Run Around the Park - Carowinds Run and Ride Race Series Review

This was my second year with the Carowinds Run and Ride Series running the Half Marathon. I signed up for the series back in January which allowed for a pretty big discount, so I ended up registering for 3 of the 4 possible races - the 1 miler, the 5K and the Half. The other distance (Quarter Marathon) was not an option for me as it was at the same time as the Half.

Packet pick up was available the Friday evening before the race at the race site or on race day. I opted to pick up Friday evening. I arrived right when pick up started and walked right up. Snoopy was there to greet racers and he and his handler kept my daughter entertained while the volunteers pulled my 4 packets (my daughter was also running the 1 miler). There were 3 steps to pick up. First you got your bib in an envelope, then to another line where you got your shirts and then to a 3rd line to pick up your park tickets if you chose a registration that came with tickets. We have season passes to Carowinds, so I passed on the ticket option (which made for a cheaper registration), but later found out they were giving line cut passes to the Half participants, which I missed out on as this was not clear. Those running the 1 miler and 5K got cotton yellow Charlie Brown-like shirts. Half racers got red tech Charlie Brown-like shirts plus a bag with a hat, magnet, and buff. I had to ask for the extra swag bag as the volunteer kept getting confused on who should get what, but finally got all my items, pried my daughter away from Snoopy and left.

Day  1

On race day, we arrived to the theme park where there was ample free parking. There was a bit of confusion as the race start time ended up being different than posted on the website with the 5K now starting at 8:30 instead of the posted 8:15. Luckily, the 1 miler was also pushed back 15 minutes from 9:00 to 9:15 as I was planning to run both. The on-site DJ made this announcement several times so it wasn't really a big deal, just a bit more waiting.

The race started just outside the park gate and looped around the back of the parking lot onto a maintenance road, and then into a back gate next to a large wooden roller coaster, The Hurler. From there, it wound around the park, into the water park area, under several more coaster, through the Dinosaurs area (always fun to run past life-size dinos), back out a maintenance area. The miles go by fast as there are a million things to look at, especially since Carowinds had already started putting up their creepy SCarowinds decorations. I only ran past 1 Peanuts character, Franklin,  during the race and even then, I think it was just a coincidence as he was making his way to his station for the park to open, but he high-fived me as I zoomed past, which made me smile. There was a water station at the halfway point. I didn't stop, but it was well staffed. My only route complaint comes from the condition of the roads in the maintenance areas.The roads behind the scenes were extremely broken up with loose rocks and huge cracks in many places. I had a few footing slips due to them.

The finishers area was full of cheering people and Snoopy and Charlie Brown were there cheering on the runners. Volunteers were handing out medals as you crossed and there was lots of water bottles, Powerade bottles, bagels, bananas and apples on hand. Prizes were given for the top 3 finishers in each 10 year age group (the previous year had 5 year age groups) and I just missed placing with a 28:18 time for a 4th place finish. I didn't have much time to stick around as the start line for the 1 miler was inside the park and getting ready to be escorted there (only those with bibs were allowed to go to the start) so I had to quickly switch my bib and head over. Overall, the race was fun with only a few complaints - the biggest being there was no on course photography at all, and apparently very very very limited finish line photography for the 5K.  I was kinda bummed about that cause last year's pictures were so cool (hello, Dinos in the background) but luckily, my husband was there to take some finish line photos of me otherwise I wouldn't have any. The medals were adorable (Lucy for the 5K) and link up to others in the series to form a roller coaster car. That right there was worth it to me!

The 1 miler started 45 minutes after the start of the 5K which I also ran. The start line for the 1 miler was a short walk from the finish of the 5K so I had plenty of time to find my husband and daughter, switch bibs and head with my daughter to the 1 miler start just inside the park entrance. Since the start was inside the Carowinds gate, only those with bibs were allowed in so the husband had to wait at the finish line, which was the same finish line for all 4 races. We started directly under the park's iconic Sky Tower, which was pretty cool and after a countdown, we were off.

The 1 mile route was entirely inside the park with the exception of an short bit down a behind the scenes maintenance road and the very end which was just outside the park gate down a finisher's chute. We ran through the Planet Snoopy portion of the park and Dinosaurs Alive area, which my daughter loved. The mile flew by with so many things to look at. Would have been nice to see a few of the Peanuts characters in the park, but Snoopy and Charlie Brown were at the finish line giving out high fives. There was no aid station for the 1 miler, but there was plenty of water, Powerade and food (bananas, apples and bagels) at the finish. There was no on-course photographers, however, there was photographer at the finish line, though only a few of the 1 miler racers seemed to have had their photo taken. My daughter had hers taken, but I had backed up and let her cross triumphantly on her own and there was no photo of me when I crossed seconds behind her.

We were given an adorable Peppermint Patty medal which had a magnet on it allowing it to link to others in the series. My daughter and I had a blast running it together and she wants to do it again next year for sure!

Day 2

The Half started at 7:00 am to a wonderfully cool morning. Prior to the race, the National Anthem was played and we had a moment of silence for remembrance for the next day's Sept. 11th. Both the Half Marathon and the Quarter Marathon had the same start time and routes with the Half Marathoners taking a second loop around. We started outside the front gate and with a big circle around the exterior of the Carowinds parking lot circling back to the gate and inside the park. The route wound under roller coasters, through the Dinosaurs Alive area, past the SCarowinds decor, into the water park, under more coasters and out a back service area to take a turn and into the hilly Campground area, came back out down a service road, back into the parking lot and around to the gate again only to start over again. The parts inside the park seemed to go quickly with lots of things to look at with the parking lot areas and campground seeming to drag a bit. I had not had the best Summer training and had run pretty hard for the 5K the day before so I was just planning to take it easy and let how I felt guide me. I started out a bit ahead of the 2:15 pacer and figured at some point she'd catch me and I'd have to decide to either be okay with that or push it. She caught up to me around mile 10 where I overhead her tell the group she was with that they were a few minutes above pace, which I thought was a bit odd, but decided I felt okay and to fall in with them. The pace group's added distraction was welcome and we chatted the last few miles away. I crossed the finish just after the pace leader for a 2:12 finish (despite the fact she was the 2:15 pacer) and a new overall and course PR for me by 4 minutes. Again, as with the 5K, the condition of the roads in the maintenance areas were extremely broken up with loose rocks and huge cracks in many places. I knew to look for this from the 5K and took these areas a bit slower.

Throughout the course there were several aid stations giving out water and Gatorade and I believe 2 were even given out gels. I don't carry water for races and there were enough stations that I passed 1 or 2 without stopping with no problems. I carry my own gels so I didn't take any, but it was a nice option for those who do not. Again, I have to complain about the lack of on-course photography (I really loved last year’s pics) but at least this time I did have a finish line photo.

We were given an adorable Snoopy medal at the finish which had a magnet on the back to link to the others in the series to form a roller coaster. Prizes were given for the top 3 finishers in each 10 year age group (the previous year had 5 year age groups). Snoopy and Charlie Brown were taking photos with finishers and there was, as with the Saturday races, plenty of water, Powerade and food (bananas, apples and bagels) at the finish.

Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed last year's race better than this year's but feel it is a still a decent race series. Management, while great at communicating prior to the races, seemed a bit disorganized, especially with the photography, which is a big issue for me, especially with such fun scenery. I will probably do this series at least 1 more time and see how it goes next year.