Have you ever tried to run in the sand? Not the wet, hard, compacted stuff by the water, but the looser, squishy stuff away from the water. Right, I hadn't either--until this weekend. Hey, it seemed like a good idea, it's the only mile I've run where I got a medal for running a mile, and combined with the half marathon on Sunday it earned me a Remix Challenge medal. Not that I'm all about the bling (okay, I'm a lot about the bling).

While they don't want to encourage people to take advantage of it, there is race day bib pick-up, in part because people coming in from out of town may have a hard time arriving in time for the expo on Friday. The nearest commercial airport, Norfolk, doesn't exactly have a ton of flights from all points west coast (and it took me over 8 hours to get here). So don't abuse it, folks--only use it if you need it.

While some people complained that it made no sense to force everyone to enter the beach at the 17th street boardwalk when the start was at 20th, the logistics of this made perfect sense. Trying to herd the hordes in through 20th and then into a corral would have been a nightmare, since the first wave of folks were finishing before the last wave were let go.

Turns out running on sand is harder than I thought. I'd figured sand on my feet, and chose to run barefoot to avoid the sand-in-socks thing (which I hate). I'd also figured on sand being squishy. I hadn't considered the amount of lateral movement, the sand kick-up from other runners, and the amount of salt that would accumulate on my glasses. I was happy for the overcast day (no shade at the beach) and for the pre-race rain that made the sand wet-ish so it wasn't as dusty as it could have been. If I were to do this race again, I'd take a Buff to wear over my nose/mouth, and lab goggles to wear over my glasses.

It took me almost twice as long as I'd anticipated to run the Mile in the Sand. I loved the crowds cheering in the last finishers, who fought hard to earn the sand dollar medal. I'm not sure I'd do this race again, just because I dislike being sandy and salty (I'm not a beach person). It was fun to go though, and especially to go with a local who knew pretty much every local running.
For some more pictures and more about my experience, check out http://www.trainwithbain.com/mile-in-the-sand-2015/