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Apr 29, 2024

Mountains 2 Beach Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Mountains 2 Beach Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.2

Organization 3.6

Spectators 3.3

Number of comments: 34 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

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M. D. from Phoenix, Arizona (5/28/2015) "Nice course, needs better organization" (about: 2015) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Signed up for this based on the feedback of getting a BQ. It's a small race which is good. The packet pickup at Ventura HS was a nightmare. No parking, unorganized, crammed into a small courtyard. Should have put it in the gym or a larger venue. No communication at the packet pickup other than rumors that gear check bags were going to be handed out at the start line. People handling out bibs and shirts did not know answers to questions. The shuttles ran on time and start line bathrooms seemed to be adequate. The course leaves something to be desired. First of all is the horrible hairpin turn at the 0.8mi mark. Really? 1500 people all bunched together doing a hairpin turn, horrible layout. The rest of the course was ok, paved bike path and some road. Previous comments said water stations were sketchy. They were all stocked and staffed fine for me. The Cliff Shot stations were not as advertised, I had to stop to ensure I got the flavor I wanted (I usually don't stop or walk through the stations). The last 5K is really tough mentally. You pass the finish and have to go out another 1.5mi and then come back to the finish. The post race festivities were good, but crowded. The lack of parking at the finish required me to walk another two miles after the race.
K. O. from San Diego, CA (5/25/2015) "Great first 16 miles, lousy last 10" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Pros (i.e. first 16 miles): 1. Race starts in Ojai, which is a very cute and beautiful little town. 2. Weather at the start was fantastic, overcast, low to mid 50s. 3. Path for much of the first 16 miles is downhill, shaded, and quite pretty. Cons: 1. There are poles all over the center of the running path that are about groin height and are entirely unmarked. Scary, especially going downhill, and with a crowd of runners to block your view. 2. Course becomes flat, unshaded, full sun, periodically quite windy, and hot at about mile 17. Run past industrial areas and the freeway. 3. Not enough aid stations at this portion of the course - I got pretty dehydrated waiting for the station at mile 20. I know it is hard for them to get stations onto a fenced-in bike path, but needs to be done considering heat and sun. 3. Run right past the finish at mile 23 :( 4. The finish clock was off of the actual course time this year (made me look faster than I actually was), which definitely affected how hard I kicked it at the end. The finish line festival was very nice, though the expo is pretty much nonexistent. Overall not a bad local race, but I think the hype for BQing is overrated, especially if you know you will run slower than 3:30. If you are a southern Californian, it's not a bad one to do, but I wouldn't come here assuming that the course guarantees a PR.
R. M. from Salt Lake City, UT (5/5/2015) "Not as fast as you might think" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Pros: The start and the first part of the course are quite nice. It runs along a little trail beside the road that allows for family or friends to be able to easily see you at many spots. Beer afterward was nice along with some music which was enjoyable. The after-race was solid. Pretty good fan support at the finish. Cons- They had some weird type of electrolyte drink that was not available at the expo for sampling and they really dropped the ball on that. Come to think of it they may not have even had it on course as I took water and some small bottles of my own powerade for the course. They don't seem to like to tell you until after you sign up that you could potentially get stopped at the train track at about mile 20. If you are running a 2:55-3:10 pace you could get stopped. I did not get stopped but that would have been brutal if your running well. The course is not as fast as you might think. The downhill start is nice but the finish really levels off. You go right past the finish area at about mile 21 and you almost do an out and back for the final five miles. This was probably the worst part because you just kept waiting for the turnaround point. The temperature was also pretty warm. Spectators were sparse until the end.
