The 2013 Asheville Marathon at Biltmore Estate

Asheville Marathon held on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate

For those of you who read our blog, you know we cherish running at the Biltmore Estate.  It's located within a 10 minute drive from home yet when we are there, we feel miles away!  One of the main reasons we wanted to run this inaugural event was to explore the west side of the estate which is normally closed to runners.  We wanted more than anything to see what was on the other side of the river!...


The Asheville Marathon's course was challenging and hilly. The course lead runners through forests, meadows, gardens, vineyards, along side of the Lagoon, Bass Pond and the French Broad River.  The course also included running a loop in front of the beautiful Biltmore House.

Race day temperatures were frigid in the 20s with gusty winds and a wind chill of 8 degrees. The weather conditions were so lousy that by mile 11 Bart and I discussed calling it quits, but when we saw all the other runners, we realized we were all in the same boat, a very cold  boat, so we pressed on, plus we had just really started to explore the area which we have never stepped foot on before,  the west side of the estate!  This part of the course was a double loop, so we really had time to take in the sights.  We ran past very old barns, through the vineyards and past a lake.  It was rather stark since it's winter time but still very beautiful.  We would love to see the vineyards in the late spring or summer when everything is in full bloom (we may check out Biltmore's Segway tours in the spring).

By mile 21 we were back on the east side of the estate along the river.  This part was the most mentally challenging  for us because after crossing the bridge, we ran in the opposite direction of where the finish line was which is actually in site from the bridge.  The further we ran away from the finish, the more we realized how far back we had to run with the wind in our face.  The last 3 miles were brutally tough, but we made it. The best part of finishing was receiving our finishers medals and  being wrapped in a warm blanket which we were allowed to keep.  The blankets were awesome!  No Mylar Wraps that would eventually end up in the trash.

Race Director Daphne Kirkwood  at  iDaph Events and all the volunteers did an incredible job! Thank you and congratulations to everyone! The race was capped at 1300 participants and 962 completed the race.  Runners came from 40 states and several countries including Australia, Canada, Finland and Romania to run in America's largest back yard.

Race results can be found here
A great Citizen Times Video of the event can be found here
and our pictures are below for you to check out!

West side of the estate...

lake and vineyards and snow capped mountains in the back ground...

mile 17 past the vineyards...

We had to run this dam hill twice. You can't see it from here but the top

was really steep...

It was so cold ice was forming in the water cups.  It was like an ice 

disc. They were laying all over the place...

Crossing the French Broad River on our way back to the east side 

of the estate...

At the start of the race these horses were so excited running along
side the fence with the runners.  By the end of the race the horses
were bored with us...

Finishers medals and blankets.  Bart got a red blanket and I got a blue one

Happy running!

Eve & Bart