... a beautiful coastal course, dedicated runners, amazing volunteers, world-class cuisine, live music, local spirit... all in a picture-perfect setting and a wonderful community. #runseasidefl
This is one of the most anticipated weekends of the year in South Walton, Florida. For the 17th year we celebrate this out-and-back, fast and mostly flat course where runners from all over the US pass quaint beach towns, dune lakes, and the world's most beautiful beaches. All proceeds benefit the Seaside School Foundation. Let the weekend festivities begin!
Around 4,000 people from 40+ states come to SoWal Beaches to participate in the race every year! Thousands of friends and families will be cheering from the sidelines along the Scenic Hwy 30A race course. The race starts early Sunday morning in Seaside and the course continues west along Scenic 30A through WaterColor, over Western Lake in Grayton Beach, through Blue Mountain Beach to Gulf Place, and then back to Seaside.
The race weekend offers three days of exciting events for everyone including runners, visitors, locals and volunteers. Taste of the Race with Chef Emeril Lagasse kicks off the weekend on Friday evening under the tent at the Seaside Lyceum. Saturday's Race Expo & Silent Auction is one big party with vendors, food and live entertainment all afternoon. Sunday is race day followed by a post-race party with live music.
Friday March 1
Taste of The Race with Chef Emeril Lagasse
Seaside Lyceum 7-9pm
Taste of the Race with Chef Emeril Lagasse takes place on Friday night at the Seaside Lyceum, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, with a VIP reception from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. Everyone is invited to celebrate, enjoy amazing food, live music and kick off another great Seaside race weekend! Chef Emeril Lagasse is live and in person for the event, and guests enjoy cuisine from Emeril’s restaurants, along with some of the Gulf Coast’s top chefs and restaurants such as Great Southern Cafe, The Bay, Bud & Alley's Restaurant, Red Fish Taco, Seagar's, Cafe Thirty-A and many more local faves. Fine wine, craft spirits and local brews from the Grayton Beer Company will pair perfectly with the chefs’ preparations. Guests can also get the first peak and bids at the popular Silent Auction. The outdoor evening festivities are held rain or shine in a heated tent! Space is extremely limited and tickets go fast, so be sure to grab yours while they last at www.runseasidefl.com. Race registration packet pickup is also available during the event for ticketed guests only.
Saturday, March 2
Race Expo
Seaside Lyceum 12-6pm
The Race Expo is free to attend and open to the general public from 12:00 to 6:00 PM at the Seaside Lyceum. Runners pick up their race registration packets at this time and have the option of shopping from a variety of both local and national exhibitors. The vendors at the Expo will offer a wide variety of equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories for the whole family. The Silent Auction continues during the the day with plenty of opportunity to bid up your favorite items!
Sunday, March 3
Race Day!
Seaside 7am
One of South Walton's most popular events, the Seaside School Half Marathon & 5K takes place Sunday, March 3rd beginning at 7:00 AM. Established in 2003 to raise funds for the Seaside Neighborhood School, the Race has become a huge community affair, drawing in more than 4K annually runners from around the world.
Both the 13.1-mile half marathon and the 5K start in downtown Seaside along Highway 30A, and from there follow a route that takes runners westward along the highway for six and a half miles, and then six and a half back in reverse back to the starting line. The course is fast and mostly flat with ample views of the scenic Gulf waters, dune lakes and beaches, including WaterColor and Grayton Beach. The course is both runner and walker-friendly — walkers are encouraged to sign up! See the race route map for the Seaside School Half Marathon here.
Post-race Party!
Seaside
And one of the favorite Race Weekend traditions… the post-race party takes place throughout the town of Seaside including food and drinks, music, awards and the silent auction final call.
The annual Seaside School Half Marathon & 5K benefits the Seaside School, a tuition-free, local neighborhood school serving students who not only live along Highway 30A, but also across Walton County. The Seaside School opened in 1996 to 36 students, 2 faculty members and a single administrator serving students in sixth through eighth grades. Today, the school has expanded to fifth through twelfth grades, serving over 330 students with plans to add K4 through fourth in the near future.
Whether you’re running, sponsoring or enjoying the Taste of the Race, please know that your support is greatly appreciated by the Seaside Neighborhood School, Seacoast Collegiate High School and our community as a whole. Your participation reduces class size. Your participation provides middle school and high school students an opportunity for creative, elective classes such as gardening, music, arts, as well as an award-winning robotics program, advanced placement classes, and career-readiness industry certification courses.
The Seaside School Half Marathon & 5K will also be raising funds to benefit two neighboring charter schools in Bay County that suffered significant damage from Hurricane Michael. If you are unable to participate in the Race, but still want to make an impact, you can do that by making an online donation.
Additional race information can be found at http://runseasidefl.com.
ROAD CLOSURE & PARKING
On Sunday, March 3, both lanes of 30A from CR 395 at Seagrove to CR 393 at Gulf Place will be closed from 6 until 10:30 a.m.
Race day parking is available at Emerald Coast Middle School (ECMS) on Hwy 98 at 4019 US-98, Santa Rosa Beach, east of Hwy 395. Look for signage on Hwy 98 at ECMS for parking. When you get to ECMS, volunteers will direct you to an available parking lot. From the ECMS parking lot, there will be a shuttle continuously that will take you to the starting line. The shuttle is the most convenient way to get to the race.
With the large number of runners, Seaside will be very crowded and getting in and out with all the closed roads will be next to impossible, so using the shuttle will save you time and aggravation. Shuttles will start running at 5am.
The Half Marathon course will be re-opened to traffic at approximately 10:30 a.m.
