South Carolina’s 8th annual Mountains to Main Street Festival has officially come to a close. The event spanned two weekends of athletic fun, including a triathlon in Seneca, South Carolina, on April 28 and a half marathon and 5K on May 18 in Greenville. The events benefited Sabar Charities, a local nonprofit that promotes a healthy, active lifestyle.
I visited this much-lauded small town to take part in the half marathon. Greenville lived up to the hype, and so did the race. If you want to participate, put the 9th annual Mountains to Main Street Half on your calendar for May 17, 2025.
Mountains to Main Street course
First, a little geography lesson. Greenville is in the northwest corner of South Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains — hence the Mountains to Main Street name. Greenville is within a 10-county area of South Carolina known as the Upcountry, or Upstate.
Mountains to Main Street uses a one-way course. People drove or Ubered to the town of Traveler’s Rest, about 10 miles from Greenville, to the course’s starting point at Chico Bolin Athletic Complex. There, we milled around a track, waiting for the 7 a.m. start time. Meanwhile, the 5K runners started at 7 a.m. at the popular Swamp Rabbit Café, just a few miles from downtown Greenville. That way, we all wound up at the same finish line, though the 5K athletes arrived much sooner.
After we stood quietly for a recorded version of the national anthem, the race started promptly at 7 a.m. with a lap around the track. I’d expected the course to be mostly flat, with a slight downhill grade. The bulk of it was, once we hit the Swamp Rabbit Trail. But before that, we had to run a few miles around Traveler’s Rest to make the course a full 13.1 miles. Those were some hilly miles as we looped through an upscale residential neighborhood. I wasn’t the only one surprised by the hills — I heard a loud cuss word at one point from an athlete using a hand-powered wheelchair.
Once we reached the trail, it was all an easy descent. Okay, not that easy — it was 13.1 miles after all — but about as easy as you could expect for a half marathon. The Swamp Rabbit Trail is a 28-mile multi-use greenway. Since opening in 2009, this Rails to Trails project has revitalized the community, connecting different parts of the county and motivating locals to go for a walk or ride their bikes. It’s clean and green and runs along the Reedy River. About 10 miles of the half marathon followed this even, paved trail through tunnels of trees. Every two miles, volunteers thrust cups of Gatorade and water at us. There was also a Porta-potty available.
The race finished with an afterparty in downtown Greenville beside the Reedy River. Huge throngs of people drifted around, photographing each other’s medals and chowing down on food. Shuttle buses drove people back to Traveler’s Rest to retrieve their cars.
Race results
This year, 1,074 people participated in the half marathon and 400 people in the 5K. Nick LaVigne, 44, of Greenwood, South Carolina, won the half marathon with a time of 1:20:31:13. The top female, Jennifer Davis, 36, finished in 16th place with a time of 1:30:23:26. For the 5K, 22-year-old Andrew Malek of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, took top honors with a blazing time of 17:54:86. The fastest female, Shelby Adair, 26, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, came in third at 18:14:96.
As for me, I broke the three-hour barrier, which I consider a success. As former Olympian runner Jeff Galloway puts it, the goal for a first-time half marathoner is “to finish in the upright position, with a smile on your face, wanting to do it again.” I’ve taken on that advice for every half marathon, not just my first.
Visiting Greenville, South Carolina
If you’re visiting Greenville for the Mountains to Main Street Half Marathon, leave some time to explore. Even though my feet were really tired, I couldn’t resist checking out the Upcountry History Museum and the many downtown boutiques full of over-the-top romantic Southern lady clothes.
Greenville also has a big coffee scene (my favorite was the oat milk cappuccino at Modal Hostel and Coffee) and excellent places to eat. Southern Pressed Juicery fulfills all your acai bowl and superfood smoothie needs, while Pomegranate on Main serves hearty Persian Fesenjan stew made with ground walnuts and pomegranate.
These are just some of the reasons why Greenville came in fourth on Conde Nast Traveler’s top 10 list of America’s best small cities last year. This is the seventh consecutive year Greenville has made the list.
Disclaimer: While this article was not sponsored, Visit Greenville SC hosted the writer during her visit to South Carolina. As always, Outdoors Wire operates independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
