I won the Ocean City Half Marathon at the inaugural Ocean City Running Festival last month! 

No, I did not break 90 minutes, but I did break that finish line tape. It was an amazing moment and easily the highlight of 2023 for me. 

My official time was 1:32:03, which was a PR by 1 minute and 16 seconds. I thought I could run faster that day, but then again, I also thought it would be a lot cooler. 

It was 84 degrees by the time I finished the half marathon. On October 28 in Maryland! 

I’ve been living here long enough to know that you really never know what fall is going to be like. It’s not uncommon to have summer-like days into November, especially these days. That said, 80+ degrees at the end of October is certainly not the norm. When I checked the forecast a few days before the race and saw meteorologists were calling for possibly record-breaking temperatures, I just rolled my eyes. Of course. I knew sub-90 was going to be a challenge on the best of days, and really freaking hard on an unseasonably hot day. The half wasn’t starting until 9:15 am, either! 

But what can you do? I was still planning to run the best race I could. And that’s what I did. 

My friend Shannon and I left work early on Friday and made the 2.5 hour drive from Anne Arundel County to Ocean City. Packet pickup was at the convention center, and we were staying at a hotel on the boardwalk, within walking distance of where we needed to board the buses to get to the start line on Assateague Island. We had dinner at Shenanigans and I got my standard veggie burger and fries, plus two beers. I joked afterwards that the extra beer was the reason I won.

The Ocean City Running Festival included a marathon, a half marathon, an 8K and a 5K, and the half was a point-to-point race that began on Assateague and ended at the inlet on the Ocean City boardwalk. I was wearing a sports bra and shorts to walk to the buses, and I wasn’t remotely cold at 7:30 in the morning, so I knew I was in for a steamy one. Once we got to Assateague – my first time there, which is kind of crazy! I didn’t see any wild horses, though – we used the bathroom, hung out with other runners, and then lined up at the start around 9. There were no pace groups, but there were signs that directed runners to line up by their expected pace per mile. The fastest was 7:00/mile, so I lined up there. They played the Whitney Houston recording of the National Anthem, which is always a good sign – I’ve run a PR literally every time I have heard that at the start of the race! Before I knew it, it was go time. 

I ran the first mile in 7:05, then 6:50 and 6:54 for miles 2 and 3. Then I got into a really good rhythm, clicking off a 6:47, 6:50, and 6:53 for miles 4 through 6. I’m not going to sugarcoat it – the race course wasn’t the most interesting. It’s almost entirely flat except for the Verrazano Bridge that connects Assateague to the mainland, and you spend the first 8 miles, I think, on Route 611. It’s a long straightaway and there isn’t much shade, which was especially brutal on such a hot day. It was mentally tough– and did I mention it was hot? I was grabbing water from every aid station, not just to drink but to dump on my head! 

I ran mile 7 in 6:58 and passed a guy who was taking a walk break. “Come on, stay with me,” I urged him. “You know you’re the first female,” he said. I told him that couldn’t be right. I was positive there were some women up ahead of me. He insisted I was in the lead. By the way, I wish I had been able to hang with him – I saw him after the race and he finished in just under 90 minutes! 

I clocked a 6:47 mile for mile 8, and then I think that’s when we finally made a right turn off 611 and toward Ocean City. The race was definitely starting to get tougher then. We ran through some random park and ride and then over another bridge. There was a lot of traffic stopped on the bridge and people inside the cars were cheering the runners on. I ran mile 9 in 7:01. At this point, I think someone told me I was in second place. 

When we got into Ocean City, I heard someone calling out “Shortstack!” (This is my nickname in kickboxing class – long story!) It was my friend Jessica and I was so excited to see her. If she hadn’t been on the other side of the road, I would have given her a big hug. Seeing her was a huge pick me up! I was surprised to see that I ran a 6:51 mile for mile 10, because I was definitely feeling like I was on the struggle bus.   

The last few miles were on the boardwalk, and quite frankly, they were brutal. Because it was so warm out, a ton of people were at the beach for the weekend, and the boardwalk of course was open, so there was a lot of dodging people/yelling out “on your left!” That said, a lot of people were enthusiastically cheering the runners on, so that was nice! And again, zero shade on the boardwalk. It was also a looooong out and back. We entered the boardwalk at the inlet and basically ran past where the finish line was (mean), then ran way down the boardwalk, then turned around and headed back to the finish.

My pace definitely tanked here, but not too bad: Mile 11, 7:11; Mile 12: 7:18. What’s that saying? Positive splits for positive people! Someone around this point called out to me that I was the fourth female, so I really had no idea how I was doing. I just knew I was ready to be done with the race! 

I hit mile 13 in 7:10. As I was coming down the last stretch, I heard the announcers say, “here comes our female champion in the half marathon!” 

And then I turned the corner and they were holding up the finish line tape for me! 

It was WILD. I just kept saying, “What? Oh my God. I can’t believe it!” With around 800 total participants, 500 of whom were women, this is the biggest race I’ve won.

After I collected myself, I went to find water– I was so dehydrated! And then I came back to the finish line area to see Shannon finish her first half marathon in 12 years! She crushed it, but said the heat was really tough (and she loves warm weather!) She also completed the Chessie Challenge, meaning she ran in the Annapolis Running Festival, the Baltimore Running Festival, and the Ocean City Running Festival.

My award is made out of wood from the boardwalk – pretty cool! 

So my sub-90 dream lives to see another day. But tomorrow I am running the Richmond Half Marathon and I am going to see what I can do there. I will have a 1:30 pacer, which always helps a lot, and it’s going to be around 38 degrees at the start, warming up to 46 by the end. SO much better running weather than what we got in OC. I can’t wait to see how it goes!