N. T. from US (10/24/2014) "Just Okay..." (about: 2014) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This race is just okay. The race has a weird thing where they assign you to a shuttle to the start based on how early you registered for the race. The later you registered, the earlier the shuttle you're assigned, starting at 4am. There's no transparency here as the organizers offer no explanation, so you really have no idea what the cutoff is/was to get assigned to a later shuttle. Nevertheless, being on a 4am shuttle wasn't such a bad thing. I got to use the port-a-potties multiple times with no line and do a bag drop, again with no line. The same can't be said of those who were 'rewarded' with a 5am shuttle time. The course is a gentle downhill, although it feels rolling at times, so your quads don't feel completely beat up by the time the downhill is over. Apparently, the course was changed for 2014 from other years, to eliminate some of the previous out and back through Ventura. The first 10 miles in Ojai is a bit redundant, as you run past mile markers 8-10 at mile 3-4. Ojai is also a bit of rolling hills. There aren't many spectators and some of the roads aren't closed. The LE did a pretty good job of halting traffic, but there's still the potential that you may be stopped for a bit. The course is mostly a bike path, which although beautiful at times, is dreadfully boring. There is an industrial portion with lots of graffiti around mile 17-ish, but I wouldn't say that it was sketchy, The water stations were kind of a mess and they seemed more understaffed the further into the race you ran. The closing miles needed more water stations. It was hot, with full sun exposure on the final 5k, and only 1 water station in sight. The self-service station ran out of water or the water was hidden somewhere, who knows? When you crossed the finish mat, you were greeted by volunteers cutting the chip off of your shoe. Understandable, but the organizers should consider mentioning this requirement in the pre-race information. All you want to do is get some water and get out of the heat, but instead you have to wait in a line to get your tag cut off (before they give you water!). After all of that running in the hot SoCal sun, the post race food consisted of a quarter of a banana, a quarter piece of bagel, a quarter piece of melon, and a bottle of water. And the volunteers wouldn't give you another slither of anything. So, overall, the race could be better. They need better sponsors to give out actual food at the end. Additionally, ditch Fluid. Nobody even knows what that is. Stick to Gatorade and Powerade. Finally, the race organizers should offer some sort of post-race survey on the actual event. Constructive criticism is a good thing.
R. S. from Los Angeles (10/18/2014) "Happy Medium Between Small Town and Mega-Big Race" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The course is the star of this race. Mostly flat, scenic and well-designed with a gorgeous first third by the ocean and a dramatic last few miles climaxing with a pleasant downhill at the finish. In between is a mostly pleasing sortie through Long Beach parks and waterways and CSULB campus. The scenery is spectacular along the beach but still decent enough as you head inland around mile 9. Mild hills between miles 2 and 3 and then miles 17 and 18 shouldn't slow you down too much and both immediately reverse back downhill. Starting at 6 am and separating the marathon runners from the half-marathoners was a key move that makes navigating the narrow bike path by the beach much more manageable. It also guarantees that even if you get a hot or humid day, at least half of the marathon won't be brutal for most runners. In 2014 it was warm and humid but the sun rarely penetrated the marine layer so the effective temps were manageable (started in the high 60s and stayed there for three or more hours.) Crowd are sparse in the early morning hours, but by the time you reach CSULB the crowds swell and there is tremendous support from students and locals. Organization is generally good. Water stops and Gu / Powerade stations were well spread out and mostly well-manned. The variety of bananas, donut holes, gummy bears, orange slices, etc. available during the last 6 miles was formidable. The fact that you only have around three or four thousand marathoners makes it a much more local-feeling race if not intimate. The finishing medal (a seashell offset on a circle) was substantial, heavy, large and good looking. Corrals are informal but it's pretty easy to make your way up closer if you are worried about being stuck behind slowpokes. Race started on time an bib chips were accurate and non-invasive. Several of the mile markers (including mile 1) were not entirely accurate, though most were fine. This was my 7th marathon and the only change I would make would be to hold the race a month or two later to insure cooler temps. Other than that, this is a well run marathon that gave offers the possibility of a fast time and an enjoyable race experience and is one I will consider doing again.
