A cold March rain on Saturday morning didn’t stand in the way of a once-in-a-century opportunity to celebrate pi at a time that matches the first 10 digits of the mathematical constant: 3/14/15 9:26:53 a.m.
Several hundred runners lined up on Sixth Street near the Ocean City Primary School on world Pi Day to start a 3.14-mile course that traveled past Ocean City High School to the boardwalk and down to 18th Street (home of Ocean City Intermediate School).
By early Friday evening, 355 runners had pre-registered for the first-time event, and many more signed up on race day. A final count of finishers and results are expected to be posted Saturday.
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For results, see sjtiming.com
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The event was an effort to integrate Ocean City schools and the community on Pi Day. It also included a children’s run/walk for 10-and-unders — a 314-yard dash. Post-race activities out of the rain in the Ocean City Sports and Civic Center included pie-a-teacher, pie-eating contests, pizza-pie tossing, hula hooping and a small health fair.
Ocean City Schools Superintendent Kathleen Taylor had challenged Primary School teachers Carrie Merritt and Erin Porter to see if they could attract 314 runners to the new event, and they far exceeded that goal.
The event is co-sponsored by the Ocean City Educators Association (OCEA).
At the urging of friends and family, many runners were met at the finish line with whipped-cream pies to the face.
The race field included many teachers, students, school sports teams and school families.
