I’ve spent the last 11 days down south in Murrells Inlet, SC, just outside Myrtle Beach, visiting family. While I was there, I did 7 runs on the beach, which amounted to a tad over 50 miles.
From the first beach run, taken on the Jetty out-and-back at the turnaround point.
I did all my beach miles at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC. This is the park I’ve always gone to, long before I ever started running (it’s been a long time). Its 6 a.m. opening makes it the perfect companion for early morning miles. Over the years, I’ve experimented and settled on a nice 7-mile road that’s 80% sand and 20% asphalt/concrete. I start from the ‘South Beach Access’ parking lot and run 2.5 miles to the northernmost end where the beach ends at the Jetty. The Jetty is a natural turnaround spot, but I’ve taken to running both ends (two out-and-backs) along the asphalt to bump the mileage up (around a mile total). I then turn around and run the 2.5 miles back on the beach to the southern parking lot, which, when you account for the distance between the beach and your car, brings the total of the run to 6.4ish miles. I then tack on a quick half mile or so to the end of the run to bring the mileage up to an even 7.
The sunrise at the beach is always worth taking in.
One thing I’ve always struggled with while running on the beach is pacing. Unlike almost anything else I do, there is zero elevation to be had here, so I end up running quicker, sometimes much quicker, than I mean to. Most of the time I don’t even notice until I look down at my watch and see the numbers staring back at me. It usually takes me two to three runs to dial everything in, and even then it’s never perfect.
Not all the wildlife still resides among the living.
The other obstacle you’ll need to navigate when running on the beach is, of course, the tide. For whatever reason, over the years, I haven’t struggled too much with the high tide, but on this trip it certainly proved to be a formidable challenge.
One of the “good days” when the tide turned out not to be a problem. Still, you can see the remnants of the high tide.
I prefer to run on “hard sand” for the obvious reasons, but on this trip that wasn’t always an option. I found myself on more than one occasion having to navigate “soft sand,” which ultimately affected the effort output.
Sometimes I only had a narrow patch of “runnable” sand to use.
Of the 7 beach runs I ran while in SC, I only had to change the route once. This happened, funny enough, on the last day, when I got caught in a true high tide that erased the entire beach up to the dunes.
Less than a mile north from here, the beach disappeared beneath the Atlantic.
Going south towards Litchfield.
Except for this one day, however, I managed to complete the intended route each time. Win.
Watch where you step; you wouldn’t want to get your shoes wet.
Part of the reason I find running on the beach to be so enjoyable is that it’s a true “turn off your brain” and just run space. You don’t have to navigate cars, roots, rocks, people, trails, or almost anything else. The sound of the ocean crashing and breaking against the shore is the ultimate white noise as the landscape invites you into active meditation. I can sink into my mind without having to split my focus. (This is part of the reason I prefer to run early in the morning.) The smell, the exposure, the wildlife, and the experience are all their own. You can’t replicate it anywhere else.
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
I always look forward to these trips and getting to run here. It’s a good change of pace from what I usually do (not that I would ever give up the mountain running I enjoy so much). The beach is its own kind of hard. Just remember to bring a headlamp (don’t ask).
Until next time.