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Apr 27, 2024

Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon) Runner Comments

Back to Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon) Information & Reviews

Course 4.2

Organization 4.0

Spectators 3.6

Number of comments: 205 [displaying comments 61 to 71]

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B. B. from Beaverton, Oregon (2/9/2010) "My Favorite!" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Am I missing something? Why aren't people raving about this marathon? The course is flat and fantastic. The crowd is large and supportive. The views are wonderful. The weather was perfect! And the number of marathon participants was only about 2,000. All of the above combine to create an experience I have never had at a previous marathon. The energy emitted from the views, crowd, and weather is immense. Yes, parking is scary. The finisher t-shirt is not in keeping and does not say, "finisher," but I strongly recommend this race! For the first time, I kind of enjoyed running 26.2 miles.
P. M. from San Diego, CA (2/8/2010) "Beautiful Course" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon) COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Overall the course was breathtaking as it looped around the park and down and back on PCH. The volunteers were wonderful at all of the aid stations, ready with water and words of encouragement. The reason I ranked it a three was the public portion of the course. Parts of the road where way to narrow to accommodate two-way runner traffic, aid stations, morning joggers/walkers, bikers and surfers. At times I had to walk through an aid station as there was no other option with all the traffic. Everyone was as cordial as possible, but as you could imagine on miles 15-25, patience for such things run little short. The finish was a bit unorganized as the half marathoners and marathoners were corralled through a narrow finishing area. I would like to see the marathoners and half split up throughout the entire finishing gate process. The finishing surfboard medal was fantastic and well worth it. Overall, a great experience, but with room to improve.
G. R. from Phoenix, AZ (2/8/2010) "Full of Surprises; Great Course, Great Support" (about: 2010) 2 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Can't beat this race for variety from start to finish. Started with wild weather on Saturday but cleared and turned into a beautiful day for a marathon on Sunday. Course people did a great job to get ready for the race given the deluge on Saturday. The first part in the park was breathtakingly beautiful and there were hoards of energetic kids cheering everyone on. God bless the water station workers who were there eager to serve. Bands on the course were welcome, from the kids' band in the park to the oldies bands on the coast. Beautiful views at every turn, and running along the beach is the photo-op of a lifetime. This was my first run here, and I'm now so nuts about this that I'll be here every year. And, I'll bring my friends! Great job to all who made this a special day for me!
R. R. from Memphis, Tennessee (2/8/2010) "Small Full + Big Half = A Run Worth Doing" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Huntington Beach is one of those perfect winter getaways that a frozen middle America is looking for in a February Marathon. It doesn't hurt that the race is nestled directly against some of the most impressive, soft, sandy beaches in the world. The water glistens in the morning sun as the waves pound the shore. The taste of salt and the smell of the sea almost overwhelm the senses. Running down the middle of historic Pacific Coast Highway is a unique experience to be treasured by one and all. Despite the obvious natural appeal, however, this is really a tale of two races: the Full and the Half. They are both great but if you can, run the Full. The Full is a much smaller race (2,300 vs 18,000) and goes places that the massive Half simply couldn't go, like the quaint Huntington Central Park and the really cool bike-running path that goes as close to the coastline as you can get without getting sand in your shoes. It is well worth the extra miles. As stated by many others, the water stations are frequent and well stocked - except for the very slowest halfers who seemed to run short on cups at a station or two. The medal is really cool (a surfboard that changes every year) and the expo with its beach camp theme was fun but a little small for a race of this size. For our family (my wife runs halves and I run wholes) this was a great race and I recommend it to anyone, but especially to my fellow whole marathon runners. Oh, one last thing. Before the race we were told that 63% of the participants in all the races were female! (This wasn't true of the marathon itself but was true if the 5K and Half were added in.) So I just have to sing that old Beach Boys Song, "I'm Going to Surf City... Where there's Two Girls for Every Boy!"
T. M. from Orange, CA (2/8/2010) "Well organized, great race" (about: 2010) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was my first half marathon. After participating in various 5Ks, and hearing the number of people expected here, I thought that the entire process would be a nightmare. It was just the opposite. Race packet pick-up was extremely organized. The shuttles were frequent and fast (I waited 2 minutes for one, 5 minutes for the other) and the course was great. There were not very many "fans" or spectators and very few "entertainment" stages throughout the course, which was very different than the 5Ks I participate in. But, overall, I was very impressed with this race and how efficiently they executed the entire event.
