The warm, pink hue of the rising sun glowed above the Ocean City, N.J., boardwalk as I met with my fellow relay swimmers for the inaugural OCSC Coastal Challenge. Waking up at 4 a.m. for the drive to shore was painful, and I did question my sanity, but the opportunity to enjoy the open water was definitely worth the loss of sleep. My friend Kari recruited her fellow Rocky Run Creek Rats, Meghan and I, to be part of a relay team for this 10K race sponsored by the Ocean City Swim Club . Compared to the Cape May race I swam last month with hundreds of people, this event featured only three solo swimmers and three relay teams. Thankfully, the ocean conditions were near perfect! The unseasonable cold water temperature had risen to 72 degrees, the wind was non-existent and the ocean was as smooth as a pane of glass. At 6:30 a.m., before the sun broke through the clouds, our Meghan bravely ran out into the ocean to start the first leg of our relay team from the 12th Street beach. S...
Amy A. Winnemore takes you on a first-person look through the open water, pools, pavement, trails, woods and deserts of open water and 5K running races.