Annual Road Race Details Emerge

OCEAN CITY - While there will not be a full Ocean City Marathon this spring for the first time in three years, plans are starting to emerge for a similar event including a half-marathon and a 5K race in April.

The closure of the Route 50 Bridge and other possible road construction projects in the resort area forced Extreme Dream Events, which has produced the Ocean City Marathon the last three years, to scrap the complete race this year. However, race organizers are moving forward with plans for a half-marathon and 5K race in April held entirely within the confines of Ocean City.

Extreme Dream Events officials this week said they are shooting for an April 12 date for the half-marathon and 5K race and are preparing to submit a special permit application to the Mayor and Council requesting permission to run the entire half-marathon in town. In the marathon's first year, the race was run in West Ocean City with a start and finish line at Sunset Grille. The last two races have started at the Inlet in Ocean City and crossed over to West Ocean City.

However, the tentative plans for a half-marathon and 5K race this April will make the event a uniquely Ocean City one. Event organizers have designed the tentative routes to have a minimum impact on traffic in the resort.

'We will use the bayside roads, Inlet parking lot and the Boardwalk, never having to cross Coastal Highway,' Extreme Dream Events officials said this week in a brief statement. 'We believe this is a good course with minimum disruption to traffic flow. We will request the entire 5K to be run on the Boardwalk. If the city turns us down on this proposed course, we will look at other possibilities.'

Ostensibly, the proposal could follow a pattern similar to the annual Seaside 10 and associated races held each October in Ocean City for the last 15 years. The wildly popular series of races are run entirely in the resort with a start and finish line at the Inlet.

Organizers said this week they would attempt to iron out the details and logistics of the races and gain city approval before seeking sponsors or beneficiaries for the funds raised by the events. Royal Plus was the title sponsor of the first two Ocean City marathons, with the Ocean City Factory Outlets becoming the title sponsor last year.

'We will finalize the details before soliciting businesses for advertising/sponsorship packages,' Extreme Dream Events officials said this week. 'We invite any non-profits to use this running event as a way to raise funds and awareness for their cause.'