Shamrock Marathon, Half Marathon & 8K

The course for the half marathon features an elevation that changes by only about 20 feet over the course of the race. Though there are some rolling hills here and there, overall the course is fast and flat thanks largely to its location near the oceanfront here at Virginia Beach.
From the starting line at Pacific Avenue and 42nd Street near Cavalier Park, runners head north along Atlantic Avenue for the first few miles, until they make their way into Fort Story, now known as the Navy’s the Joint Expeditionary Base East.
They’ll make their way for a pair of loops along Atlantic Avenue and Shore Drive through Fort Story, located on Cape Henry near the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.
After that, the course brings runners back onto Atlantic Avenue, where they head south in the opposite direction from earlier. The final couple of miles bring them past the starting line area and onto Atlantic to 37th Street, where they turn left and head toward the beach, turning onto the Virginia Beach Boardwalk for the home stretch in to the race finish line at Neptune’s Park. As one HalfMarathons.Net reader commented on her experience of the race a few years back: “I would totally run/walk the half-marathon again. I did it last year and it was amazing. Along with that our hotel was on the ocean with an ocean view which was so cool. The course is nice in that it takes you through camp story and its amazing to see everything along the route.”
The Shamrock Half Marathon is limited to the first 10,000 entrants — 6,800 runners crossed the finish line in the 2016 half — and the course time limit is 4 hours, which means you’ll need to keep a pace of 18 minutes, 19 seconds per mile or faster.