Panama City Beach Marathon
Panama City Beach, FL
- Marathon, Wheelchair Marathon, Half Marathon, Wheelchair Half Marathon, 5K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
The Panama City Beach Marathon presented by Visit Panama City Beach will take place this December in beautiful Panama City Beach, Florida. The Panama City Beach Marathon incorporates a Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 5K, and Kids Fun Run, allowing runners of all levels to test their limits while running alongside the … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Dec 05):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 73 | 71 | 64 | 76 | 72 |
| L (°F) | 54 | 53 | 46 | 54 | 52 |
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
Pretty Awful.
This review is not about the fact that it was very rainy and windy with some lightning. Rather it's how they handled the race and communication beforehand. I was spending … MORE
This review is not about the fact that it was very rainy and windy with some lightning. Rather it’s how they handled the race and communication beforehand. I was spending a lot of time monitoring the weather situation and seeing what the race organizers were going to do. There was almost no constant communication even up to my arrival there: just a small news here and there which was hardly adequate and satisfactory. I felt sure they were going to cancel the race at the last minute although they didn’t.
As for the race itself, the road is terribly suited for distance running because it’s constantly slanted, enough to give me hip problems. I was trying to find the level portion, but it was very challenging all the way through. There were barely any volunteers out there, especially when it came to pointing the correct way. At one juncture, I couldn’t tell at all if I needed to go straight or make a right. I know somebody who kept running ahead the wrong way before coming back, and that was near the finish line! At the same time, they should have blocked the road completely; there were too many vehicles either way close to the participants or going too fast.
The awards ceremony start time took too long. Just get on with it an hour after the overall winner had been established, and hand out the rest on the side as the runners come in over time. Some of us just want to go home already.
If the organizers won’t care about or respect the health and safety of the participants, they should cease holding the race permanently.
Beautiful day for a wonderful run!
Overall Rating: Excellent! Fantastic all paved course down the main beach frontage roads in PCB. Course Difficulty: A few tiny ups and downs and a couple speed bumps and potholes, … MORE
Overall Rating: Excellent! Fantastic all paved course down the main beach frontage roads in PCB.
Course Difficulty: A few tiny ups and downs and a couple speed bumps and potholes, otherwise, cake. The course is open, which is why I gave it a 4 (I had to yell to get some kids eyes off their phone and back on the road), but overall, about as good as it gets.
Course Scenery: Running along the beach is always good, and here on the gulf coast winter doesn’t hurt you too much.
Race Production: Really good. Packet pickup had no hiccups, pre-race communication was timely and accurate, and race production was really good. The one thing that seemed like it could have been better was the on course fuel. There were peppermints at each aid station, so my fuel for the race was 4 peppermints and a bottle of Gatorade. After all of the races I’ve run, this seems to be a point that is not well addressed. It would be wise to bring fuel with you if you do this race.
Race Swag: High quality custom medal, pretty sweet sticker, and nice long sleeve tech shirt.
My Performance: LOL, this should be entertaining. Tuesday night I was taken to the ER with a passing kidney stone, Wednesday I was at home trying to not die and pass a kidney stone, Thursday I flew to Florida (time bomb still ticking), Friday I tan a few test miles, could only do 4 and averaged 13 min/mi (not good enough for the 6 hour cutoff).
I was shocked that I could even finish this race, and thought really seriously about a DNS (more on that in the blog later), and when I pulled off a sub 5 I was ecstatic!!!
Final notes: This was a pretty big race for me and my Raceraves profile, because I finally turned that last dark blue state to purple-that’s right Karen, I have now “officially” run an “actual” marathon in all fifty states-lol. I still have to deal with the kidney stone and get that thing passed, but this a pretty nice way to seal up 2021!
Be sure to bring your own hydration!!!
This is the second year my running this race. I love to support local races, especially here in Panama City. Even though the course is not closed, we still enjoy … MORE
This is the second year my running this race. I love to support local races, especially here in Panama City. Even though the course is not closed, we still enjoy a run along the beach and back. What has not changed since last year are the logistics of providing a safe envnornment for runners. Imagine our suprise when at mile 2,3,4 7 and 11 when they had no water or ran out of cups to provide water to runners. At mile 11 I were offered a gallon jug of water to drink out of because of no cups. I were even berated by someone delivering water after we passed a water stop because runners were mentioning the stop was out of water. With the conditions as warm and humid as it was, this was an issue of safety for the runners out there. I had thought about switching to the marathon but glad I did not becuase ot the water situation. The volunteers were great dealing with what they were given but they too should have not been put in that position in dealing with angry and thirsty runners. I don’t think I will be back next year unless changes are made and runner safety is the top priority for the race directors.
Boring for a beach race
I ran this race for the first time in 2017. It's within driving distance for me. The marathon was much smaller than I expected for a beach race. Being in … MORE
I ran this race for the first time in 2017. It’s within driving distance for me.
The marathon was much smaller than I expected for a beach race. Being in December, the beach was empty but most shops/restaurants were also closed for the season.
COURSE: First off, I’m not a fan of flat courses. This is a pancake flat course with about a 25 foot gain/loss according to my Garmin. It’s basically an out & back with a few out & backs inside a state park. The road was partially under construction (for 2017) and traffic was not halted. There were several instances where cars came frighteningly close to runners. Police were at major intersections. The water stations were at each mile which is great giving the heat that day. The high temp on race day was in the high 70s. However, several were running out of cups and sports drink was rare! This was a major problem for a lot of runners! The stations were also manned by volunteers who clearly had no desire to be there and had no experience with races. At one station I passed – the guys were sitting in their car on their phones and didn’t notice that we had even passed and walked up to pick up a cup. Then there were one or two manned by older individuals (there was a group of older ladies) who were very enthusiastic.
The course was also poorly marked. A local who was familiar with the course was running with me and he is the only reason I went the correct way on several intersections. More arrows and volunteers are needed at turns & turnarounds. As far as the scenery, it was so-so. There was only one section where you could see the beach. May 2-3 miles worth. The rest was the busy Front Beach Blvd (with traffic) and then neighborhoods. The neighborhoods were nice, but being a beach race, It would have been nice to see the actual beach for more than a few miles.
FINISH LINE: They had water & oranges. That’s it. (Margaritaville was giving out free beer & gumbo.) There were a lot of people finishing dehydrated and overheated (from lack of sports drink on the course!). There was no ambulance or medical staff present either. This is a major problem!
Overall – With a race that claims “Run through Paradise,” they have some serious cleaning up to do. I wouldn’t pay to run this race again.
Not a favorite
This was PCB's inaugural race and while I know effort was put into it, it fell short of expectations. The course was not closed to traffic so we ran most … MORE
This was PCB’s inaugural race and while I know effort was put into it, it fell short of expectations. The course was not closed to traffic so we ran most of the marathon hugging a very small shoulder with traffic. Course support was so-so…volunteers weren’t overly helpful or friendly. By the end they just set cups out on a table and said help yourself. There wasn’t any food left by the time we finished and we were lucky to find a bottle of water. The course must not have been advertised locally because there were almost zero spectators which was a little disappointing. It unfortunately wasn’t a race I will run again.