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| George Tuley/Caller-Times |
| Runners lean into the incline of the JFK Causeway
Bridge during Beach To Bay in 2001. Construction has forced organizers to change
the race course for this year's race. |
Causeway construction has forced organizers to alter
course, but next year’s race should be back on track
May 16, 2003
By Lee Goddard
Caller-Times
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George Tuley/Caller-Times
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| The JFK Causeway, considered a major draw by Beach to Bay organizers, is not part of the course this year. This year's race will start at Yorktown. |
Corpus Christi’s own sca-led-down version of Heartbreak Hill has been taken out
of play for this year’s Beach to Bay Marathon. But, race director Doug McBee emphasized,
the loss of the JFK Causeway is a one-year-only deal.
With construction on the causeway perhaps at its peak and the safety of runners
a key, this year’s Beach to Bay will be without both its biggest landmark in the
causeway and one of its more popular draws - and namesake - in the beach.
Still, the change is temporary. McBee said he’s been assured by Texas Depart-ment
of Transportation officials that the causeway will be back as the marathon’s big
"hill" next year, meaning the race will revert back to the familiar course, starting
with the sand of the beach.
For McBee, that’s the way the race should be run.
"It’s not a change of pace. It’s not good," McBee said of losing the causeway
for a year. "It’s a tradition thing. People miss the challenge, and they want
that challenge of facing the causeway."
Causeway returns in 2004
Next year, the challenge returns. Cliff Bost, assistant public information officer
for the transportation department, said the causeway will have contra-flow lanes
in place by next year. Even though there might be some construction at that time,
the lanes, which are normally used for hurricane evacuation and emergencies, will
allow the flow of runners to cross the causeway.
That will help McBee, who characterized trying to redo the course for this year
as "one giant nightmare." McBee is among those who are eager for the course to
switch back to its normal route.
Mixed reactions
McBee conceded there are some runners who have been running the marathon for years
who are a bit excited about the change in venue - but they are also happy that
it’s a one-shot deal.
Xavier Gonzalez, who has run the marathon since 1980, said the causeway and the
beach need to be back in the course. The fact that the race will start at Yorktown
instead of the beach, then have Waldron for the third leg instead of the causeway,
makes the old course a sentimental favorite.
"It’s Beach to Bay - this is Staples to Bay," said Gonzalez, who has run each
leg of the event. "It needs to go back to where it was. I ran the first leg the
past few years, and I’ll miss the beach this year."
Wayne Eden, who owns Fleet Feet Sports, has contributed time to the race as an
organizer and a runner. He has helped assemble three teams this year - two from
among Fleet Feet workers - and said he will miss the causeway and the beach but
will adjust for the year.
"Everyone agrees that the causeway is a big draw for the event, that and the beach,"
Eden said. "The beach aspect, and running in the sand, and having that little
hill in there - that’s the only ‘hill’ in Corpus Christi, really. Whether you
like it or not, (the change is) something you have to deal with, and it’s just
for a year."
A flatter, faster course
The change will lead to what McBee and Eden believe will be a flatter, faster
course. Gonzalez agreed, though he cautioned that the narrow streets at the start
of the course could cause runners to bunch together.
Still, there are those who are eagerly anticipating a faster run. McBee said a
group entry from San Antonio is aiming for a marathon record in the Beach to Bay,
although it would not be official, as the race is a relay and not an individual
race for the duration of the course.
"All the teams believe they will run faster times," McBee said. "(The San Antonio
team) knows it won’t be official, but they just want bragging rights that they’ve
set a record."
Faster times, no causeway, and even no beach for a year - it doesn’t really matter
in the end, Eden said.
"The overall consensus is that it’s still a great event and promotes camaraderie,"
he said. "It’s no different than any other event. The course change is significant,
but it won’t have any effect on the enjoyment the people have running it."
Contact Lee Goddard at 886-3613 or goddardl@caller.com
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