C. N. from New York City (2/7/2010) "Scenic, great PR course with wonderful volunteers" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 A memorable BQ that I would gladly run again. You can't beat temps in the 60s in early February - in light of the cold and snow in the rest of US. Another reason to travel from the East Coast to visit my home town. This race will only get better as it is one of the top races for HB/Southern CA. Note that feedback is my recollection of the course, which may have changed over the duration of the race. EXCELLENT: - Plentiful, enthusiastic, constantly cheering volunteers who knew how to serve drinks and snacks (stretched out arms, carried multiple cups, cleared used cups quickly). The kids and teens were amazing and stood out in their yellow tees. - Clean and plenty of porta-potties. - Vitalyte was better than Gatorade; it tasted refreshing and flavorful. - VERY cool, unique medal - perfectly captures surf theme. - Scenic course, but going back and forth on PCH was a bit tedious (Miles 17-22). - Solid crowd support in the beginning, at Seapoint and for the last 1.5 miles, but stretches of PCH had limited spectators. - Mostly flat (after Mile 10), fast course, so it was easy to get a PR: only three 50-foot-plus hills. Mild wind in some parts. - Good that there are pacers, but some pacers (3:40) were too fast (though the group might have slowed down later). - Lot of police around and fantastic TOTAL blockage of course to general traffic. Even after 2PM, PCH was still off-limits to cars. - Plenty of photographers on the course. - Plenty of free street parking at around 6 a.m. (within 1 mile of the start) for the marathoners. - Good post-race bag with bars, fruit, Fig Newtons, Clif drinks, but a typical runner could have eaten through 2 bags. - Well-organized expo with cheeky Hawaiian/surfy theme; however, rain did soak the Astroturf, so areas were flooded. - Try-on tee shirts at the expo are a great idea to get you the perfect fit. LESS THAN GOOD: - Could have an earlier start time to avoid potental heat and half marathoners on course. A 6 a.m. start is reasonable, as the sun is rising through the clouds. An earlier start provides more clearance for wheelchairs and lead half-marathoners. - Course map is NOT to scale and elevation map does NOT match mile markers on course map - e.g., use Google Maps for the course and plot detailed elevation at USATF. - There were two Mile 1 markers and it was unclear which one was for the marathon. - Course should be off limits to non-participants. ABSOLUTELY NO cyclists and non-race runners (pedestrians okay). They were weaving through the path and blocking it. It probably got worse later on in the race, i.e. those finishing after 4 hours. - Path too narrow (about two feet wide) in some parts of Central Park and on PCH. - Should offer GU instead of Sharkies in little ketchup cups - difficult to eat. - Unclear parking and transportation directions for spectators. - The shuttle bus map was not clear, but at least service was offered. - Would be great if there were more bands or blasting stereos along stretches of PCH. - Flooding at Mile 14 could have been sandbagged. - On course map, what was up with "C" symbol being "TBD?" Course map should be as accurate as possible up until the race. - Prepare for all kinds of weather - it poured rain the days before. Fortunately, it was a GORGEOUS, clear, comfortable morning, but it was quite warm after 9:30 a.m. - Medical aid stations after Mile 21 are advised since the last 10K or so are when runners are struggling. - Leave timeshare pushers out of the expo.
Bob Delava from Los Angeles (12/15/2009) "Beautiful Course" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon)s COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This course offers amazing views of the ocean almost the entire race. We stayed at the Hyatt, which is right in front of the start line. The only thing I don't like is the surfboard finisher's medal. They need to change it up a bit. - Bob Delava
p. n. from costa mesa, ca after 10 years in nyc (9/29/2009) "Great race!" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 It was my first time running this race, but I've done 23 marathons and 15 half's. This is a beautiful course; what do you expect for a SoCal beach city? They give you a cool long-sleeve tech shirt, and a very cool medal - probably one of my prettiest, most creative, fun medals, and especially since I only did the half. I'm signed up for the full marathon next year!
Janet Coffey from Glendora, California (2/15/2009) "I'm still "running" at age 70." (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon)s COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This May will be my 70th birthday. I am always excited to be a part of this great organization. I am impressed with the expertise of the Huntington Beach volunteers.
colleen iacofano from cleveland, ohio (2/13/2009) "It cannot get much better than this!!!" (about: 2003) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon)s COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I have run this marathon five years in a row. I was very skeptical of how organized this would be with the huge field of runners (compared to previous years). Somehow, they managed to make it, by far, the best race. Every aspect of a well organized race was present. It was a marathoner's dream. Course, aid stations, spectators, etc. were wonderful. My sincere gratitude and admiration to all involved. Back to the snow and cold in Cleveland, Ohio....

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