I ran this as my first official 1/2 marathon distance with several friends from the area. I liked the idea of ocean scent, warm fall weather, boardwalk, and flat course (with a small bridge that may look more intimidating than it is).
A friend picked our packets, so we had everything ready the morning of the race and were able to stay at my friend's family beach house. The race was just a short walk away from the house, so we didn't have to worry about parking, which looked limited.
It was an easy and rather flat course with a water stop at every mile and one gel stop. They had cheering volunteers at every mile as well and had a competition going for the most cheerful group.
My favorite volunteer group was the one with little kids that helped their moms to collect the eater cups from the course. They were the cutest helpers!
The race experience, after race food, and spirit were a blast and made it a fun race! We also enjoyed jumping in the ocean to cool off after we were done, so we closed the swimming season the same weekend ;)
Time: 2:11
Pros: Easy first 1/2 marathon, lots of encouragement along the way, plenty of water and bathrooms on the course (thankfully, as it was a very warm day), ocean scented air.
Cons: boardwalks cannot be closed for the race, so you have to run around general public, the last few miles are off the boardwalk, on the road and don't have an ocean view. However, the streets were blocked off and it was a cute town to run through. Shirts run small.