Myrtle Beach Marathon route change freshens race

MYRTLE BEACH -- Runners in the Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon on Saturday will have more to divert their attention from their arduous trek than in the event's previous 12 years.

Marathon organizers have altered the race's route for the first time in nine years, and it now includes a jaunt through The Market Common for the first time and an extended look at the Atlantic Ocean.

A continuous stretch on Ocean Boulevard from about the old Air Force Base to 82nd Avenue North on Ocean Boulevard accounts for 10 of the 26.2 miles.

"This is the longest stretch we've ever had going along Ocean Boulevard," marathon executive director Mike Shank said.

The course now extends farther north and south than it ever has. For the past eight years, it stretched from 28th Avenue South to 79th Avenue North. The run through The Market Common lengthens the course on the south end, and the course reaches 82nd Avenue North on the north end.

"One reason [for the change] was to free up traffic and the other reason was to get Market Common involved," marathon president and co-race director Shaun Walsh said. "You've got a great facility down there. We'll show a lot of people who don't know about it that it's a great area now. The way the city has landscaped it, it's gorgeous so it makes for a perfect running area, too."

As in past years, the race begins and ends at BB&T Coastal Field on 21st Avenue North and Grissom Parkway. Runners head south on Kings Highway beginning at Mr. Joe White Avenue; go through The Market Common; head north on Ocean Boulevard to 82nd Parkway; go up 79th Avenue North and back down 76th Avenue North; head back south on Kings Highway to Mr. Joe White Avenue; and finally reach the finish line at BB&T Field.

"We create havoc with traffic patterns for a few hours on a Saturday morning, and it's difficult on a north-south type of topography, but where do you put the course that makes it interesting for the participants . . . and allows people to go to work?" Walsh said. "We're always experimenting to make things better."

The new route helps traffic flow primarily for people between Kings Highway and Ocean Boulevard from 29th Avenue North to 28th Avenue South. In recent years they've been essentially landlocked, having to cross through runners to drive in either direction. Now they can head south on Ocean Boulevard or north on Kings Highway without having to cross through runners.

"We're trying to allow people in the hotels some freedom to get in and out," Walsh said.

The south end of the course early in the morning will be the most crowded because the half-marathoners turn off Ocean Boulevard at Mr. Joe White Avenue on the way north.

"We're going to upset some people because some people just don't realize what's going on or don't plan accordingly," Walsh said. "But what we're trying to do is make it so if someone has a tee time ... there's some chance that you'll make it."

Race organizers said they have been assured by city officials the road work on Ocean Boulevard from Fourth Avenue South to First Avenue will be completed before the race. The primary concern regarding road conditions is for wheelchair and crank chair participants.

"It happens every year, and every year they patch it up enough for the race," Shank said.

Organizers believe the stretching of the course also sets the event up for expansion by alleviating some runner congestion on side streets.

The Dasani Half Marathon has sold out eight consecutive years, and the full marathon has sold out four straight years. The number of race-day runners has been increased 10 percent this year to about 6,600, as marathoners are increasing from 2,500 to 2,750 and half marathoners are increasing from 3,500 to 3,850.

"The hope is each year we can add," Shank said. "We added a few hundred people this year, and maybe we'll add a couple hundred people next year. We'll see how this works out."

There were 2,400 participants in the first year in 1998, and there are now about 11,000 in three days of events, including a children's Fun Run, 5-kilometer run and three cycling rides.

Further expansion will likely come at a marginal pace in an attempt to keep the race and events from becoming cumbersome for participants and organizers. There will be approximately 1,500 volunteers on the course this year, including medical personnel.

"We try to maintain the integrity of the event because we're not a Boston, we're not Chicago, we're the biggest little marathon we can possibly be," Walsh said. "You come to our event and have a really good time. We can provide a wonderful marathon experience."

The scenic course is part of that, but the new route also raises some concerns for runners. Those concerns include numerous turns and the potential for a headwind for 10 consecutive miles on Ocean Boulevard.

The Market Common area of the course has several quick turns and includes Farrow Parkway, Johnson Avenue, Hackler Street and Howard Avenue, and there are also a number of quick turns at the north end of the course.

"I'm concerned about the number of turns in The Market Common area, because any time you have to make a turn it takes longer than just running straight," said 2004 Myrtle Beach Marathon winner and Coastal Carolina University professor Christine Rockey, 39, who has run in 30 marathons. "My second concern is you're on the ocean for so long, if there's any headwind it's just straight headwind without any breaks."

The stretch from about 19.5 miles to 24.5 miles can also be disconcerting to runners because it goes down Kings Highway past numbered streets that will remind runners what they have remaining.

"You go from 78th all the way to 11th, and you used to turn on 29th," Rockey said. "That's just 18 more streets to look at numbers and that's kind of demoralizing when you're trying to finish."

Her opinion of the course, and the opinions of another 6,599 runners, won't be fully formulated until Saturday morning.

"It might be better," Rockey said. "I might totally love it once I run it."