2024 Carter Caves Half Marathon

Comparison Tracks - Carter Caves Half Marathon - The blue is the actual course and the red is what I did instead:-)

Overview. The Carter Caves Half Marathon is Kentucky’s prettiest half marathon. Prior to the pandemic, this race was put on by EJ Adventures and has since been resurrected after a couple years off by John’s Run/Walk Shop out of Lexington, Kentucky. The race tours some iconic natural bridges and arches, and the forest here is truly beautiful.

Route Type | Loops
Total Distance | 13.1+ miles
Elevation Gain | ~2,600 feet
Overall Difficulty | Moderate

Race Recap. I DNF’d and that’s alright. I missed a turn and the way it was marked, I would miss it every time. I wound up running a section of the park that is used by horses, so the trails were rough, but the scenery was gorgeous. I tracked back to where I missed the turn and called LaFonda to pick me up.

I still turned in close to 13 miles and a little more elevation gain than the actual course, so a nice day on trail to finish out 3 races in 3 weeks.

And, while there was a lot of complaining about how the course was marked, fact is that navigation is the responsibility of the trail runner, not the race organization. The RD sent a quick apology email, but as is usually the case, the flagging had been removed in parts by unknown parties.

NOTE: If you’re hiking and see survey tape on trees or flags in the ground, leave them there. It’s a common problem with course markings disappearing as most races will mark the course earlier in the week to identify problem areas and do some light trail cleaning.

Enough about me! Let’s talk about my buddies, Larry and May. This was Larry’s first race, first trail race, first half marathon, and he crushed it! He ran strong through most of the race before feeling the fatigue in the last few miles. He powered through and loved it. Here he is with his finisher’s award at our campsite:

Larry Patton after finishing his first race at Carter Caves Half Marathon

And then there’s our buddy, May, who wrecked her knee at No Business 100 last October, had surgery, did the work for recovery, and came out to Carter Caves to take home 3rd overall and 1st female. May is an absolute beast out there and when she’s not running or climbing outside, you’ll find here with a ukulele:

May after taking home first place at Carter Caves Half Marathon - and yes, we love Tread the Red!

So, all around a great time at Carter Caves with friends. I had a shit race, Larry and May had great races, and maybe we’ll all gather around at Cloudsplitter in October. I know Larry is definitely in. We’ll see if May returns to No Business or heads east with us to Virginia.