Myrtle Beach Marathon had a humble start

The 13th annual marathon is Saturday, and events begin Thursday, so we took the time to talk to Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon executive director Mike Shank.

Question | The first Myrtle Beach Marathon in 1998 had 2,400 participants, and this year's event has about 11,000 participants, including satellite events, after several years of sellouts. What do you think is the attraction to the race?

Answer | We're the only game in town that weekend, and businesses so welcome and so appreciate all these people coming to town. It's such an important revenue boost for them in February. Otherwise they wait until Easter weekend or spring break or whatever it is to get some sort of boost. So everybody really rolls out the welcome mat for the people coming to town.

I consider it to be the largest community event that Myrtle Beach has. Everybody in town knows somebody that is running the event, volunteering the event, working for the event. It really touches so many people. Even the [Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship], I think this blows it out of the water as far as the amount of participants and the volunteers.

I think they come here to have a good time, and it's continued to spread. In general we've had really good weather, it's flat, and you can stay at the Marriott basically for $99 on the oceanfront. You're not going to New York City or Miami Beach to do that. And I think we make it very easy for everybody. It's a lot of things, and I really think it comes down to customer service and exceeding their expectations."

Q . | You have been affiliated since the beginning, starting with your representation of All Star Cafe when the eatery became the race's title sponsor for its first two years. Were you a runner before your involvement in the marathon?

B. | I wouldn't run across the street.

Q. | You have now run in three marathons and about 10 half marathons. Is that mainly because of your involvement in this marathon?

A. | When I saw the first race in Myrtle Beach, I would see all these people crossing the finish line with these stories of "I've lost 100 pounds, my dad died, I'm running for my sister." All the stories are so personal. I would get kind of emotional seeing all these people. And I'd see an 80-year-old woman come across that ran her 100^th marathon. It really kind of humbles you and you think, "Well, if they can do it, I can do it."

I never thought I'd finish one but when you start doing it, it kind of becomes addictive. And I love the fact that it's not about finishing first. You can finish last, and it can mean more to you finishing last than it does to the person who wins. Each person has their own personal story to it. One of the first races I ever ran, a half marathon, my dad just had a heart attack and I ended up raising money for the heart association because it was so close to him having that heart attack.

Q. | In that spirit, doesn't the marathon now give some charities spots in the event to sell as fundraisers.

A. | The Red Cross two years ago had 17 people sign up for their Red Cross Rescue Racers, and today they're at 99 at $500 apiece. The Leukemia Society has 250 people at $500 apiece. And you have all these individual groups that aren't even associated with the marathon that come to town and are running the event to raise money for some charity.