Hilton Head Island Marathon Reviews

  Incredible- 10 min PR and first sub-3 in 10 years of trying

By Greg about 2022

Review

Great race! Lots of volunteers and aid stations. Beautiful scenery of live oaks and marsh/water. While running the connector bridge doesn't sound ideal, it helped me vary the terrain just enough and to keep it interesting. I think switching the muscle groups helps vs running a simply pancake flat course. They only start the half and full together now, which is nice. They also had 2 free beers at the end, which was much appreciated. There are 2-3 random spots where you are running in the woods/ on a trail, but they were all relatively short and didn't seem to slow me down too much.

Race Tips

Run occurs mostly on roads and through a few parks - I enjoyed it. My GPS watch went crazy in some of the wooded sections though, so I relied more on the mile markers to keep track of pace.

Logistical Tips (Hotels, Restaurants, Parking, Discounts, etc.)

There was a hotel that was .3 miles away from the start, Simple Rewards. It is like only a 2 star place, but is very affordable and the room was clean. The check in people even let me do a late check out for free to shower after the race!

  

By dc about 2015

Review

Great Marathon!
(Bit tougher than I expected...)
Wish I could have seen more of the residential parts / shore line of the Island rather than so much of the Cross Island Pkwy...
Well organized, marked and supplied.
Starting all 3 races (Full/Half/5K) at once is not close to ideal...It REALLY threw me off my pace...
Need to change running across that open field! It was hell...and not good for keeping pace nor for ankles! (Mile 15.5)
Wish I didn't have to hunt for water at the finish line...(delirious) (No free beer -_- ) GREAT pizza though!

Race Tips

Miles 9 thru 16 and 20 thru 22 were FABULOUS!
Volunteers were great but had to ask many which way to go and many were inconsistent in how they were using their flags to point us through the turns...
The way back from the start to your second trip over the bridge (16 thru 19.5) was mind numbingly boring...The second time over the bridge is not that bad...but there's a steady rise (ground overpass @ mile 18) before you climb the bridge outbound...don't get discouraged!