Mountains 2 Main Street is a point to point half ironman in Greenville, SC that debuted in 2016. As someone who has been critical of the WTC global takeover I like to support the smaller races. “Vote with your wallet” is a common refrain you hear and that’s exactly what I try to do. This race caught my eye when they first announced it, unfortunately my wife was 8 months pregnant in 2016 so I had to wait. I enjoy reading other race reports and wanted to give one of the “little guys” some love so here is my report:
Pre Pre Race: I registered to race in 2017 but Mother Nature had other plans. Race morning we were greeted with torrential rain and they were forced to cancel the race. It was a bummer but I think the right call. They offered us $100 off this year’s race, which I thought was fair, so I when registration opened I signed up.
Pre Race: My wife, son and I drove down to Greenville Thursday night before the race. With the point-to-point setup I thought plan would reduce the stress on Friday. We rented an AirBnB right off the Swamp Rabbit Trail that wound up being the perfect home base for us. Friday morning we headed to packet pickup as soon as it was open and were in and out in 5 minutes. We dropped my T2 bag off and then I took my son and wife back to the house. They had lunch and I went to drop my bike off at T1. After checking my bike in, I hopped in the lake for a quick swim. It’s a beautiful lake and the water felt great but somebody said it would probably be a wetsuit swim which was a bummer. I headed back to Greenville to hang out with my son & wife before heading to bed early.
Race Morning: Being less than a mile from the shuttle bus I thought about walking there race morning but when I checked Uber and it was $5, it seemed like a no brainer to book that. There was rain in the forecast again and as I boarded the bus, I thought to myself “please just let me race this year.” There was actually some pretty heavy rain at one point but by the time we got t Seneca, the rain had pretty much stopped. It was pretty cloudy and there was talk of more rain later in the day so I opted for clear goggles and a clear visor on my bike helmet. Shortly after I arrived, they announced the water temperature was 76 degrees (wetsuit legal) so I set up my transition area, put my wetsuit on and headed for the swim start.
Swim: There were about 150 people in the race and 4 or 5 swim waves so after the first couple hundred yards it was pretty wide open. About halfway to the first turn buoy I looked to my left and there was a guy way off in that direction and then looked right and there were two guys out there. I felt like I was sighting well and heading straight for the turn buoy so was hopeful that being in the middle of these groups was a good sign. After I took the first turn buoy I just focused on strong consistent stroke. I liked how the course was set up with 2 long straight segments and then 1 short segment into the swim finish. When I made my way around the second turn buoy I know there wasn’t much left and I stepped in up a bit and tried to finish the swim strong.
T1: My last race the zipper on my wetsuit got jammed so I was happy that this transition was uneventful. I hopped on my bike and was on my way.
Bike: With a name like “Mountains 2 Main”, you can imagine the bike course was not flat. There were 3400 feet of climbing, which would definitely be the most I’ve done in a half. In addition to not being flat, it was also not short. The race was officially 72.3, with the “extra” 2 miles on the bike. I knew this would be a challenging race but I don’t think I realized how tough it would be. The weather didn’t make it any easier, the roads were a bit damp and it rained a little on and off. I tried not to focus on things I couldn’t control and just start pushing through the miles. My goal was to take advantage of any of the descents as possible but many of them had turns at the bottom or blind curves so often times you lost momentum. The course took us through mostly rural roads with light traffic and mostly respectful drivers, though I did see a few cars cut things a little too close and at one point I saw a woman get pulled over for failing to listen to a police officer at an intersection. As the race began to space out there were plenty of open roads to ride and no risk of drafting. There were definitely some fast bikers who swam slower than me and blew past me during the ride. It was tempting to try to keep up but I had to race my race and never fell into that trap. Eventually we came into Greenville and I was thankful to be off the bike. It went much slower and longer than I had planned but I think my expectations were off.
T2: Transition 2 was the one place I was thought was guaranteed to see my wife and son. Logistically it didn’t really work out to see them earlier and by the time I got there we were approaching lunch/nap time for my little guy so I didn’t think I would see them again during the run or even at the finish line unfortunately. I racked my bike and was pleasantly surprised that there weren’t many bikes there yet. After donning my running shoes and race belt I saw my wife and son and ran over there for a high five, my son however had other plans and pulled away. Apparently he was ready for lunch and didn’t have time for my games. Time to run!
