Change in dates could become a boon for Myrtle Beach Marathon

When temperatures were in the 20s in the morning hours of Feb. 13, Myrtle Beach Marathon president Shaun Walsh could see his breath when he exhausted a sigh of relief.

“I was glad we weren’t running the marathon then,” Walsh said.

Had organizers not moved the race dates to the first weekend in March for this year’s 19th running, it would have been run in those frigid temperatures on Presidents Day weekend.

Though Walsh said the date change was made to accommodate the city’s tourism schedule, and organizers were taking a risk by moving it out of February for the first time, there may prove to be some residual benefits to the move.

The chances of better weather increases in early March – and the current forecast calls for it to be greatly improved from Feb. 13 – and retaining approximately the same number of entries in races from 2015 bodes well for increases in the future.

“When you move a date for something that has been on the same dates for as long as it has you get people that are disappointed, but you also open yourself to new markets,” Walsh said. “Doing things the way you’ve always done them is no excuse not to change.”

The impetus for moving the event was to take dates that some city and Grand Strand tourism leaders deemed more desirable for the area. On Presidents Day weekend, and with Valentine’s Day sometimes coinciding with it, as it did this year, there were already occasions for tourists to visit the area.

“The date change is more brought about by really trying to be good community stewards,” Walsh said. “We worked with city council and the chamber and looked at dates that would be less obtrusive to other tourists coming to town, and the first weekend in March looked like a slower weekend.”

The race has been plagued by bad weather in recent years. It was canceled in 2010 because of a rare snow storm, an ice storm in the days leading up to the 2014 race kept numerous registered runners from traveling to it and runners have also had to deal with rain and windy conditions in other years.

Though the race is still a week away, the forecast calls for a low of about 40, high of 57 and mostly sunny skies.

Walsh said registration numbers were down about 20 percent for marathon-day races for a while, but a late surge has them generally on pace with last year: about 2,000 for the marathon, 3,800 for the half marathon, and more than 100 teams for the four- or five-member relay teams.

Entries in Friday’s 5-kilometer run are down from last year’s 1,400 participants, though Walsh expects the race to exceed 1,000 runners, as many wait to see the weather before registering.

Online registration ends Monday for Saturday’s races and runners will be able to register in person at the HTC Runner’s Expo at the new Myrtle Beach Sports Center on Thursday and Friday. Registration for the 5K ends at 4 p.m. Friday at the expo.

Entries were down in 2015 from 2014, which featured a near-record high of approximately 7,000 runners in the marathon, half marathon and marathon relay races.

The event was a sellout for several consecutive years through 2010, but it was capped at less than 7,000 marathon day participants for several years. But alterations to the race route enabled by the opening of new roads, and the closing of much of the course to automobile traffic in recent years has helped organizers eliminate the cap.

Retaining the registration level in the first year with later dates is a sign that a new race participation record could be forthcoming.

“We’re always trying to build a better event and have more people come, and we’ve had extra support with the city and chamber [of commerce] with the move,” Walsh said. “I’m hoping once we’ve had some time to establish our weekend we become a beacon on the marathon and half marathon calendar for people.

“The more people we can get here the better for everybody.”

The marathon lost one of its selling points for February dates several years ago. Through its first dozen years or so, it was among the final races before the cutoff for qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

But the iconic April race now sells out well before the Myrtle Beach Marathon takes place, so runners qualifying here have to wait until the next year's Boston Marathon.

Competition for runners has increased greatly since the Myrtle Beach Marathon was first run in 1998.

The Hilton Head Island marathon/half marathon and 5K, and the Oak Island (N.C.) half marathon were coinciding with Myrtle Beach’s Presidents Day weekend dates, and the Charleston marathon/half marathon was created in January a few years ago.

The Columbia Run Hard Marathon is also this upcoming Saturday, as well as a race in Orlando, but every date this time of year has multiple marathons. The Wrightsville Beach marathon/half marathon outside Wilmington, N.C., is two weeks after Myrtle Beach’s race.

“I used to be able to count them. Now everybody’s got a marathon,” Walsh said. “Going forward, I think it’s always going to be an unknown. The calendar is already so jam packed with marathons and half marathons in the Southeast, now it’s just a matter of putting on a great, first-rate event and trying to attract people to come here.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Change in dates could become a boon for Myrtle Beach Marathon."