Expanded Course Description
Our course starts in the center of Hampton Beach near D Street. The starting line is near the famous Seashell on Hampton beach. Before you start, why not plunge into the cool ocean water at Hampton Beach Park? It has a wide sandy beach with bath-house, showers and lifeguards (in the summer) along with blocks of attractions, restaurants, and hotels.
First you will do a quick loop around the one-way section up to the Hampton Beach State Park and back past the start. Wave to all you friends and family! Then travel north on Ocean Boulevard for about 1 mile. After a foliage laden loop of Hampton's rural roads and neighborhoods the course heads for the small but picturesque town of North Hampton, first settled in 1639. Following the separation of New Hampshire from Massachusetts, this part of Hampton was known as "North Hill" or "North Parish. Just off the course are the Fuller Gardens, where you can enjoy two acres of formal flower gardens (hundreds of tulips and 2,000 rose bushes) on a turn-of-the-century estate.
This is a "loop" course where the top of the loop eventually ends back up on Rt. 1A before mile 8. This loop includes some of the most scenic Atlantic Ocean roads on the rocky New Hampshire coast. Enjoy unobstructed views of the ocean and the rocky cliffs at Little Boars Head, a seaside promontory that became a fashionable summer resort in the 19th century, and contains elegant examples of Victorian and Edwardian architecture. You will travel on past North Hampton State Beach where it's still possible to find some peace and quiet, and you might even spot some hardy souls riding the waves. North Beach also has a sandy beach, bathhouse and lifeguards. Right on the water’s edge, the park offers beautiful gardens and places to spread out for a picnic or nap.
As you finish southward, you will have traveled the so-called “two-mile drive”, which is said to be the most spectacular ocean-side drive on the East Coast. On the left, nothing but ocean, on the right, expansive beautiful homes. Finally you'll return to finish at Hampton Beach and celebrate with a well-deserved after-race party.
