The Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail runs about twenty miles on an old railroad line. It starts in the nearby town of Travelers Rest and follows the Reedy River right into the center of the city of Greenville. It is asphalt and has considerable amminities along the route, such as water fountains, restrooms, benches, and plenty of parking. It seems to be heavily used by cyclists, although I only saw a few bikers during my run, probably due to the weather.
I had a few options to park along the trail, I decided to try area near The Swamp River Cafe & The Greenville Bike Shop about 2.5 miles from the city. I parked in the Mount Calvary Baptist Church parking lot across the street, not really realizing the difference between the store's parking, and the trail's parking. The weather is rather cold and rainy, but not overwhelmingly so. After some leg swings and gear checks, I start my warmup on Old Bleachery Road and take a quick left unto the trail.
This first part of the trail featured not much of anything in terms of sceanery. It was a fairly mundane one meter of warmup running, broken up only by another runner and some agile dodging of puddles. The end of the warmup featured an intersection of the trail, a street, and a railroad. You would expect plenty of warning about this intersection, however, there was an actual gate that blocked off your ability to cross the tracks if a train was approaching.
My run starts after crossing the pictured intersection. Again, there is plenty of tree-lined trail, not that I need it on this rainy day. There is only one other runner, quite a bit in the distance. One side of the trail features a sort of storage depot for train cars, while the other side sees what looks like tracks from yesteryear. About 1K at a 6:30 pace and not feeling that bad.
The course moves over another intersection, a quick right and left jag, under an overpass, and by a memorial to FDR. It is at this point that I am blown away by something on the track; a rubberized surface. I quickly shift my run right on it, and it is heaven. It feels like it takes about twenty years off of my legs. There were some puddles on it, but it still felt wonderful. Strangly, my pace did not seem to improve, but I felt like my goal of going 7K would not be much of a problem.
I continue passing some parks and soccer fields on the trail, and the buildings and activity seem to pick up as I begin to approach the city limits. Things are still going smoothly, but you could sense something is about to change when you start to approach the Route 123 overpass. I concentrate on dodging what I think is a group of birdwatchers (I don't think they were watching the trail or me since I almost bowled one over) when I notice the trail getting wider, and then under the very colorful overpass pillars, the trail seemed to stop.
I followed the sidewalk on the street for a short distance, then the sidewalk seemed to get wider. At this point, the trail was sandwiched between the river and some modern looking buildings that I believe housed apartments. I now know that this is Falls Park on the Reedy, a nice green park located in downtown Greenville. Falls Park because.............
I pass the falls and head way down into the park, reclimb some stairs (and trip, much to the amusement of a couple of city workers) and head back to finish the run, figuring that I have hit halfway. But before I leave the park, I take advantage of a wonderful amenity, a regular old bathroom. It looked like it was in a hotel parking garage, but it said public, which was all I needed. It was even empty and relatively clean. What did I do to deserve this?
Once I navigated back to the overpass I knew it would be a clean run back to the parking lot. I am at about 4k, my heart rate is elevated to about 145 and I am sucking a little wind, but my pace is still where I wanted it to be at about 6:30km. I now take full advantage of the rubberized track since a) it is now on the right and b) I am pretty much alone. It really makes the legs feel good.
As things get more rural, I am aware that the run is coming to an end. Pace and heart rate are about the same, although I am looking more and more at my Garmin to try to figure to get past and 7k. I know I am getting close when I reach the railroad intersection, so I try to pick up the pace a little bit, but it doesn't really show. I recognize the sharp curve near Hampton Street and my run is about at 6.8km. A quick burst, a right on Hampton Street, and I hit the coveted 7km for a successful run. 48:17 for a time, a little slower then I would have liked but I figured that I lost a lot of time at the park and at the restroom. I get a text from my daughter requesting my chauffeur services, and away I go.
I found this trail to fast, flat, clean, and a pretty nice way to see the Greenville area. I was a little surprised to find it so quiet, even with the bad weather. Gray gives the trail the full five stars and recommends you give it a try running, cycling, or walking if you are in the area.
