2024 Palm Beaches Half Marathon

“Shut up legs.  We got this”.

(Unknown)

My Walk into the Future helped me discover the Palm Beaches Marathon as I graduated from running half marathons to the full marathon distances.  Nothing scientific on how I selected this race to start running marathons.  West Palm Beach is less than 50 minutes from Fort Pierce, and I wouldn’t need to get on a plane after the race.  This was attractive for me since I didn’t want to be cramped up on a plane and did not know how my body would respond.  The race course was described as completely flat and that was a major factor for me as well.

My first full marathon was completed in 2022 at the Palm Beaches event.  I wanted to improve my time, so I toed the line again in 2023.  I enjoyed the first attempt a lot more than my 2023 run.  The weather was a lot warmer, and the sun beat down on runners for the final 16 miles.  I decided not to attempt the full marathon again in Florida and set my sights on the 2024 Chicago Marathon.  I won’t rehash my training and time in Chicago, but I caught the bug to run larger races in the northern part of the country to enjoy cooler weather.  The full marathon is hard enough without adding Florida heat and humidity. 

I still wanted to run in West Palm Beach but decided to scale back my race to the half marathon.  This would allow me to complete the 13.1-mile loop only one time vice doing it twice for the full.  Fun fact—running the same route two times is not a lot of fun. 😊

The 2024 Palm Beaches Half Marathon was the weekend after the 2024 OUC Half Marathon.  I wanted to finish 2024 with a series of races and this fit my schedule and is close to home.  The race EXPO consists of 10 tents outside in the Meyers Amphitheater.  There are a few vendors but the setup is strictly come get your bib, t-shirt and Garden of Life giveaways and then leave.  I grabbed my goodie bag, bib and headed across the street to ER Bradley’s Saloon.  It’s a funky place with a ton of South Florida history and great food.  They normally have a DJ playing throughout the day and it’s a great place to people watch:  https://www.erbradleys.com/

I made my way back to my hotel to relax and stretch a bit.  I didn’t have a set finish time in mind but wanted to ensure I got off my feet so I would be ready to perform the next morning.  There was forecasted rain in the morning so I didn’t know how that would impact me getting to the starting line and running the race.  My hotel was within walking distance of the start line, and I used the distance as a race warm up.  I always like to stretch my legs before racing and this was a great way to ensure I was ready to race.  There was no rain on my way to the race, but the skies opened after I got down to the race area.  I found shelter from the rain under one of the vendor tents and waited out the rain there.  A lot of runners stood in the start corral and got wet for some odd reason.  Yep, they just stood in the rain even though the race organizers made an announcement that the race would be delayed until the rain let up a bit because it was too dangerous to have us running on the wet and slick streets.  Oh well, I stayed dry under the tent. 😊

The 13.1-mile course travels through multiple West Palm Beach neighborhoods and along the waterways.  The views are spectacular so this is a race I would recommend just for taking in the sights.  There are not a lot of spectators so it’s a bring your own motivation type of race.  The Chicago Marathon has spoiled me because the spectators inspired me to run faster throughout the entire marathon. 

My goal was to run as fast as possible and enjoy the views.  I was hoping to run faster than I did in Orlando the weekend before but that did not happen.  The temperature at race start in Orlando was in the 40s.  The temperature in West Palm Beach was in the low 70s with humidity since we got all that rain.  I was still able to pull out a 2:14 half marathon (10:13 per miles) which was 3 minutes over my OUC Half Marathon time.  I was happy with this time and made my way to the race village to get my beer and pancake breakfast.  I got my beer, but the pancake line was too long.  Headed back across the street to ER Bradley’s and had a huge breakfast and beer there.  It was a great way to complete my last race of 2024.

I’m working to finalize my full 2025 race calendar.  I want to add some new races and still compete in familiar races close to home.  My new reveal is I didn’t get accepted into the 2025 Chicago Marathon, but I will pivot and race the 2025 Atlantic City Marathon with my homey Lauren Apgar.  https://www.acraceseries.com/course.  Marathon training starts on 6/15/2025 and I’m sure there will be articles that highlight my training progress. 😊

What do you have planned for 2025?

Irie!

Calvin Williams

“Running is a mental sport…and we’re all insane”.

(Robin Williams)