Runners follow an out-and-back loop course for the half marathon that starts and finishes at the Burkes Garden Community Center on Burkes Garden Road. From there, the race route takes the field through a part of the state’s Appalachian Mountains known to locals as “God’s Thumbprint,” with plenty of trees and farmland along the side of the road during the race and the green, misty mountaintops in the distance.
(MORE: Varmint Half Marathon event details)