them at several points during the course would only aid my determination to finish.
As I approached the starting line, my anxiety seemed to fade and before I knew it, we were off. While I was running the half marathon, this event, which is coordinated by Bad to the Bone, also included a full marathon, a marathon relay and an 8K. The events had separate start times – 7AM for the full and the half marathon and 7:15AM for the 8K.
While the race did have separate starting times, when I ran in 2014, there were no waves or seeded corrals, and this is most likely due to the fact that in terms of scale, the Charlottesville race is much smaller. They only have 3,500 entries available for all events. While I thought the lack of corrals would force me to weave between other runners, the smaller field actually evened out pretty quickly, and I was soon running with those who were at my pace. Runners could have also easily navigated close to the starting line if they wanted to be near the front of the pack.
The race began near the Downtown Mall (and finished here as well), which I thought was a great location considering it’s ample parking, and centrality to the university and surrounding community. The course itself, which is USATF certified, is a loop around Charlottesville and is absolutely beautiful. While my opinion may seem a bit biased considering my history with the town, the race was named one of the best spring marathons (Life by Daily Burn) and one of the most scenic (Running Times Magazine). These titles refer specifically to the marathon course, but I believe the half marathon was just as enjoyable.
Even though I am writing this race review in retrospect, I do remember there being a large hill within the first mile, and this is to be expected. Charlottesville is located near the Blue Ridge Mountains and hills aren’t anything new to the locals, but I will admit, it was a little discouraging at first. Once I completed the hill, however, I began to believe that if I could conquer that, I could finish the race – maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
The first few miles were along a major road and there was a median separating runners from the traffic heading the other way. From there, we eventually arrived at the University of Virginia and ran a beautiful few miles through Grounds (campus), passing the Corner and the Rotunda along the way.
The half marathoners split from the marathoners around the 5-mile marker, and half marathoners continued on back toward the Downtown Mall and then into Riverview Park, where we ran alongside the river. It was a beautiful, quiet and scenic portion of the course and a section that would keep me coming back for this race. I happened to see Bentley and Derek around this time, and Bentley was keeping warm.
After Riverview Park, we ran through a few residential neighborhoods before heading back toward the Downtown Mall where the finish line was waiting for us at the bottom of a hill. There were dozens of spectators lining the last half mile, and I know it was their cheers that allowed me to cross the finish line at 1:59:49, beating my goal of running sub-two hours by 11 seconds! I honestly couldn’t believe it. My first race back from an injury, and I reached a goal I thought I could not achieve. I finished 265th out of the 740 half marathon finishers, and 26th out of the 89 finishers in my age group (F21-24).
It was a great feeling, and one that lasted for many days to come. When people often ask, why do you like to run, and then proceed to list off all their awful experiences with the sport, it’s hard to make them understand that feeling of accomplishment and high you get from crossing the finish line. But it’s races like this that remind me why I choose to get up at 5AM every morning to exercise and spend my Saturdays logging my long weekly run. It really is a lifestyle, and one I’m glad to have chosen and stumbled upon so early in my life.
My sense of accomplishment prevented me from noticing that there was no finisher festival at the end, but again, that’s understandable since the race is much smaller. Since runners finish right on the Downtown Mall though, it’s very easy to walk (or have your family carry you) to the nearby coffee shops, restaurants and bakeries. Since the race is on a Saturday, runners can also quickly walk to the City Market (farmer’s market), which at this time of the year, will be open.
Overall, I thought this was a great race, and would please those who like the small town feel. There were some drawbacks with it being a smaller race, but depending on who you ask, a smaller participant field also has its benefits. Needless to say, I’ve listed a few pros and cons below that can hopefully help you decide if this race is one you’d like to participate in in the future.
The Basics:
Event Name: Charlottesville Half Marathon
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2014
Registration Fee: $60-113 (half marathon), $70-123 (full marathon), $25-53 (8K)
Included Amenities: Event-specific tech tees, event-specific finisher medals, UCAN and water along the course
Additional Amenities (Extra Fee): None
Other Distances Available? Yes – Marathon, Marathon Relay, 8K
Pros:
- Very scenic and beautiful course that allows you to see all the great Charlottesville sites
- Great event tech tees (women’s cut available; event-specific; short-sleeve). The 2014 tee was made by Green Layer Sports
- Finisher medals
- Same day packet pick-up
- The early April timeframe means perfect running weather in Charlottesville (40-50 degrees in the morning)
- The start and finish lines are in convenient locations with parking/hotels close by
- The route allows your family and friends to easily walk to different places along the course to see you
Cons:
- No expo. There were a few vendors, however, in the square at packet pick-up, and I believe this has since improved from the 2014 event
- No finisher festival
- Not as many water stops on the course as I would have hoped
- While the course does allow spectators to easily get from one point to another, spectator support was low in comparison to other races I’ve attended
Mile Markers 