One hour before sunrise March 22, the parking lot in front of Wrightsville Beach Town Hall was filled with more than 2,000 runners awaiting the start of the sixth annual Quintiles Wrightsville Beach half and full marathons.
Some competitors huddled together in small groups, chatting excitedly, while others separated themselves from the masses, seeking a quiet moment of mental preparation. At 6:30 a.m., the runners were called to approach the starting line and moments later an air horn sent them on their way.
The course took them around the John Nesbitt Loop and over the drawbridge just as the cloudbanks on the horizon began to glow pink. All runners made one loop through the streets of north Wilmington before the half marathoners split off to finish at Mayfaire Town Center.
Peyton Hoyal from Blowing Rock, N.C., was first half-marathon runner over the finish line with a final time of 1:09. Jenny Perrottet from Wilmington was the top female finisher in 1:18.
Meanwhile, the marathoners made a second loop of the course. Most of the 541 runners were closely spaced but by the time Walt Guyer from Charlotte sprinted across the finish line to win he had drawn 10 minutes out in front of his nearest competitor. His 6:15-minute mile pace gave him a final time of 2:42 for the 26.2-mile race.
After three years participating in the Wrightsville Beach Marathon, Karen Eckberg ran her fastest marathon yet to win the female division. Her previous record was 3:06 so, this time, her goal was to finish in less than three hours.
She came in view of the finish line as the clock read two hours, 58 minutes. She put on a final sprint and crossed the line in 2:58:59. She said keeping pace with a few of the elite male runners throughout the race helped her push beyond her previous limits.
Marathoner Ruth Cronin agreed a pacing strategy is important. Thirty-eight previous marathons have taught her to mentally divide the long race into smaller stretches.
âI generally think of the first half as a warm up,â she said. âFor me, the race really starts at the half, and then âĤ if I have anything left I try to speed up for the last six [miles], but definitely the last two.â
In the last mile of this race, she said, a volunteer on a bike rode beside her and her fellow competitors, cheering them on, and then she got another boost of energy from the spectators lining the streets to the finish line in Mayfaire Town Center.
Sixty-nine-year-old half marathoner Gene Wickman also had someone by his side cheering him in the final stretch of his run. His daughter, Amanda Wickman, remained at the finish line 45Â minutes after she finished her race, waiting to join her father in the last 100 yards of his race.
Gene Wickman said he travels from Wisconsin to visit his daughter every March, and for the past five years, crossing the finish line of the Wrightsville Beach Marathon together has been part of their tradition. It is a tradition he hopes will continue for years to come.
âAs long as my knees hold up, Iâll keep doing it,â he said.
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