Camp Croft Trail Half Marathon

The inaugural Camp Croft Trail Half Marathon was held in my Spartanburg backyard on November 13th at Croft State Park.  Pictured to the left are some of the runners - Joe Camo, Beth (wife), Big Easy (me), Sam-O-Nator, and Brian (The Guz). 

The weather was picture perfect.  40 degrees with a bright blue sky setback against fall turned leaves falling from the trees.  It was the type of day where you couldn't wait to hear your feet crunching the foliage as you ran through some beautiful rolling single track.

The course featured some of the best parts of the park.  It was a 13.1 mile loop that ran between Lake Craig and Johnson.  80% single track, 20% trail.  0% pavement - LOVE IT!


The entire event was organized to a tee by Seth N. and the Spartanburg Running Club.  I was impressed because from the moment I arrived at the park I knew exactly where to drive and what to do before the race.  All of the volunteers were great and from what I understand all of the runners finished the race.  They had the course marked perfectly and even I was able to stay on course for the entire run - very unusual!

This was Beth's 1st trail race and second half marathon.  I settled into a pace behind her from the beginning and let her determine the tempo.  We took our time and enjoyed the run.  She took one bad fall, but bounced back up without injury.

After 2:58 we made our way into the finish line and enjoyed some post race food.  I was surprised to see a live band playing too!  There were a TON of raffle prizes given away.  Beth and I both won $10 gift certificates to local area stores which was very cool.  Add this to the sharp technical shirts given to runners before the race and we walked away with some killer swag.

If you are ever looking to run a well organized and challenging trail half mary, then Croft should be the race for you.   Rumor has it that there could be a 50K run in the making on this beautiful trail system.  More details to come if I hear of it materializing...