She Runs by the Seashore

Through my job at Wicomico County Recreation, Parks & Tourism, I get to be part of marketing an exciting new event coming to Pemberton Historical Park this September.

It’s the Pemberton 24 – Festival of 5Ks, which will consist of 24 5Ks, starting at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20. The event will continue until the following day at 7 p.m. Grounds open at 4 p.m. Friday, and there will also be food, beer, music and camping.

I’ve already signed up to participate and hope to run at least eight 5Ks as part of my four-person team, ESRC Team 1. People can sign up to participate as individuals or teams, and the winners are determined based on a point system.

While there’s a question on the registration asking how many 5Ks you plan to run, you can decide on that number the day of the event, based on how you feel or what your plan is that day.

Participants do not have to go into the event hoping to run all 24 of the 5Ks — which is a total of just under 75 miles (and then you’d basically have to run the 0.6 left to round it out — right?). While I admire those who are going for it all, I’m not up for a 75-mile run in 24 hours. If you go into the event wanting to run one 5K, or two, or five, or seven — that’s totally fine.

Runners got to check out the course as part of a training run with the Eastern Shore Running Club, of which I’m secretary, on June 27. A pretty large group ran one loop of the course, and I ran a second loop with some friends after having some pizza.

If you’ve never been to Pemberton Historical Park, it really is a nice place to run, with beautiful trails. It’s important to watch out for roots, but there is nice scenery to see along the way.

There will be another training run Thursday, July 11, at 6 p.m., at Pemberton Historical Park. Anyone is welcome to join, whether you’re registered for the event or not. Come check out the course and have fun with friends. The Facebook event can be found here.

The training runs are free, but to participate in the Pemberton 24, the cost is $50 if you register by Aug. 31 — which is the cost whether you run one 5K, 24 5Ks or somewhere in between. Aug. 31 is also the deadline to guarantee a shirt or reserve a camping spot for $10. The cost to register is $60 after that.

I also reserved a camping spot, so I am excited to camp at Pemberton! I have hardly ever camped in my life — and my few experiences include camping in the backyard — but I’m excited for this experience.

It seems like this is going to be one big running party. Hope to see you there!

Learn more about the Pemberton 24 and register here.

Like She Runs by the Seashore on Facebook here.