Monument Ave or Cooper River?

davemunger

In 2015 I was hoping to run two of the biggest 10Ks in the country: the Monument Avenue 10k in Richmond and the Cooper River 10k in Charleston. Unfortunately, next year they are on the same day: March 28. Ugh.

I'll be going for a fast time, so my hunch is that Monument Ave will be faster. It should be cooler, and there is no bridge to contend with. Plus I think it will probably be easier to warm up than Cooper. Anyone have any experience with one / both of these races? Which would you recommend?

larrewl

I've run the Cooper River Bridge 10K a few times and enjoy the friendliness of everyone and the bands distributed trhoughout the race. There are some adjacent streets to warm up on but I don't think you're going to be able to run super fast at any big race. The bridge is tough if you haven't trained for it but I would recommend Cooper River 10K for any runner. I don't know how fast you run but would give yourself the benefit of the doubt for incremental group starts if you're going for a fast time. For example, if you expect to finish in 70 minutes, I'd enter myself in the 45-60 minutes group. Regardless, I hope you have fun!

davemunger

Yeah, I've pretty much decided on Monument Ave. Consensus is Charleston is more fun but Richmond is faster, and this season it's gonna be about the speed.

DavidMartinez2

If you are looking to race fast against fast competition I'd suggest this one:

http://www.ramble.org/index.cfm?cdid=11198&pid=11020

USATF 10K Masters championship 2015

davemunger

If you are looking to race fast against fast competition I'd suggest this one:

http://www.ramble.org/index.cfm?cdid=11198&pid=11020

USATF 10K Masters championship 2015

If it was a little closer I'd consider it -- I'm already doing the 5k masters this October.