Philly to Philly - Rooning Around: #5/10 Seaside Heights Half Marathon

So I woke up to a rainy Sunday morning (do you remember it?? it poured all weekend!!!) and hit the turnpike to Seaside Heights for thier 32nd annual Half Marathon. The rain slowed me down, a wrong turn sure didn't help, and I found myself searching for a parking spot as close to Sumner Ave and the Boardwalk as I could manage. I found a spot at 9:59, the race was supposed to start at 10:00, so I expected I was in trouble but hoped the gun would go off a few minutes late because of the weather. As I jogged to the boardwalk I was soon disapointed when I saw the field of runners pass by up ahead. (Yes, I was late to the start of a race that started at 10:00) I figured I would skip race number pickup and when I made it to the Boardwalk I hung a right and just kept on going.....

The tail end of the field of runners up ahead running by....

There they are up ahead.... I have some catching up to do. Maybe I should stop taking pictures and start chasing them??

I caught up to some of them at the booths (closed for the winter) of Funtown Pier.

The race heads South on the boardwalk to the end of the Seaside Heights section, then goes out to Route 35 and into Island Beach State Park.

Once in the park, the majority of the race runs along the access road through the State Park. Despite the rainy weather, I was warm and running at a decent clip. Years of running at the beach told me to expect a much different experience coming back to other way. A cold headwind was coming...

I love small hometown races. The lead vehicle was a guy from the Ocean Running Club on his mountain bike.

A nice and simple turnaround. Out and back runs can be a bit disheartening when you hit the halfway point, simply turn around, and still have to do it all over again.