Run: It would be my first time running the Swamp Rabbit Trail but I was hoping it would provide us protection from the sun. The clouds and rain that were out for the entire bike were gone by the time the run started. I knew it would quickly heat up. The run was an interesting double loop out and back that I was originally unsure of. From a mental standpoint sometimes these out and backs can crush me but I enjoyed this one. I thought the turnarounds were well spaced and broke things up nicely. I started really strong (for me) knocking out the first two miles at under an 8 minute pace, I was confident that was maintainable but as the miles passed my pace started to fade. I was passing people through the first turnaround but then started to get passed and my confidence weakened. At the time I thought the heat was starting to impact me so I was grabbing ice at the aid stations and throwing it in the back of my kit. It made me more comfortable but didn’t improve my pace. Looking back I think the climbing on the bike zapped my legs more than I realized. Once I hit the final turnaround I just focused on the finish line and nothing else. At this point everyone was basically on the run and I’m typically one that likes to acknowledge my fellow competitors but by this point I had my head down and just chugged along to the end. The finish line was on the stage at the downtown amphitheater which was a pretty cool experience although I will admit it was a bit of a blur.
Post Race: After crossing the finish line I headed immediately for the cold drinks. Not typically a big soda drinker but an ice cold Pepsi really hit the spot. I found a shady spot near the stage and sat there waiting for some friends to finish. In the shade and not running it was a beautiful day! I was shocked when I checked the results and found out I was third in my age group. I signed up for a massage and continued to enjoy the food and drink until my wife and son arrived. Of course he took his longest nap in weeks as I was sitting there waiting for him but it was fine I was in no rush to move. After they got there we headed over to T2 to pick up my bike and gear.
Conclusion: During the race (mainly the bike) I was definitely questioning my decision to register but once I crossed the finish line I was glad I did. It was a tough but satisfying day. It’s not a race to set a PR at (I knew that going in) but it was a great experience and we love visiting Greenville. In speaking with the RD after the race, it sounds like there will be some improvements next year so it should only get better. Barring some unforeseen circumstances we plan to go back.
Hope you enjoyed my RR and maybe we will get a few more people out there next year!
Pre Pre Race: I registered to race in 2017 but Mother Nature had other plans. Race morning we were greeted with torrential rain and they were forced to cancel the race. It was a bummer but I think the right call. They offered us $100 off this year’s race, which I thought was fair, so I when registration opened I signed up.
Pre Race: My wife, son and I drove down to Greenville Thursday night before the race. With the point-to-point setup I thought plan would reduce the stress on Friday. We rented an AirBnB right off the Swamp Rabbit Trail that wound up being the perfect home base for us. Friday morning we headed to packet pickup as soon as it was open and were in and out in 5 minutes. We dropped my T2 bag off and then I took my son and wife back to the house. They had lunch and I went to drop my bike off at T1. After checking my bike in, I hopped in the lake for a quick swim. It’s a beautiful lake and the water felt great but somebody said it would probably be a wetsuit swim which was a bummer. I headed back to Greenville to hang out with my son & wife before heading to bed early.
Race Morning: Being less than a mile from the shuttle bus I thought about walking there race morning but when I checked Uber and it was $5, it seemed like a no brainer to book that. There was rain in the forecast again and as I boarded the bus, I thought to myself “please just let me race this year.” There was actually some pretty heavy rain at one point but by the time we got t Seneca, the rain had pretty much stopped. It was pretty cloudy and there was talk of more rain later in the day so I opted for clear goggles and a clear visor on my bike helmet. Shortly after I arrived, they announced the water temperature was 76 degrees (wetsuit legal) so I set up my transition area, put my wetsuit on and headed for the swim start.
Swim: There were about 150 people in the race and 4 or 5 swim waves so after the first couple hundred yards it was pretty wide open. About halfway to the first turn buoy I looked to my left and there was a guy way off in that direction and then looked right and there were two guys out there. I felt like I was sighting well and heading straight for the turn buoy so was hopeful that being in the middle of these groups was a good sign. After I took the first turn buoy I just focused on strong consistent stroke. I liked how the course was set up with 2 long straight segments and then 1 short segment into the swim finish. When I made my way around the second turn buoy I know there wasn’t much left and I stepped in up a bit and tried to finish the swim strong.
