Ocean City Half Marathon
Ocean City, Maryland
Saturday, April 27, 2013

On Saturday, April 27, 2013 I race walked the Ocean City Half Marathon in Ocean City, Maryland. The start at the Ocean City Boardwalk saw a temperature of 50 degrees, sunny skies, and a slight breeze for the approximately 1800 participants. The finish temperature was near 60 degrees which meant the weather was wonderful for the event. The course was a point to point route from Ocean City to Assateague National Wildlife Refuge which is known for its wild horses. The course was relatively flat except for a high level bridge between miles 12 and 13 leading onto Assateague Island. Water/Gatorade stations were located about every two miles and were manned by an adequate number of enthusiastic volunteers. Police and firefighters controlled the traffic at intersections and other key places throughout the course which had a mixture of dedicated lanes, shoulders of roads, bike paths, and sparsely used rural roads. The event was very well organized and fun to do. The one negative aspect of the event was the bus transportation from the finish line to the awards ceremony at Seacrets Night Club. Each bus was used twice which meant the finishers in the last half the field, which included me, had to wait more than an hour before they could be transported. I was very happy with all the other aspects of the event.