Myrtle Beach marathon a huge success

Myrtle Beach Marathon raises nearly a quarter million dollars

The 11th annual Myrtle Beach marathon got off to an early, but great start Saturday morning.

Thousands of runners and walkers were on their feet at 6:30 Saturday morning at the sound of the starter pistol.

2,400 people signed up to for the 26.2 mile marathon and 3,300 pounded the pavement in the 13.2 half marathon.

Shaun Walsh, one of the marathon organizers said the weather was perfect, everybody worked together, and there were no major medical issues.

There were also 130 relay teams in this year's race, but Walsh said the popularity of all the events means this is the last year for the relay.

Walsh said, "It doesn't mean that the relay will be gone and forgotten it just means that we're going to try and see if we can develop the other events with out the relay right now and I know it's sad for a lot of folks, especially the locals because it's such a fun event."

Walsh also said they are not only planning for next year, but also 2010, and their advice to anybody planning on participating next year is to register early.

About $225,000 was raised for the Coastal South Carolina Red Cross, Horry county schools, and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of South Carolina.

The last runner crossed the finish line about eight and a half hours after the race began.

Courtesy of Thema Porton of SCNOW.com