T1: My last race the zipper on my wetsuit got jammed so I was happy that this transition was uneventful. I hopped on my bike and was on my way.
Bike: With a name like “Mountains 2 Main”, you can imagine the bike course was not flat. There were 3400 feet of climbing, which would definitely be the most I’ve done in a half. In addition to not being flat, it was also not short. The race was officially 72.3, with the “extra” 2 miles on the bike. I knew this would be a challenging race but I don’t think I realized how tough it would be. The weather didn’t make it any easier, the roads were a bit damp and it rained a little on and off. I tried not to focus on things I couldn’t control and just start pushing through the miles. My goal was to take advantage of any of the descents as possible but many of them had turns at the bottom or blind curves so often times you lost momentum. The course took us through mostly rural roads with light traffic and mostly respectful drivers, though I did see a few cars cut things a little too close and at one point I saw a woman get pulled over for failing to listen to a police officer at an intersection. As the race began to space out there were plenty of open roads to ride and no risk of drafting. There were definitely some fast bikers who swam slower than me and blew past me during the ride. It was tempting to try to keep up but I had to race my race and never fell into that trap. Eventually we came into Greenville and I was thankful to be off the bike. It went much slower and longer than I had planned but I think my expectations were off.
T2: Transition 2 was the one place I was thought was guaranteed to see my wife and son. Logistically it didn’t really work out to see them earlier and by the time I got there we were approaching lunch/nap time for my little guy so I didn’t think I would see them again during the run or even at the finish line unfortunately. I racked my bike and was pleasantly surprised that there weren’t many bikes there yet. After donning my running shoes and race belt I saw my wife and son and ran over there for a high five, my son however had other plans and pulled away. Apparently he was ready for lunch and didn’t have time for my games. Time to run!
Run: It would be my first time running the Swamp Rabbit Trail but I was hoping it would provide us protection from the sun. The clouds and rain that were out for the entire bike were gone by the time the run started. I knew it would quickly heat up. The run was an interesting double loop out and back that I was originally unsure of. From a mental standpoint sometimes these out and backs can crush me but I enjoyed this one. I thought the turnarounds were well spaced and broke things up nicely. I started really strong (for me) knocking out the first two miles at under an 8 minute pace, I was confident that was maintainable but as the miles passed my pace started to fade. I was passing people through the first turnaround but then started to get passed and my confidence weakened. At the time I thought the heat was starting to impact me so I was grabbing ice at the aid stations and throwing it in the back of my kit. It made me more comfortable but didn’t improve my pace. Looking back I think the climbing on the bike zapped my legs more than I realized. Once I hit the final turnaround I just focused on the finish line and nothing else. At this point everyone was basically on the run and I’m typically one that likes to acknowledge my fellow competitors but by this point I had my head down and just chugged along to the end. The finish line was on the stage at the downtown amphitheater which was a pretty cool experience although I will admit it was a bit of a blur.
Post Race: After crossing the finish line I headed immediately for the cold drinks. Not typically a big soda drinker but an ice cold Pepsi really hit the spot. I found a shady spot near the stage and sat there waiting for some friends to finish. In the shade and not running it was a beautiful day! I was shocked when I checked the results and found out I was third in my age group. I signed up for a massage and continued to enjoy the food and drink until my wife and son arrived. Of course he took his longest nap in weeks as I was sitting there waiting for him but it was fine I was in no rush to move. After they got there we headed over to T2 to pick up my bike and gear.
Conclusion: During the race (mainly the bike) I was definitely questioning my decision to register but once I crossed the finish line I was glad I did. It was a tough but satisfying day. It’s not a race to set a PR at (I knew that going in) but it was a great experience and we love visiting Greenville. In speaking with the RD after the race, it sounds like there will be some improvements next year so it should only get better. Barring some unforeseen circumstances we plan to go back.
Hope you enjoyed my RR and maybe we will get a few more people out there next year!