We Run This Beach Half Marathon: Two Loops, Three Boardwalks, and Live Music

Jennifer Clark (HF16743,DA3643,MM15623) – Half 326, We Run This Beach Half Marathon
Gulf Shores, Alabama
February 23, 2025
Radar showed steady rain today in Gulf Shores. Not very appealing for a 13.1 run!! Fortunately the weatherman was wrong! Today was cool with occasional light rain in Gulf Shores for We Run This Beach.
The start and finish were at the Gulf State Park Pavillion. From there we crossed over Beach Blvd and into Gulf State Park. The race was run entirely on hike and bike trails in the Park. Most of the Half Marathon course was on asphalt paths, but there were 3 boardwalks, 2 of which were over a mile.
The course was flat, and made up of two side by side loops. The first one went around Lake Shelby and the second went through woods and over marshland before crossing over Beach Blvd on a pedestrian bridge back to the finish.
The course was marked with colored arrows on the path for both the half and full. There were aid stations about every 2 miles and they were well-stocked with water and PowerAid. Some also had GU gels. The stop at Mile 8 had a unique group of volunteers… a mom and her seven daughters!! Cool!!
The after party had pulled pork sandwiches (yum!), chips, beer and soft drinks. There was also live music.
Packet pickup (along with a small expo) was Friday and Saturday at The Lodge and limited pickup before the race at The Pavillion.
We Run This Beach has a 5k and 10k on Saturday and a Half Marathon/Marathon on Sunday, and offers multi-race challenges also. There were about 500 runners in the Sunday races.
This was my second year to run this race and I look forward to doing it again.