Running through downtown Kinston!
(photo courtesy Kinston.com)
If you are looking for a great North Carolina Half Marathon to run this fall I highly recommend checking out The Mother Earth Brewing Ironclad Half MarathonOctober 19th in Kinston. This is a great local small town road race with lots of charm and a fast and flat course providing an awesome opportunity to achieve that PR!
I ran this race with some friends from Raleigh (pictured above) back in 2017 and we loved it! This is my “go to” fall race now and I’m looking to running it again this October. With around 500 half marathon runners and 500 participants in the 5k it is a nice manageable race. The field isn’t too crowded, but still offers just enough runners to bring that fun race day energy to the course and after party.
Running through downtown Kinston!
(photo courtesy Kinston.com)
The race starts of with a cannon blast and features a single loop course that starts outside the historic Grainger Baseball Stadium, the former home of the Kinston Indians. It’s a fast and flat road course that will take runners through parts of downtown and scenic country roads just north of town.
It is well supported with aid stations, and there were even a few musicians entertaining runners along the course. Some other highlights include running past the CSS Neuse Ironclad gunboat and finishing along the first base line on the baseball field.
After you finish you can celebrate your achievement with a free race picture by the cannon and ice cold Mother Earth Brewing Beer as you cheer on the rest of the runners crossing the finish line.
This race is not just a lot of fun, it is also super convenient. It is one of the few races I have done that offers FREE race day packet pickup. Kinston is an easy 90 minute drive from Raleigh, so you can just drive down the morning of the race. Parking at the start/finish is plentiful too making for an all around stress free race day.
There is a nice crew of runners from Raleigh headed to Kinston to run in the race this year and I hope you will consider joining us on October 19th! You can save 10% off your race registration for the Half Marathon or the 5K using the code “2019RunKinstonWithJH“.
To learn more about the race and register visit the race website here.
The Triangle Explorer 