WHEELING - Participants and spectators of the 35th annual Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic will have an expansive food menu to provide nourishment for the Memorial Day weekend's events.
This year, runners, walkers and fans of the annual Half Marathon event can choose to dine on cuisine from River City Ale Works, Papa Johnny's, the Soup Shack, Scottie's Dogs and Davis Food Express. All the vendors will have stands set up at Wheeling's Heritage Port.
"In the past, Half Marathon participants were offered a set menu, and we believe this change offers runners a broader food selection while also accommodating fans of all the weekend's events," said Shellie Higgins, The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register's classified advertising manager and assistant Half Marathon race director.
Scottie's Dogs and Papa Johnny's will be open for business downtown during lunch hours Friday, May 27, while all five vendors will be ready to serve patrons at Heritage Port by 9 a.m. Saturday, May 28, Higgins said.
The Half Marathon events start Friday, May 27, with the Veterans' Torch Relay, the OV Parent Tiny Tot Trot, Ogden Fun Run and Ogden Mile. The Half Marathon Walk begins at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, May 28, followed by the Half Marathon Run at 8 a.m. and the 5K Run/Walk For Health commencing at 8:15 a.m.
The new Half Marathon course is 0.7 miles longer than the previous 20K event. Race Director Robert "Scat" Scatterday said the distance is being made up in South Wheeling.
Scatterday said for the 20K race held in years past, runners and walkers headed south on Chapline Street past 29th Street and then turned left on 31st Street. This year, for the Half Marathon, they will proceed straight down Chapline Street, passing Wheeling Middle School and turning left at 37th Street.
"Proceeding east for two blocks to Jacob Street, the runners then will turn north on Jacob Street to 33rd Street. They will turn left on 33rd Street for one block before turning right on Eoff Street, continuing north to 29th Street," he continued. "At 29th Street they will turn right and proceed up 29th Street.
"What that has done, as far as the new locations of the remaining mile markers, is mile marker 4 is on the 29th Street flat, mile marker 5 is at the crest of the 29th Street/Bethlehem Hill, and the Half Marathon relay exchange point is at the bottom of the hill on Bethlehem Boulevard at Bridge Street and East Cove Avenue," Scatterday said.
Mile marker 7 will be located at the Stone Bridge on U.S. 40, Scatterday added, and participants will proceed west on National Road. Mile marker 10 will now be located on top of Chicken Neck Hill, Scatterday said, and mile marker 12 will be at the top of Fulton Hill.
"Mile marker 12.4 - the old 20K distance - is halfway down Stone Boulevard," Scatterday added. "The 13-mile marker is right at the corner of Chapline and 14th. When the runners make the final turn and dash to the finish line, 13.1 miles will have been traversed by the half marathoners as they approach the east side of Main Street on 14th Street."
