Checking In with United Community Reedy River Run Race Director

The United Community 48th Reedy River Run is only two weeks away so we caught up with race director Mike Caldwell to see what is happening.

GTC: This is usually a very busy time for you with the race approaching.

MC: Yes, I started waking up in the early hours a few weeks ago thinking of our race checklist and how we are executing. This is one of the oldest races in the south, so we have a lot of experience. However, being a volunteer-driven organization, we are always concerned if we have enough volunteers to execute to our plans. 

All of our GTC events depend on our volunteers and we truly appreciate each and every volunteer. We've already had volunteers distributing our Road Closure Notices along the race routes. That group included two past GTC presidents (both women), a few of our GTC-ELITE athletes and a race participant who came over from Spartanburg on a Thursday to help. 

However, we still need volunteers for race day, especially course monitors. Another past GTC president and current board member, Joe Hammond, has been working with Furman University students to volunteer this year and we believe that will be very beneficial. 

We also have the logistics planning and working with our partners in full swing. United Community is an excellent partner as our title sponsor and we have been so fortunate to have them on board. 

GTC: What constitutes logistics, etc.?

MC: There are so many items to check-off. Estimating T-shirt quantities and sizes is always an interesting process. Fortunately, we work with a local supplier at Emedia, for which we have a great relationship. In fact, we have a just-in-time delivery process with them so we don't have to store the product too many days before our event. 

Then there is water for our participants. Local running speciality retailer Run In stepped up a few years ago to provide water at the 5K segment in our 10K race. We so much appreciate their partnership. Also, another running speciality retailer Fleet Feet has been a race partner for many years and they provide our "bag drop" and retrieval process, which allows runners to store their warmup items before the start and retrieve such at our post-race festival. 

Planning for Packet Pickup is also a vital concern. Fortunately, United Community has a couple of parking areas that we use and also provides many volunteers from their employee base. Our experienced GTC volunteers work with the United Community employee-volunteers to make this happen. Getting 2000-plus race bibs and race bags distributed on Friday is always a challenge. 

2026 Age Group Award

GTC: You've mentioned T-shirts, water, packet pickup, etc. What else?

MC: First, with Greenville continuing to grow, there is always concern regarding our race routes. For example, Rhett Street has been under construction for a few years so we had to avoid that portion the last year or so. Then, we also have to constantly review the routes along the Swamp Rabbit Trail as there have been various construction projects occurring. I do believe we are good to go, according to our great partners with the City of Greenville and the Greenville Police Department. 

We also pride ourselves on our age-group awards, which are beautiful art prints by artist Addison Palmer. This is the sixth year that we have awarded his artwork and this year it is an illustration of the new Honor Tower in Greenville's Unity Park. We have previously featured the Joel Poinsett statue in Court Square, the Eugenia Duke Bridge over the Reedy, Cancer Survivors Park, the Wyche Pavilion on the Reedy, and the arched Stone Bridge in Cleveland Park, 

Our 10K finisher medals also have a similar theme each year--highlighting a Greenville icon. 

And over the past few years we have provided BibSnaps fasteners for our race bibs instead of metal safety pins. They seem to work better than the traditional safety pin and don't put holes in your apparel. They also feature our race logo, etc. 

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And we cannot not-mention our longest partner Jersey Mike's Subs. The crew at Jersey Mike's has been associated with our event for as long as we can remember and they work hard to provide mini-subs for all of our participants at our finish area within our post-race festival. That is a lot of sandwiches. Each participant will also receive a discount coupon for a future Jersey Mike's sub. 

GTC: Looking at the race website, there is a long list of past champions and some very impressive times.

MC:  While we pride our race being community oriented, we also have a competitive history and have had some of the region's top athletes compete on the streets of Greenville for 47 years. We do offer prize money for the top male and female finishers, providing they meet our time standards. While we have had many race winners from all around the country and some international athletes, we are proud that our local athletes have stepped up over the past few years. James Quatlebaum has now won our 10K five times and Alyssa Bloomquist has won the two most recent races. Both of them are entered in this year's event, too. We are also honored to have 1986 champion Dave Geer running this year. 

This year we have the honor of being the 2026 Road Runner Club of America South Carolina State Championship, which awards medals to the overall and masters categories winners. 

Also, our top 5 male and female overall placers and our Masters (over 40), Grand Masters (50+) and Great Grand Masters (60+) will receive hand-crafted wooden plaques by master craftsman Michael Caputo of Caputo Studios. The design shape depicts the Liberty Bridge in Falls Park and will be a unique keepsake. 

GTC: How is race registration coming along this year?

MC: We are on a similar pace as last year, so we expect between 2,000 and 2,200 participants. That is just below our race cap of 2,500, which we have due to much of our race courses being on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, which is narrow is some places. 

GTC: We talked about some interesting aspects of this historic race. Any additional thoughts?

MC: For sure, there is no way we covered everything in this brief interaction. For instance, how many times do you get to start a race on S. Main Street, cross the Reedy River six times, and then finish downhill in the heart of Greenville? We do have our other signature events such as Spinx Run Fest and Greenville Journal Run Downtown 5K, but UCRRR runs through three of our beautiful parks (Cleveland, Cancer Survivors and Falls) plus along the path facing  our growing artist haven across the Reedy from the Wyche Pavilion. 

We also feature a growing post-race festival to enjoy and celebrate your accomplishments. 

And once again, we want to acknowledge our great race partners and volunteers. It takes a city to conduct this historic event.