Set for its 46th annual running this spring along a point-to-point route through this city that’s home to just over 30,000 on the Delmarva Peninsula and lies roughly a two-hour drive from Baltimore, the SBY Marathon & Half Marathon will offer a relatively fast and flat course that runs through the city, residential neighborhoods and through city parks.
Start in City Park. You’ll cross the starting line along the edge of Salisbury’s City Park near the intersection of South Park Drive and Sheffield Avenue, and from there you’ll head north and east, making your way through the park and along the lake inside it.
Once you make it back onto South Park Drive, the race will continue unfolding largely along the Beaglin Branch and Schumaker Pond, bringing runners east and south into more rural areas just outside the city. There are a few rolling hills in these stretches, especially between miles 3 and 4.
Half-way point heads downhill. Once you make it to the mid-way point of the race along Nutters Cross Road and Coulbourn Mill Road, you’ll start a very gradual descent that doesn’t stop until you reach the finish line back in downtown Salisbury. While there are some more hills on the course — especially in the last couple of miles — overall the course is downhill from there.
Run through scenic Salisbury University. Between miles 9 and 10, you’ll make your way through the campus of Salisbury University, which has so many trees and woody and herbaceous plants that it was made a state arboretum by the American Public Gardens Association in 1988.
The 200-acre campus is filled with beautiful trees, flowers and sculpture, some of which you’ll get to see as you run past its Sea Gull Stadium and past its academic buildings.
The final few miles of the race run in parallel to the winding Wicomico River, which will bring you back into town and across the river at Mill Street, where you’ll turn and head east to cross the finish line on West Main Street.
Generous time limits. Organizers say you’ll need to keep a pace of 16 minutes per mile to avoid the rolling cut-offs at mile 10, meaning half marathoners have 3 hours, 30 minutes to complete the course.
