When newsletter editor Will Triplett asked me to write articles on races I ran outside the Fredericksburg area, I wrote a list of 12 unique marathons. I found the third race on my list to be another extinct race. Maybe next month?
I ran this marathon in February 2004. The race was held until 2008. The weekend events included a half-marathon with a much larger field. In 2009, midway through the planning, they scuttled the race without explanation.
Tybee Island, Georgia, is on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Savannah River. Many east coast beach towns have running events with the draw of flat, fast courses. Held in the off-season, the weather is nice for running, and hotels are plentiful.
The course was two loops. The half-marathon started at the same time, running only one loop. As we neared the finish of the first loop, we were diverted to a parallel street to avoid the finish line and started our second loop.
Half of each loop was in the town area of Tybee Island. At the island’s north end, we ran on the main highway to another part of the island around the river entrance’s lighthouse.
A loop may have had a 50-foot elevation gain, mainly north of town.
Tybee Island had its fair of chain and local hotels to pick from, all within walking distance to the start line. There were many eateries to visit.
I flew into Savannah and drove the hour east to Tybee Island. Most of the land between the city and the island is uninhabited swamps and marshes.
The race was on Saturday morning with an 8 am start. Since I picked up my number on Friday, I arrived at the start around 7:45, dropping a bag for a post-race shirt change.
The weather was nice for a marathon: mid-40s with partly cloudy skies. The downside of beach races is the wind, but I don’t recall wind being an issue that morning.
The route through town was on a mix of narrow residential streets and main roads. There were a few puddles to navigate from the rain the day before.
Once on the main highway, we were restricted to the shoulder until leaving in the lighthouse section of narrow residential roads. I don’t recall traffic on the course except for the main highway.
In 2004, a Runner Life Insurance program provided discounted term life insurance for people who ran sub-4-hour marathons. My first policy was in 1998, and I had to renew it in 2004. This race was good for that goal and probably a good BQ event.
Since 2004, beach marathons have become as plentiful as Starbucks in Seattle. Tybee Island’s race no longer exists, but Jekyll Island has one just down the Georgia coast. My favorite marathon, with 10 finishes and my PR, is Shamrock in Virginia Beach. A winter or early spring trip to the beach is a nice break from our snowy landscape. Training through the winter will also keep you from consuming too much unhealthy food during the holidays.