Thunder Road Marathon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Sid B.
Goose Creek, SC

  (12-15-2010)

"Nice course,but has alot of hills,so can be tough depending on were you live and train. Great support,and crowd support is small but very loud."

Reviewed by a: Repeat Participant for 2010

Jake R.
Charlotte, NC

  (03-11-2010)

"I'm from Charlotte, so I'm used to the course. What amazed me most of the support of the crowd in 28-31 degree weather. They were out in full force. When running through neighborhoods you would see groups of people around a grill or fire pit just cheering you on.

Charlotte and the organizers did well. "

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

beth o.
crawford, GA

  (03-10-2010)

"I ran this race in 2009. It's very well organized, but the course is fairly boring. I'm not from Charlotte and this race certainly didn't make me think, "wow, I didn't know all these great places were in Charlotte!" That might be the city and not the route, but I'm just saying - the first half is pretty residential. The second half is a mix of neighborhoods, downtown areas, and some kind of junky connecting miles. The course splits from the half marathon around mile 12, at which point most of the crowd dies down. The course is hilly; the hills aren't big, but they are rolling and frequent so you don't have too many truly flat stretches, more so in the second half. The spectators around mile 24 are pretty awesome...and drunk.

I thought this race was a good value for around $70 or so. You get a nice shirt and medal. The expo is small, but easily navigable. The race merch was limited and nothing special. If you want to, you can wait in the convention center to keep warm before the race, which begins right outside. This is a good low-key marathon. "

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

Craig A.
Statesville, NC

  (12-14-2009)

"Charlotte is COLD in December. As long as you know that going into the race, you should have no big surprises. I have done the half three years in a row now and Run for Your Life the organizing running store has a good event. The expo is open on Friday so it is a good chance to get a jump on the Saturday morning crowds. The event starts in downtown Charlotte in front of the expo site at the Convention Center.
The half marathon has a lot of hills. Most are not really steep just a gradual grade to them. One of the worst is fittingly beside the Carolina Medical Center at mile 10. There were a surprisingly large amount of people on the course considering it was 30 degrees at the 7:50 am start.
The finishing area is also Nascar themed as is the whole event. The race finishes near the future home of the Nascar Hall of Fame. The half had over 4,000 participants this year and over 1,500 for the full marathon."

Reviewed by a: Repeat Participant for 2009