J. P. from Austin, TX (6/7/2014) "Fast but flawed" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Mountains 2 Beach Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 New course changes left the race if anything a bit faster as two miles were taken away from the beach and added to the Ojai portion. However, weather was a bit warmer this year so overall I think times were a little slower. Aid stations were atrocious, no fixed spacing, no clear designation between 'fluid' and water. I had (4) dropped cups as cup was slammed or dropped before entering my hand and the worse part is because they were so thin, you only had one shot before you passed the aid station. At the 'unmanned' aid stations where I was confident I could grab a cup, somehow appeared a person to block me from the table and drop a cup in front of me! The half marathoners were a huge problem later in the race, walking 2 and 3 abreast blocking lanes for the faster marathoners. I would suggest starting them 30 minutes earlier. Where is this race going? If it is going to be a serious race for people wanting to qualify for Boston, then it needs to tighten up the overall experience. The awards however, were fabulous! Unfortunately the glasses weren't engraved as in the past.
J. S. from Silicon Valley (6/4/2014) "It's as fast as promised" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This course is fast. It's a little quirky with a tight U-turn in the first mile, but it delivers on its promise of downhills built for speed. The scenery moves from majestic to industrial but the course stays fast and the merge with the half marathoners is painless. The only caution is that the last couple of miles are rough, as in the surfaces need to be repaved, so you need to be careful as exhaustion sets in. My one complaint is that the lines to the port-a-potties at the start were too long.
W. W. from Los Angeles (6/3/2014) "Run Your PR Here" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 If your legs/knees can take the long stretch of down hills, this course is the best to set your personal record. Different from some other steep downhill courses, the route of this event runs through a gentle downhill bike route. The event is well organized with plenty of water stations, and couple of cliff bar supply stations. The road condition is reasonable good, except a few short sections, where the roads were very rough. A few weeks before the event, California had a few record setting hot days. The organizers thoughtfully prepared three extra minimum-service-water-stations to anticipate a hot day. It ended up an overcast mild day in the early morning. The weather turned to warm/hot later morning, where ocean breeze helped cooling down just in time. Many runners set their personal record here, including me. There are a few small cheering groups along the way. You may expect crowd cheering only at the finish line. Both Ojai (start) and Ventura (finish) are nice small town. One may enjoy the relax environment before/after the run. The race began with a wide road. Then, it turned to a narrow bike path. It was too crowded at the beginning of the bike path. There are many poles in the middle of the road. It would be nice to have warning flags to identify them, but there weren't any. It definitely is not a safe combination with the center of road poles and the crowded runners on the narrow path. Because of the narrow bike route, the Marathon is limited to 1600 runners. I enjoyed the smaller size event as the helps and services appeared more personal to individuals.
K. H. from Los Angeles, ca (6/2/2014) "Still a great race to get BQed" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 3 Mountains 2 Beach Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 They changed the full marathon course a little at the beginning of the race. It started in downtown Ojai instead of at a HS. It added a little more hills because of that, but it happens all at the first half. The second half is still the same except it cuts out the last stretch inside the residential area which I hated. This is much better! What makes it a great place to PR is the sea level elevation, gentle downhill course and cool ocean weather near the end of May. A little more portable bathrooms during the course would be nice for the ladies. Men just pee on the side of the road anyway. The after race party is always nice in this race, great t-shirts and medals. I like the fact that they have a earlier packet pickup one week before at the Runner' Circle in L.A. that saves a lot of stress and traffic of picking up the packets on the race weekend. I love this race and it is like my superbowl race besides Boston! Will do it every year!
J. O. from California (6/1/2014) "Water Disaster" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Mountains 2 Beach Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 We knew this was going to be a hotter than normal day and the event sent out emails indicating such. They said they would have self serve water and encouraged us to carry our own bottles so I did. Water was completely gone at one of the normal stations and as I approached a self serve station around mile 22 the water containers were sitting in the boxes leaving the runners to break open the boxes to retrieve the water. This is still not a big deal other than now those who were not carrying containers to fill now had their lips all over the self serve containers. Super disgusting! More water stations should have been set up and I would discourage choosing the self serve as an option again due to sanitary reasons.

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