Since 1976, Corpus Christi has been known as the spot for the largest relay marathon in the United States, and Clent Mericle has run it every single year.
This year will be his and Beach To Bay’s 43rd Relay Marathon, and Mericle says he has no plans on stopping anytime soon.
Mericle says Beach To Bay has not changed much over the four decades. The biggest change, he says, is the course. Beach To Bay used to stop at Cole Park, and now spreads through Shoreline and ends at McCaughan Park.
This year, you can catch Mericle with his team, ‘Blind Fury,’ he will be a guide for a blind runner during the run.
When asked if he plans on hanging up the shoes anytime soon he says “No,” as long as there’s a Beach To Bay and he’s here to run it, then he will. Mericle says his good friend, and Beach To Bay founder Capt. John Butterfield, told him to get to the 50 year mark, Mericle says, “that should be no problem.”
At the young age of 64, Mericle says the best advice for runners during Beach To Bay, is to “just keep going.”
