They drift in and out of the mist like ships passing at sea. It is 6:30 on Tuesday morning and the fog gives a momentary impression of being alone. Then another runner appears. It is hard to believe it but the boardwalk is teeming with runners, walkers and bicycle riders. I’m here to seek out the runners. Not crazy enough to think they’ll stop to talk, I’m on bike so I can pedal alongside and hope they feel like talking. I only startle a few runners.

I start a conversation and remarkably most of them are amicable – even chatty. Only a few are suspicious of a stranger peddling along holding a clipboard.

“You really should have been here at 5:30. That’s when the regular runners are out here.” chirps a solidly built Ocean City native who admits he’s battling his waistline. No amount of persuasion can coax his name as he continues on. “There are a lot more deserving people to talk to!”

Finally I pedal off to the next pair, siblings Christine Dougherty and Mark McLaughlin of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. They have been walking every morning since Saturday and today they have decided to run. They are attempting the full five-mile out and back and seem to be doing fine. Neither minds stopping for a picture and to talk. Dougherty maintains she doesn’t run often and places this effort into the category of “preparing for the beach”. The rest of the family is walking behind them. As they start up again they claim, “ On the way back we won’t look this good!”

Most runners seem to be aiming for a 4 to 5 mile variation of the boardwalk run and I couldn’t find anyone getting bored of the sights. Bettyann St. John started this routine 15 years ago to regain her shape after having children. “It’s always on the boardwalk,” she admits. St. John, who never competes, still is out on the boards five days a week.

Susan Lowe is another Ocean City resident also out for a five-miler. “The boardwalk is the attraction!” she states definitively. By the sound of her voice she means it. For her this probably includes the social aspect of board running as she is spotted calling out to friends along the way.

Joe Rubifein of Florida is the oldest of runners I met. At 65 he was out for a seven mile run. “I started running at 49 to stay in shape for golf.” He has since given up his clubs but runs faithfully, despite a slight limp from “a knee that’s giving me problems”. “I really like the running,” he says. “Sometimes when my knees aren’t bad I go in races.”

Another solo runner was Alex Higley. Going into his freshman year at Abington Heights, PA, he’s prepping for cross-country and is moving along at a pretty good clip. Today it is five miles.

It has been 45 minutes since I arrived on the boardwalk and Terry Moyer of Boyer, NJ is just getting back from his run. He was among the first runners I encountered, putting in five, part of his normal three day a week routine. Like many, he didn’t want to stop for a picture in the middle of a run but was more than happy to talk about running for his health.

The boardwalk seems to be a good place to put in mileage – I found the time passed quickly on my own runs. But very few people seemed to be running very fast. This was clearly a recreational/exercise oriented group. An exception was Terry Hastings, a past star runner for Ocean City. She was cruising at around a 7 minute per mile pace, running fluidly and controlled. She maintains a steady 7-8 miles per day every day of the week. She rarely competes. We constantly adjust during the run, she on foot – me on bike, to find better sections of board. “The spot that’s assigned to runners has some bad sections, especially though here,” she states matter of factly. Her explanation of how barrel placement and utility vehicle traffic cause this is lost on me, but it appears to make little difference at this hour anyway. Few are adhering to marked lanes.

At the end of my allotted hour of interviews I prepare to pedal off when I notice a runner stopping just ahead. I had noticed him twice earlier, comfortably jogging with his daughter biking beside him. Fortuitously it is none other than the Ocean City track and cross-country coach, Kevin Greene. Having coached here since 1994 he knows much about the boardwalk crowd. “If you stayed a little later you might see some of my team run through.” It is a team with high expectations, last year grabbing four of the league’s eight all-star spots. One of those was his own daughter Caitlin, a junior who is on bike today while awaiting the results of an MRI. Hopefully this is only a precaution as they attempt to rule out a stress fracture.

I was a little disappointed that I had another commitment to go to. I was having fun and getting to understand the aura of the boardwalk that calls to so many. The boardwalk hosts an eclectic group of runners, each with different styles and goals. They are all drawn as if by magnet to this 2.5 miles of boards to meet their daily dose of footsteps. Their enthusiasm was contagious. But it was time to go.

Luckily, two hours later when I was back on the boardwalk I met up with the girls’ cross-country team from Randolph, NJ. They were decorating t-shirts at the 20 th street gazebo. The boardwalk is a traditional preseason hangout for teams from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This is Randolph’s 10 th year coming here. The athletes chip in and come to run and bond. Randolph’s girls spend the first half of the week and the boys come the second half. They had already finished their morning seven miles but were still together doing team activities – forming both bonds and traditions. Seniors through freshmen were having fun and the gazebo was full of smiles. Randolph was more than happy to pose for a team picture. They look like champions to me!