The 2022 Outer Banks Marathon and Half Marathon ran today. The weather sure threw a curveball to start things off. A hard driving rain, wind gusts around 20, falling temperatures—not at all a pleasant way to start a day.
But after about an hour or so, the rain let up, the wind became more manageable and when all was said and done, the 2022 Marathon Weekend wasn’t too bad at all.
There certainly were no records set not today. Quite a number of runner talked about how difficult that first hour was, but as one runner commented, “There’s no guarantee you’ll have perfect conditions.”
And yes, it would have been nice if the original forecast had come true for the morning—light rain and a 10mph breeze, but all the runners were faced with the same handicap, s it all equalled out.
There was a new course this year as well. The raced did not go into Manteo as it has in past years, Rather the start was at the Outlet Center in Nags Head. The Half Marathon ran from there to the Wright Brothers Memorial. The Marathon, headed to Kitty Hawk, retraced some of their steps and crossed the same finish line as the Half Marathoners.
For both sets of runners, the new course spent a bit more time in Nags Head Woods. The full marathon competitors especially noticed the difference; many were caught off guard by how steep the some of the hills in the maritime forest are.
However, in talking to them, they all stressed that was not necessarily a bad thing—all distance races, and marathons in particular, have challenges and the hills in Nags Head Woods was simply the challenge for the course.
There were also shorter distance races on Saturday—a much warmer day. Those all took place a the Wright Brothers Memorial. Something that really stood out was how much participation there was from kids 17 and under. A good sign for the sport of running.
Lots to do still on the Outer Banks. Stop by for a while and be sure to stay in a Brindley Beach Vacations home.