Guess what? This past weekend, we ran and drank beer. Nothing new I know but this time we were down in Charleston, SC for the Cooper Bridge Run. It was a little spring time getaway for the Mrs and I to explore the up and coming Charleston beer and food scene while finally running the annual 10k race from Mt Pleasant into downtown. Our fellow beer knurd friends Dave and Hoey from Raleigh were also in town for the Furthur Festival and to partake in the beer scene as well.
We stayed in an old row house not far off King Street that we booked a room in for the 3 day weekend. It ended up being a great stay and couldn't have been a more convenient location in relation to the race and historic Charleston's offerings.
Race day came on Saturday morning and the weather was absolutely perfect. The wind that had whipped through the city all week died down and the sun came up well before the 8am start. As expected, the crowds at the start and throughout the race were insane. Estimates were that 40,000 runners and walkers took to the start with thousands more crowding the streets cheering in downtown Charleston.
All in all, we both had a good race though the challenge of running around and through hundreds if not thousands of walkers and slower runners for the 6.2 miles was daunting. Kudos to race organizers for switching to a wave start with corrals this year but shame on the folks who lied about their predicted pace or snuck into corrals up front that they had no business being in. Despite the crowds, my time was within 3 minutes of my 10k PR that I set back in 2003. I would love to run this race again and start closer to the front, I think a new 10k PR would be doable considering the majority of the race is flat. Running up the bridge was challenging but no more so than the hills we regularly run in Raleigh. The bridge's downhill and flat finish more than rewarded us for the run up the other side.
As she did in Greensboro, Michelle did a great job running her first 10k distance. She managed to run the entire distance and maintained her pace to finish within her targeted time. I was very proud of her for making it look so easy. The goal of running a half marathon this spring is looking promising right now.
Our post-run celebration quickly moved from Madison Square to Closed 4 Business on King St. C4B is a new craft beer bar and restaurant that we quickly became fans of upon our arrival to Charleston. They really serve up some great local and national brands of brew. Following lunch and pints at C4B, we headed over to The Griffon, another older bar in Charleston that also serves up craft beer on tap and bottle. After another round or three with the guys, we headed back to the house for some rest.
Along with the run and tasty meals around town, we also found time to visit three Charleston area craft breweries. Our first night in town took us out to Coast Brewing in North Charleston and Westbrook Brewing in Mt Pleasant. We had heard a lot about Coast but nothing about Westbrook being that they are so new. Both offered tasty brews that we really enjoyed. We sampled 4 beers at Coast and 6 at Westbrook. Our favorite beer of the night was predictably the HopArt IPA at Coast though their All Simcoe Pale and Milk Stouts were particularly awesome as well. It was good to chat with the owners and brewers at Coast - good folks who just love good beer. We got to Westbrook pretty late after the tour hours were ending but we still got to the bar for a quick word with the bar manager and a peek in the massive brewhouse. They definitely have a future ahead of them.
Saturday evening, we headed out to Folly Beach for the heck of it. No idea what we would get into but as we pulled into town, I noticed a sign along Center St that said Brew Pub. After exploring Folly a bit, we walked over to the Brew Pub to check things out. Turns out, we were at Folly Beach Brewing Company and it didn't take long for me to meet one of the owners and brewers, Andy introduced himself and showed me around the "brew house." Folly Beach Brewing is likely the smallest brewery I will ever see as its only a step above a lot of my friend's home brewing operations.
Andy was very cool, explained that they recently ran out of beer and would have more ready in a week or two. Given the size of their operation, that was totally understandable. He mentioned that they make a lot of IPAs and that their hefeweizen is very popular. Even though they were out of their own brew, the bar had a great selection of craft brew taps and a cold box of bottles to choose from. Andy broke out a couple specialties he wanted to share with us and the day continued into the evening. It didn't take us long to become fans of Folly Beach and I predict a return visit for a longer stay real soon.
All and all, another great weekend of beer and racing with the Mrs and friends. Charleston is definitely a great spot for enjoying both.
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