Much of the course was on freeway-grade. This is not the best way to see a community. To think, there are miles of bike trails along the ocean, and OC decides to run freeways. It must be the California culture.

The weather was beautiful and the course was surprisingly rural and lovely. Hills are very gradual and therefore not difficult. I had a great experience and my only complaint was that the organizers ran out of GU gel at the first of two places where it was advertised to be given out to runners.

I came to this race this year as my fallback plan. I got really sick the weekend of the Tucson Marathon and elected to pull out of the race and save it for another day. Looking at the 2005 OC Marathon times, and talking to a few runners who ran well there, I elected to run the 2006 edition with hopes of finally cracking the 3-hour barrier! For starters, the ELEVATION MAP wasn't representative of the course. It was essentially measured at mile points and then a straight line was drawn between points. With today's MAP-POINT-SATELLITE technology, you think race directors would take advantage and offer ALL the ups-and-downs of their course. Miles 13 to 22 had nearly seven of the 10 miles a full mile of incline. The three miles that were supposedly flat had many UPS-and-DOWNS, and one mile had about 60 feet of drop and 60 feet of climbing, which to me seemed a pretty challenging mile (that looked FLAT on an elevation chart). THIS IS MY FAULT. I didn't do my homework on this race, and quite frankly, it was my fallback option.

All in all, I ran my best effort (but a solid six minutes OFF my PR), albeit 18 minutes off of my goal time. C'est la vie!

Next year, back to Cali Int'l....

Great job to Coach, race organizers, crew and volunteers - this was one of the best races I've ever run!

The start area had plenty of parking and were organized well.

The course was definitely a little tougher than I anticipated - the steady uphill for so many miles made for a tough finish.

Support was prefect - plenty of water, Gookinaid, gels and the volunteers were awesome.

The finish line was a HUGE improvement over last year - thank you! The volunteers did their jobs quickly, and got runners into the food area efficiently. Parking was also tremendously improved.

Great job, all - I look forward to being out there next year!

This year, the parking was excellent and plentiful. I think it'd be great if they could get the race to finish and start at the same place. The last half of this course would be great for someone interested in leasing industrial space in the O.C.- i.e., except for the mountain and farm views, some of the hills got boring.

This race continues to have the best staff and volunteers. I did this race more than an hour slower than last year and was so glad to see there was still plenty of food and water left. And (unlike last year) there were shuttle buses waiting.

I ran the OC Marathon this year because I didn't want to make the trip to Phoenix and I thought that the Carlsbad race would be too hilly. (What a surprise when I went up-up-up from miles 12-22!)

The course was tough - the slow grade really crushed a number of my friends looking for PRs. It was also pretty lonely during the entire uphill stretch. I ran pretty well (3:54), but only because I really held back the first half, which had several downhills.

The race was very well organized. Start line, water stations, finish line, buses - all smooth and well done. I entered with trepidation after reading last year's comments, but the organizers really did a top-notch job.

I loved seeing Bill Rodgers and getting him to autograph my shirt at the expo.

The course this year was crazy. Some areas by the lake were too narrow for marathon and half marathon number of runners. The 261 part was deserted. Having along the side of Peters Canyon Trail instead, with possible spectators from the residential areas by the trail. Running by El Toro on Irvine Blvd. was another mistake. This is a beautiful city. Why choose areas that lack support for the runners? Even last year with the bad weather people gave us a lot more support. Sorry, this was my last.

It was another good OC for me. I PRed both times. This was my 11th, with 3 marathons in between the two OC's. I actually, liked last year's course better, because it was flatter and more scenic. I hope they change it again, and start and finish in the same place. If not, I hope they at least have us park at the finish, and bus us to the start; that would improve the race, big time.

It was nice to see a couple of bands playing, and once again they had some really good pace leaders (sub-4 hour).

I would try to do it every year, if the OC had more time between it and LA.

I hope to do it next year.

Pete

The OC has arrived. The organization was outstanding - I have never in 28 races walked through the finish area, gotten my chip removed, had the medal, had some food and been at the door of a bus in 15 minutes! The longest wait was waiting for the bus to load. The course is a challenge - but not over done.

The only downside is the students preparing to run the LA Marathon are learning how to run a race and that was a bit of a pain - but they are the future of our sport and we were all once in the same place.

I ran the OC Marathon last year and again this year. The weather was ideal: 60's. There was a lot of water and lots of volunteers on the course. The finish area was bigger and flowed very well. The course was a little more difficult but scenic. After the race I got my goodies, cheered other runners, and then got on a shuttle back to the start. There was no wait for the bus and it dropped me right near my car. Great job OC!! Look forward to next year.