Surfside Beach (half) Marathon

WHEW!! The Surfside Beach (half) Marathon was tough!

They put on a nice race down there, but didn't get much cooperation from Mother Nature!

The fog was really thick when we first got down to the beach and it was difficult to tell where to go while also making sure to not drive into the ocean!

The first 4-5 miles of the race were good, it was cloudy but the weather was nice.

It was really nice looking at the water and seeing the blue-green color which faded into grey and then the white caps breaking stirring up the brown sand at waters edge. The sand felt good, not difficult to run on at all.

But then we headed into some strong wind. My back ached from being hunched down and was super glad to see the turn around for the 1/2 marathon at mile 9. And I thought of the poor marathoners that would keep going for another 7 miles into that wind!

After the turn, things were looking good for a while and the the thunder started cracking. I never saw any lightning but the thunderboomers were loud!

And then the skies opened up. The rain was like needles coming down and with the high winds it was somewhat vertical. Luckily for me, I was headed away and once again I thought of the poor marathoners headed into that mess. Someone that did the marathon said it almost felt like small hail at times.

And it did get really chilly.

I'm guessing the rain kept up like that for an hour or so, then stopped, but later rained some more.

I had a PRW - Personal Record Worst. Doing good until the weather turned & after that I just bagged it and walked it in...

At packet pickup, we got nice yellow windjackets with an embroidered logo, a stone drink coaster, a coffee mug and some thick winter-type gloves.

Aside from one dead dolphin, the beach was pretty clean. Small patches of seaweed about, nothing that impeded the run. I heard from the marathoners that there was more debris past the 1/2 turnoff, but not bad.

The pavilion where the post race party is usually held was a victim of Ike, so the party was in a tent. There were a lot of beach houses that apparently felt Ike's wrath also. Most were still mostly-standing, but not sure if they can be repaired or will need to be rebuilt.

One of the cutest things ever at a race -- they had blue porta potties for boys and pink ones for girls! AND they had a handwashing station in between complete with soap, water and paper towels! That's about as classy as you can get for outdoor temporary facilites on the beach!!


Water stops along the course were adequate & this was the only race I didn't carry fluids. One also had Gu. Crowd support was basically non-existant, but we had the waves to cheer us on :-)

Mowi Wowi set up a stand on the beach and all finishers got a free smoothie. I had a mango-orange/pina colada combo that was awesome.

The post race meal was BBQ! It was great and plentiful - sliced beef, chopped beef, sausage, chicken, beans, BBQ cabbage, potato salad and pickles/jalapenos/bread. They had a variety of store bought cookies, muffins, coffee cakes & bagels both before and after the race. Sodas, tea & water.

I'm starting to get choosy on which races I want to do a second time and this is one I definitely plan to do again next year!

Hope Mother Nature is nicer then.