Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012

Winter Fun Guide | Myrtle Beach Marathon planning for more runners this year

jblackmon@thesunnews.com

Runners head north on Ocean Boulevard for the 14th Annual Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon in 2011. The marathon has added room for more runners this year

 

More runners will hit the streets in this year’s Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon than ever before.

The city 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, and so far 7,000 people have signed up for the marathon, half-marathon and 5K.

That’s about 300 more people than had signed up by this time last year.

“We’re still trending up, which is fantastic,” said race co-founder Shaun Walsh. 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.

It also means there might be some spots open for last-minute entries, which has never been possible before.

The increase brings the total capacity to 8,000 in the coming year.

“We’re fortunate that every year we’ve been able to have more people running and walking the streets of Myrtle Beach,” Walsh said.

Even the fun-run event appears to be attracting more runners -- mostly area school children and supporters. At its peak in 2008, 3,000 children participated. Numbers fell off in 2009 to about 1,800, but began going up again in 2010. Last year there were about 2,300 runners.

That event raises money for schools, and Walsh said he looks forward to writing that check every year.

“We have a traveling trophy for the school with the most participants, and Seaside Elementary near Surfside Beach has won the trophy every year since the trophy was initiated in 2001,” he said.

The school was able to buy a rock-climbing wall with the money raised last year.

The popularity of running events, especially the half-marathon, has been increasing nationwide in the past few years.

“It’s a big commitment to train for a marathon,” Walsh has said. “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 last 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 with 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 last 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.”

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.

Runners, organizers and supporters are keeping their fingers crossed for 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.

Contact LORENA ANDERSON at 444-1722.