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The Jersey Shore Half Marathon is a great local race in central Jersey.
The course is on Sandy Hook - a peninsula off the coast of central Jersey. It is flat and fast. The course itself consists of two out and back laps. Although you're by the shore, the course itself is entirely paved. It uses the access roads that run along the beach.
The volunteers are great. The race is typically manned by volunteers from local college track teams or running clubs. They have a lot of energy, and they'll cheer you on throughout the race. There are plenty of aid stations, with one every mile or two along the course. The only downside is that they only have water - there was no gatorade on course this year. They did offer a gel at one aid station around the halfway point.
While you can pick up your packet the day before the race, race day pick-up was quick and efficient. There's a physical bathroom with changing facilities near the check-in area, along with a row of porta-potties. The lines got long as it got closer to the race, but there's another physical bathroom about a half mile south of the parking lot. If you jog south for your warm up, you can hit up the bathroom on your way back to the starting line and avoid the crowds.
This is a local race, and I doubt many people are traveling to attend. But one downside is that there are no accommodations within walking distance of the start. There are a smattering of motels and hotels on the mainland, about a fifteen minute drive from the race. This isn't a huge deal, but I do enjoy waking up the morning of a big race and just jogging over to the start line.
Perhaps because many people are driving to the race from throughout New Jersey, the race time is later than usual. It starts at 9am. So there's plenty of time to wake up and drive an hour or so to reach the race if you don't live by the shore.
Registrants received a long sleeve shirt, and finishers received a medal. There was no big post-race celebration, but there was water at the finish line.
Compared to many destination races and larger half marathons, the registration price is pretty reasonable. If you sign up early, you can get in for $50 to $60.
Overall, this is a great local race. It's not a big budget production, and it doesn't make for a great destination race. But it's well run, it's well supported by the locals, and it's a great fall race to use to track your progress towards a late fall marathon (i.e. Philly or NYC).
I ran the Jersey Shore Half Marathon this year, and I also ran in back in 2014. You can read a full race report with my experience here.
I live about an hour away from Sandy Hook in northern New Jersey, so I was glad the race didn't start until 9am. This allowed me to wake up at a normal time (6am), go through a relaxing morning routine, and hit the road around 7am to arrive by 8. Once I got there, I picked up my things at registration, pinned on my bib, and jogged a quick warm up.
There were bathrooms and a line of porta-potties near the registration area. When I arrived around 8am, there was no line. But these quickly got busier as it got closer to start time. Luckily, I realized on my warm up jog that there was another bathroom about a half mile south of the parking lot. I saw a handful of people come in and out, but it was deserted compared to the starting area.
The weather this year was atrocious. It was around 60 degrees, light rain on and off, and 20-30 mph winds. As a result, the course didn't have as many spectators as it usually does. Can't say that I blame them, and I'm sure some people ditched the race altogether because of the conditions. But even with the crummy weather, the volunteers at the aid stations were excited and very supportive.
When I last ran this race in 2014, the weather was much nicer, and there were crowds along the course cheering people on. One of the advantages of the short out and back course is that it doesn't take a lot of people to fill it up.
I was a little disappointed that they only had water at the aid stations. I usually like to sip on a little gatorade throughout a half, just to make sure I take in a little sugar. But there were plenty of aid stations available with water. Given the conditions, I didn't need to hydrate too much. I grabbed water at a couple of the early stations, and for the second half of the race I skipped them.
The race is very well organized and supported, but it's not a huge production. There was no big post-race celebration. In fact, I don't remember there being bagels or bananas at the finish line. Although it's possible I was just too excited to be finished and heading back to my car to dry off that I didn't notice.
I chose the Jersey Shore Half Marathon this year to be a tune up race for the Philly Marathon. And it was perfect for that. It's a nice course, and a relatively cheap fun race. I wasn't looking for a big event - just an opportunity to lace up my racing shoes and see what time I was capable of.
If you're in New Jersey and you're looking for a fall race, you should definitely check out the Jersey Shore Half.
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