Disclaimer: I received entry to the Ocean City Running Festival to review as part of being a BibRave Ambassador. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Ambassador, and check out BibRave dot com to review, find and write race reviews!

The inaugural year of the Ocean City Running Festival was this year — 2023. The inaugural event offered a 5K, 8K, half marathon and marathon. I chose to run the half marathon. Unfortunately, we had an unseasonably hot day, which of course, no one can control. The half marathon started at 9:15 a.m., which was really challenging in the heat. There is not much shade on the course.

Parking at the Inlet was super easy and free (a lot of times you have to pay to park at the Inlet). I got to the race early because my running club had enough social team members that we were able to set up a tent in the finish area. Having a tent was a really nice perk, and it made it easy to find members of our club.

Packet pickup was also super easy. I went to the small expo at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center the day before the race. I'm fine with a small expo, as I didn't really want to buy anything. It was easy to get my bib and 1/4 zip. I liked the swag, which was a 1/4 zip with the race logo. The finisher medal was an oyster shell that opened up, which was definitely cool for the Eastern Shore and made for a unique medal.

Half marathoners rode buses over to Assateague Island, where we would start our point-to-point race. In my opinion, there were not enough porta-potties at the start. There were some regular bathrooms and some porta-potties, which both had lines. I waited in line for 40 minutes, nearly all the time I had from getting off the bus to starting the race. Thankfully, I was able to go before the start.

Aside from the Verrazano Bridge leaving Assateague, this is a very flat race. The first eight miles are all on the same road. Then, you turn right on Old Bridge Road to head toward Ocean City, head over the Route 50 bridge, run a small amount Downtown and then head up on the Boardwalk to turn around at 15th Street and head back to the finish line.

Aid stations were about every two miles. This would be good for a usual race, but with the heat, it might have been good to have more. The volunteers that worked the event were great, but the tables seemed understaffed. I do realize how challenging it is to get volunteers for events.

The scenery is best/most interesting on the Verrazano Bridge, the Route 50 bridge and the Boardwalk — the rest is a long stretch of a rural road.

I did enjoy the event and felt it was well-organized (with a few tweaks that could be made for the second year of the event). However, I would love an earlier start and cooler weather (of course, out of the race organizer's control). Read my full recap at she runs by the seashore dot com.