Daytona Beach Half Marathon
Daytona Beach, Florida
Sunday, February 16, 2014

I race walked the Daytona Beach Half Marathon in Daytona Beach on February 16, 2014. It was a little cold for the first half of the race which started at 6:00 AM and saw a temperature between 43 and 47 degrees. There were clear skies and little breeze for the approximately 1500 participants. The course started on pit road of the Daytona Speedway, took the participants about 2.25 miles around the track, exited the speedway to the roadway, headed east to the beach, did about 0.25 on the beach where the cars used to race, returned on the roadways to the speedway, entered the speedway, and finished at the finish line on the race track. Generally the course went gradually down as the participants headed towards the beach and gradually up as they headed away from the beach; however, there were a few small hills and two crossings over a high bridge over the Inter-coastal Waterway. Water/Powerade Stations were located every 1.5 to 2 miles outside the speedway and were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. The lanes of the roadways utilized for the course were completely closed to traffic and intersections were controlled by numerous friendly police officers. There were only a few spectators throughout the course who enthusiastically cheered for the participants. Once again the event was held during Daytona Race Week with qualifying being accomplished this weekend and the main races being held next weekend. NASCAR driver, Jimmie Johnson, who was the overall NASCAR Champion in 2013, once again competed in the half marathon and had very impressive results as he finished 3rd out of 76 people in the 35-39 male age group with a time of 1:28:16. This is the second year that I have done this well organized, fun event and I was even able to view and photograph many of the race cars and much of the sights in the speedway. I am looking forward to next year’s event.