Clearwater Distance Classic
Clearwater, FL
Jan 21, 2018
Overall Rating

- 50K, Marathon, Half Marathon, 5 Miler, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website

EVENT WILL NOT BE HELD in 2019, per race website. —– Join us for our Clearwater Distance Classic in beautiful Clearwater, FL, just north of St. Petersburg. With a 50k, Marathon, Half Marathon, 5-Miler, an untimed 5K Walk, we offer something for everyone. Start off the year by celebrating a … MORE
EVENT WILL NOT BE HELD in 2019, per race website.
—–
Join us for our Clearwater Distance Classic in beautiful Clearwater, FL, just north of St. Petersburg.
With a 50k, Marathon, Half Marathon, 5-Miler, an untimed 5K Walk, we offer something for everyone. Start off the year by celebrating a healthy, active lifestyle!
In 2013 we were thrilled to relaunch our Clearwater Marathon, after a seven-year hiatus due to road construction. This will be the only marathon staged on Florida’s west central coast this season and will use the same basic course as previous years. The course is accurately measured, USATF certified #FL13013EBM, and therefore a Boston Qualifier.
We added the 50K Ultra in 2015 to provide our marathon runners a new challenge. The 50K Ultra uses our 26.2 marathon course, with a 2.4 mile out-and-back extension starting at mile 16.5. Entirely asphalt-paved, except for the bridges, the varied course ascends Clearwater Bridge with spectacular views of the Gulf, followed by palm-tree lined Clearwater Causeway, and barrier-island flat Sand Key. Gulf Boulevard leads our runners through beach neighborhoods towards peaceful Pinellas Trail, which takes you back to the finish line at Coachman Park. Our Clearwater Halfathon and our Clearwater 5-Miler challenge athletes with multiple bridge ascents, but also reward them with spectacular views from each bridge’s summit. Both courses are entirely within 1/4 mile of Clearwater Harbor and/or the Gulf of Mexico.
We are also staging our Clearwater 5K Walkathon, created for those folks who made better health one of their New Year resolutions. Our goal is to provide a circled date on everyone’s new calendar to come together in the spirit of good health.
All these events start and finish at Coachman Park on Clearwater’s waterfront, an easily accessible venue with ample, nearby parking – an ideal location to bask in the winter sun while celebrating your athletic achievement with friends, family, food, beverages and live entertainment.
For our out-of-town athletes, our award-winning, white-sand beaches provide the perfect setting to relax. Ideal average temperatures (50° – 71°) make this a perfect spot for a mid-winter vacation wrapped around a long-distance run or walk.
LESSFind Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
Recent reviews
- Races
- Clearwater Distance Classic
Poorly executed race
As someone who has been running the Florida Road Races events for 5 years, I was highly disappointed with the way that the Clearwater Distance Classic was executed. There was … MORE
As someone who has been running the Florida Road Races events for 5 years, I was highly disappointed with the way that the Clearwater Distance Classic was executed.
There was a new race director that took over FRR starting with this race. He has been an RD for many other races, but they were all in New England. The course itself was essentially the same as in past races, however, that is the only thing that is equal to past events.
-The Shirts were too small
-As a back of the pack runner, I found that all of the food and drinks were gone when I finished and nearly all of the post race area was torn down already.
-There was minimal water stops on the first half of the race even though it was a warm day.
-The 5 mile runners only had a single water stop
-Water Stops were out of Gatorade and some were very low on water.
-Medals were not available for the Half Marathon finishers and not enough medals were there for the 5 milers.
-The race course was being taken apart even before the cut off times, even though there were runners on the course.
All in all, I was quite disappointed because after running 15 FRR races this didn’t meet the standards that were already established. If these do not improve I would highly recommend to skip these races.
Florida Road Races is STILL IN CHARGE!
updated my review after Millenium Running screwed the pooch on the 2018 Clearwater Classic. This was NOT Chris Lauber's doing. If anything went wrong at this year's race, it was … MORE
updated my review after Millenium Running screwed the pooch on the 2018 Clearwater Classic. This was NOT Chris Lauber’s doing. If anything went wrong at this year’s race, it was absolutely not his fault. Mr. Mortimer of Millenium Racing is one of the worst race directors i’ve come across. Not caring about runners, only HIS team and THEIR finish times.