Question:Does anyone have any comments about their experience in the Shamrock
Marathon, held in Virginia Beach in March??
I'm trying to decide on my race plans for next spring. I hear that the
weather in VA Beach for this is usually not great, windy??
Answer:
I ran it a long time ago (1983) and really fried. Yet only a couple
days before the race, the temperature was in the 40's. That time of the
year you just don't know what to expect. Best strategy is just to get
in good overall marathon shape and hope for decent weather.
I've run the Shamrock four times - with a long span of time between
the first 2 and the second 2. The course was alterd a bit so that if
there is any wind from the South, it's tough going the last few miles.
If from the west, then it's wicked during a 4 mile stretch at 15 mi,
or so. OTOH, a SW wind has a tendancy to buffered by the trees from Va
Beach and a State Park nearby.
The course is very flat, with maybe one gentle incline at the 8 or 9
mile point. Temp can be a problem. My last race there, in '93, the
wind was wicked (20+ mph from the west) and it was unusually cold
(40's). Other years it has been really warm and humid.
Would I run it again? you bet. The race is well organized and
efficiently managed. And when the weather and winds cooperate, it's PR
Beach. It was my very first Marathon, in 1975, and I still think it
was my best race ever. Go for it!
Ran it once several years ago.
Pancake flat out-and-back course- a good course for a fast time.
Extrememly windy on the boardwalk, which is miles 2-6 and 21-25 or thereabouts.
Boring course, with a lot of the middle miles on a military base. Some
scenic wooded miles before/after the base. Few spectators.
