It took my wife and I many years to run this race. We had heard many opinions on it. This year was no different. We had absolutely no interest in doing it. When about 2 weeks before we were invited to join on some teams as replacements for dropouts. We decided to accept and give it a shot. Our concern was not the weather. We knew how the weather was like in Corpus. We were concerned about getting each runner to their correct corral. Beach to Bay is a 26.2 mile relay race with each leg being different distances. The expo was a bit underwhelming. What should I expect when the race is located in a smaller city such as Corpus.
The morning of we woke up to 80 degree weather and 100% humidity. We all got into our vehicles and began our drive to the start. We dropped off our 3rd leg then our 1st and 2nd leg were very close to each other. The first leg is a 5k run on the beach. Which is then handed off to leg 2 which is run alongside the road. The third leg begins under the "bridge." The 3rd leg is a bit tough because you are climbing a pretty big bridge. The 4th leg is then run on a military base which is one of the least desired because it is described as the boring leg. The military men are their but that is it. My wife having run that one herself said their was absolutely no cheering or much support of any kind. Leg 5 and 6 are back on the road running past neighborhoods. These are good legs except for the fact that the heat is now rising and its only getting hotter.
The finish is located in a very well known location alongside the bay. The party is fantastic with much food to eat and re hydrate as well. I do not believe this race should be judged based off the race itself but instead logistics. If you can get all your runners to their spot on time you will have a fantastic experience. We are officially hooked. is it hot? Yes Is it humid? Horribly Is it worth doing? But of course.