I ran this half-marathon as a pacer for my brother (who was running his first-ever half). Overall the race was very enjoyable. The race begins on Assateague Island (by the Atlantic Ocean) and you run from there to the famous boardwalk area of Ocean City.

There was some communication from the organizers leading up to the race, but not much. I had to ask a question or two on their social media account, which they quickly answered. Swag for the race was a really nice t-shirt.

Race day morning there was plenty of parking at the finish line area at the boardwalk. You park there and then take a bus over to the starting area on Assateague Island. On this day the weather was perfect, and we even got to see a beautiful sunrise while waiting for the start.

As for the course, the beginning and end is really nice. Right after starting you run over a bridge across a river which is very scenic. This is also the only hill of the race. The rest is pancake flat! The middle of the race isn’t much…just long flat stretches of road and even going through a community development at one point. The last few miles are great as you run across the Route 50 bridge to the Ocean City boardwalk area…and then the last mile or so is actually on the boardwalk itself.

The finishers medal was cool and timing results were posted shortly after (though I did have to look for them…no results were emailed). My one complaint is that while I saw photos being taken during the race by pro photographers, I have yet to receive a link to view the photos…nor can I find them on the organizer’s website or social media accounts.

Overall this was a good race for a first-time marathoner or someone looking to set a PR on a very flat half-marathon course. Read my full race report at https://runningriddles.com/races/ocmd-island-to-island-2019-half-marathon/.