RunningAHEAD - Topic: Fastest 5K course in Charlotte

ChakaKahn

Are we there yet?

posted: 5/4/2010 at 10:47 AM

While I am not very experienced in running all the courses in the Charlotte area.. I remember the GREEKFEST 5K (August) in the Dillworth area being very fast!

Does anyone have a preference of course that they feel is "PR friendly?"

old-runner

posted: 5/4/2010 at 2:29 PM

The Greekfest course is fast but most people feel like the Runway 5k, which is almost completely flat, is faster. I'm convinced though that the very fastest 5k around is the Santa Scramble in Concord, where you park your car and ride a bus UP to the start, then run DOWN through the middle of town back to where you parked. It's not all downhill but there's way more down than up.

Here are my times for all three races last year...

Greekfest -- 21:13

Runway 5k -- 20:24

Santa Scramble -- 19:51

Here's a write-up I did a while back about which was the fastest between the Runway 5k and Santa Scramble...

http://old-runner.com/2009/12/16/whats-the-fastest-5k-in-the-charlotte-area/

Richard Hefner
Past Race Results (Athlinks)

Happyfeet

posted: 5/4/2010 at 2:53 PM

I liked the Summer Breeze course around freedom park as well, after the initial steep hill (which most won't notice) and a longer but gentle uphill at mile 2, the downhill finish is nice.

CarolinaBlue

posted: 5/4/2010 at 8:03 PM

I would concur w/Richard that the Santa Scramble is the fastest course. I ran the Young Life 5k in March at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. I thought that was a fast course (I also ran the Runway 5k). I talked to some people at the Young LIfe 5k that also ran the Santa Scramble and they voted for the latter. I'd say the Young Life 5K is the second fastest course (I think there is another 5k race in Oct/Nov run at the Charlotte Motor Speedway which would be equally as fast). You also have to factor in the time of year as both the Santa Scramble (Nov) and Young Life 5k (March) are run when it is generally cool (50's or below) and dry (for me that makes a huge difference as humidity and/or heat really compromise my performance). I ran the Greek Fest course this week during a run and it has an extended uphill grade (3/4 mile) plus its run in August. I ran the Summer Breeze course during a run last week to test it out...thats about a 3-4% grade going up Queens!

Rob

old-runner

posted: 5/5/2010 at 8:47 AM

I've missed that Young Life 5k both years I've been running... didn't see it until the results showed up somewhere (it's on Sunday afternoon maybe??). Is that race entirely on the Charlotte Motor Speedway? That would be fun and fast too.

I did the Hendrick Marrow Half Marathon at the speedway last November 22nd (it's going to be in September this year) and it wasn't that fast but we only did one loop around the speedway. The rest of the race was around the parking areas and the other property owned by the speedway. My wife did the 5k and they didn't even run on the big track at all.

Richard Hefner
Past Race Results (Athlinks)

ChakaKahn

Are we there yet?

posted: 5/5/2010 at 9:30 AM

good stuff... while I agree that time of year can make a difference, it is not a huge factor as most the races start early in the morning and are over within 30min depending.. the santa scarmble is definitely on my radar, thx!

CarolinaBlue

posted: 5/6/2010 at 12:10 AM

Race is entirely on the "big track". You run two laps around (1.5 mi p lap) and then loop back into the pit row to finish up. It "feels" fast plus you can see everything in front of you, no 90/180/270 degree turns where you need to focus on the tangents, no pot holes or speed bumps to trip over, the only issue is dodging the slower runners/walkers on lap 2 (they seem not to understand to keep to their right).

Rob

Charlotte, NC area runners

Fastest 5K course in Charlotte (Read 345 times)