Virginia Beach woman, Maryland men prevail over long runs at Shamrock Marathon

VIRGINIA BEACH — Virginia Beach resident and Ocean Lakes High graduate Maddie King won the women’s marathon at Sunday’s Shamrock Marathon event, which finished on the Virginia Beach boardwalk, just half a block south of the Neptune statue at 32nd Street.

King, who ran collegiately for Mississippi, covered the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 44 minutes, 42 seconds, much to the delight of her hometown spectators.

A pair of Marylanders won the men’s two races. In the half-marathon, Baltimore runners Samuel Sheldon and Jan Figueroa took the top two spots. Although Sheldon ran a strong tune-up race last weekend with a 15:03 5-kilometer effort, he had to battle on the windy, chilly day.

“I had a cold all last week,” Sheldon said. “I was surprised to even finish.”

Added to his ailment, the 24-year-old felt “my left calf” go at about the six-mile marker. “I just kept popping gel tablets and hoping for the best.”

Sheldon felt that he caught a break late in the race.

“I enjoyed the big turn into the military base — the walls from the base seemed to block the wind,” he said.

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A sea of runners along Pacific Avenue at the oceanfront Sunday morning, March 19, 2023 waiting for the start of the Shamrock Marathon and Half Marathon. (Bill Tiernan/The Virginian-Pilot)

Langston Gash of Middle River, Maryland, won the men’s full marathon, clocking a time of 2 hours, 34 minutes, 37 seconds.

Gash’s victory was possibly less noticed as he finished among a group of 10-12 half-marathoners.

In the women’s half-marathon, a three-runner competition finally broke open in the final five miles. Laurel LeMoigne of Springfield took control of the race and held off a challenge by several runners to win with a time of 1:18:04.

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“I started out in about fourth and fifth,” said LeMoigne, 37, who competed as a miler for the University of Maryland. “I fell off at around the 7-mile mark but made a move at 8 ½ and passed everyone. But I could feel someone catching up to me at the end.”

In all, more than 22,000 runners took to the streets of Virginia Beach this weekend to match strides in one of the Shamrock’s three races — the TowneBank 8K, held Saturday, and the half and full marathons, which took place Sunday morning.

In the 8K, another Virginia Beach runner, George Tolton, 31, won in 26:11, while Natalie Boyle, 23, of Chester won the women’s division in 30:28.

The Shamrock weekend, which includes several shorter children’s races and a full-fledged post-race party, has been one of the most successful events of early spring, and it unofficially kicks off the resort season, a fact that delights its co-race directors.

“This is a celebration of fitness, movement and community,” said Jerry Frostick, who along with wife Amy have directed the Shamrock weekend for 21 years and have seen the number of running entries rise from “about 3,500″ to its current 22,000, which is their cutoff point.

“We have runners from all 50 states and 15 countries,” Amy said. The entire project requires the help of roughly 2,000 volunteers, a feat she says is achievable because of their outreach to local groups and schools, but also because of the race’s tradition.

“For example, the First Colonial (High School) National Honor Society ran the water stop at 80th Street — the busiest one we have — and they had 100 students working. It’s one of those things where a senior might lead the group but take aside a junior and show that person how to run the operation. We try to treat our volunteers well and want them to feel appreciated, because they make your event.”