Myrtle Beach marathon to boost capacity

Drivers in Myrtle Beach will have to dodge an even bigger group of runners when next year’s Bi Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon hits the streets.

The city has approved a 1,000-runner increase for the half marathon because the 13.1-mile races are growing in popularity, plus a 250-runner increase for the full marathon.

That brings the total capacity to 8,000 in the coming year. Race organizers anticipate selling out the half-marathon entries.

“It’s a big commitment to train for a marathon,” said race co-founder Shaun Walsh. “The half marathon is still a challenge, and it still requires a big commitment, but more people are choosing it.”

For example, Walsh said, the Las Vegas Marathon this year had about 6,000 people in the full race, and 38,000 in the half marathon.

After the 2009 marathon, the city was concerned about safety and said the race as it was probably could not accommodate more people, said assistant city manager John Pedersen.

But the city and the marathon organizers want the event to grow, so the marathon committee suggested a route change that would have begun in 2010 if the city hadn’t called the race off when Myrtle Beach got about 3 inches of snow that morning, fearing that drivers who aren’t used to snow wouldn’t mix well people setting up before dawn or runners, some of whom are first-timers to Myrtle Beach.

Many runners were upset by the last-minute cancellation, and some said they’d never come back, but when the new route launched this year, 2,890 marathoners and 4,090 half marathoners took to the streets.

“We sold out the half marathon last year,” Walsh said, “but not the full marathon. But if you put them together, we had more people running than we would have had in 2010.”

The half marathon sold out in January for the February race. Walsh said the 1,000-runner increase might mean the event won’t sell out as early, but he feels confident the race will still reach maximum capacity.

Runners and their supporters will notice a few differences this year, including upgraded technology to improve live streaming of the race and text messaging to keep everyone updated throughout the weekend. There will also be a kiosk where runners can enter their race numbers and get their official results instantly.

The city co-sponsors the event, and contributes about 90 police officers for traffic control, Pedersen said. But there are always concerns for safety because for at least part of the course, runners share the roads with drivers -- not surprising considering the full race is 26.2 miles and the city is only 23.6 square miles.

The city and the organizers want to “preserve the quality of the event and ensure the safety of the participants,” Pedersen said, and agreed 8,000 could be handled without any negative impact on the races or the runners’ safety, and with a minimum inconvenience to residents.

About 60 parks division staff members participate in setting up and taking down the course, and hundreds of volunteers help the runners by manning water stations and in many other ways. Walsh said volunteers are still needed, and people can sign up on the race’s website, even choosing exactly where along the course they want to work.

Over its 15-year history, the marathon has raised about $3 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of South Carolina and the Horry County chapter of the American Red Cross.

It also has a huge impact on the city, Pedersen said.

There are races and events all weekend, including a 5K and a fun run, which draw slightly more than 1,000 and slightly less than 2,000 participants respectively, plus the full and half marathons. This year, the two big races drew about 7,000 runners.

On average, each runner brings two spectators.

That’s a $5,573,469 total in direct spending, the city figured, with about 80 percent of the money staying inside city limits. The city spent about $33,000 on the events this year, and Pedersen said that’s about what it will spend in 2012.

Runners, organizers and supporters are keeping their fingers crossed that 2012 will bring good weather. February in Myrtle Beach is usually mild, with an average high of 61 and an average low of 37. The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts winter temperatures will be near or slightly above normal, with below-normal precipitation and near-normal snowfall. It says the coldest periods will be in mid-December and early and mid-February, which will also be the snowiest periods.

But if mid-December was any indication, runners should be in the clear.