On October 20th, my wife and I ran the Atlantic City Marathon. This was another of the races that was deferred due to my ‘incident‘ last year, but it was good to finally get to knock this off our list.

My wife and I have run a couple of half marathons in Atlantic City and I have participated in the Ironman 70.3 in Atlantic City in 2019 and 2021 but for some reason we had never signed up for this event.

We often vacation in the area so running down ‘the shore’ is something we are used to. We have spent many years treading the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk but this was the first time we would get to run over to the marina and back. Indeed, we spent 10 days down in Margate City, NJ this summer and ran the roads and the Boardwalk everyday during the vacation so there would be some familiarity to our adventure.

We headed down to the race expo on the Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotel. We chose to stay at The Claridge Hotel which is where I stayed when I participated in the half ironman events. It was connected to Bally’s Resort and Casino which was the home base for the event so it was easy to navigate around over the race weekend.

It was a small expo but well run. They had a lot of finisher gear available…but my rule after Mont Tremblant is not to jinx myself and buy anything with ‘Finisher’ printed on it before the race. I’ll stick with that plan. We did stop and buy ourselves a few souvenirs at the store and then dropped our gear and gifts back in our room. As it was early afternoon we decided to walk along the Boardwalk before we headed for our pre-marathon dinner reservation.

We chose a place for dinner which we knew from many years down here. Although it had changed names from the time I first knew it back in 2001 when I first visited, the original sign to the restaurant was on display inside. It was a nice and relaxing evening and we were just enjoying ourselves and glad to be here this year after missing the 2023 event.

After a quick stop for my pre-marathon cookie tradition we headed back to the hotel to set up our race gear for the next day and try and get an early night….although we got sucked into a CNN documentary about the 2000’s…but eventually we did fall asleep.

We knew that the day would be fairly warm but were not sure how cold it might be at the start line. As we were close to the start line we dropped our overnight bags off in our car and walked through the resort to the start line just outside the Casino doors. The nice part of the start line being so close to the casino was that there were nice indoor heated bathrooms. We waited inside the lobby of the casino until just a few minutes before the start time to stay warm and luckily it was pleasant outside so we were okay heading out without needing to wear any extra gear.

At just after 8am we crossed the start line. The first few miles of the course would be fairly new for us. We normally would just run on the Boardwalk but the course sent us off the Boardwalk early and over to the Marina. Usually this would be accessible by car so we had to run through a tunnel to get there. Once through the tunnel you run around the Borgata, MGM, Harrah’s and Golden Nugget casinos. Well…you run around the back of them. Views of parking lots and back of house entrances. Eventually you head back towards the Boardwalk near the far end of Atlantic City near the aquarium (we didn’t know there was an aquarium there!!) and run up the ramp to the start of the Boardwalk.

We got some unique views running around here and it was busy with all the half marathon runners and marathon runners all in one pack for now.

Once back on the Boardwalk it was a straight run down to the end of the Boardwalk which takes you past the finish line and the half marathon turnaround ending where the towns of Ventnor City and Margate City meet. It is a long straight run and narrows up once you get out of Atlantic City and head into Ventnor City, but it was a beautiful morning and the sun was shining. We made sure to stop at every water stop as there is not much shade along the route. One thing to be aware of is that the Boardwalk is made of wooden planks. While they are all secured, the ends can sometimes be a little raised and it is something to be aware of as you can sometimes catch your feet if you are not careful (more on that later). It is bouncy though so a little easier to run on than the hard top surfaces which would be coming up.

Once off the Boardwalk (actually most of the time on the Boardwalk too) we were in familiar territory. We had run this almost every day of our summer vacation. We were paying for the privilege this time. The half marathon runners had turned round before the end of the Boardwalk so now there were less runners on the course and as we had passed by the finish line area it was much quieter with few spectators.

Now we were tucked in on the side of the road which was coned off for runners and heading to Longport for the turnaround. As I said, we had run this frequently during our vacations…but not with 13-14 miles already under our feet. It seemed a bit further to the end of Longport today. The good thing about the course, as familiar as it was, is that it is essentially flat. Yes, I know that isn’t the most exciting thing, but as it was getting warmer it was good not to have to factor any hills into the course. As we were heading through Margate City we were close some of the buildings and it was still early enough that we were able to get some shade from the sun.

Once we hit the turnaround in Longport, which is a nice and logical turnaround point at the end of the island, we headed back the way we came before veering off to add some extra mileage by completing an out and back near the back bay. Once off the Boardwalk you are essentially running past people’s homes so it is not exactly the most scenic route and spectators were pretty limited. The volunteers were doing a great job though and the water stations were well managed. I kept us entertained by pointing out all the cool cars and big houses we would buy if we ever won the lottery jackpot. Hey, I can dream, right?

On the way back from Longport we turned left to the back bay for what was a few miles of out and back through neighborhoods. This was not the most exciting part of the run as it we essentially ran out and back on the same street. Some people were out cheering but as this was the off-season it was not very busy out. We did however bump into some family members who live down in Margate City and were tracking our progress. We met up with them at the perfect time of the race and it lifted our spirits around mile 20 and would power us on for the remainder of the race.

It was getting very warm by now and I think we were both getting a bit tired. With little on course support and entertainment for the last few miles it was just a matter of keep moving back towards the Boardwalk. Once on the Boardwalk it was still another 3.5 miles or so to the finish line. As it was just marathoners left on the course and by this stage of the race we were all pretty scattered, based upon everyone’s pace, so it was fairly quiet. We just kept running, occasionally counting the lamp posts so we could take walk breaks every few for about 30 seconds at a time.

We knew where we were and how much distance was left while running along which was good but it was getting hotter. I don’t think we expected it to be as warm as it was and there is no shade on the Boardwalk. This was the same place I struggled during the Half Ironman races. It’s just a slog at this point. This is when our infamous close shave with the Boardwalk wooden planks caught up with us. You could hear us occasionally scuffing our feet on the edges of the boards as we had tired legs and just before mile 25 it happened. My wife’s foot finally clipped an edge and she went over…like she was sliding into home. Ouch!!! Luckily she was okay (although she would be pretty badly bruised for the next few days) but at the moment she was just a little shaken so we walked for a couple of minutes. There was not much left to go.

Finally we both could see the finish line and powered through to the finish. This was our first marathon finish since Athens in 2022 so it was our longest run for a couple of years. I think it kind of showed, but we had done it. We finished another marathon. My wife’s 16th marathon finish and my 29th. We have still got it when we need it.

The post race village was just past the finish line. As this was not our fastest marathon (by far) some of the vendors had packed up. I am sure the faster runners had moved on as most people we saw just looked hot and tired. We grabbed a bagel and some Powerade and sat for a few minutes to catch our breath. There was a guy lying on the floor between the tables and he looked absolutely beat. At least I was still standing up (or sitting at this point).

We knew we had to get home so we walked (slowly) back through the casino and grabbed dry clothes to change into. Wearing our finisher jerseys and medals we made our way back to Margate to a fun restaurant we liked, before heading home (via one last stop for ice cream).

I’m glad we finally did the Atlantic City Marathon. We can check it off our list. Was it our favorite? Probably not because of the lack of crowd support and the familiarity of our run, however, it was very well run and for someone who has never been down to Atlantic City I would absolutely recommend. I would add that it was great to stay near the race staging area so you can just walk out in the morning without the stress of getting to a race, parking, etc. We had fun and we were all smiles.

Thank you for reading.