Set for its 6th annual running this fall here in this small town along the coastal plains region of eastern North Carolina, the Ironclad Half Marathon is hailed by organizers as the state’s “most welcoming half marathon” thanks to its small-town feel and intimate race size, as just shy of 100 runners crossed the finish line in both events combined last year.
Starting from Grainger Stadium, the home of the Down East Wood Ducks of minor league baseball’s Class A Carolina League, runners will head out on a mostly flat and fast course through this town of just over 21,000 residents, whose history dates back to the early 1760s and features a number of Civil War-era historic sites nearby.