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May 5, 2024

Ventura Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Ventura Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 3.9

Organization 4.3

Spectators 3.3

Number of comments: 20 [displaying comments 11 to 20]

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Robert Wang from Canton, Ohio (9/10/2014) "Basic no-frills marathon with nice medal" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Ventura Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Ventura Marathon Good - The course is reasonably flat but not pancake flat. There's a hill up to an overpass bridge around Mile 9 to 10 and then you have to climb that hill on your return in Mile 17. This is where I bonked on the way back and failed to make by more than 17 minutes my 3:10 goal after running the Disneyland Half Marathon the prior Sunday. The website description says 'no real hills.' There's at least one. And some stretches that may climb or go down very gradually. My Garmin said I had about 153 feet in elevation. Race volunteers are very friendly and supportive. One table was staffed almost entirely by kids. - Plenty of water stops with sports drink. At least one stop for gels. - You got juicy, delicious pineapple chunks and other pieces of fruit after the race. Along with pieces of bagels and canned fruit and bananas. - The Ventura Marathon in 2013 and 2014 was on the last day before Boston Marathon registration opened. - The race had pacers at every Boston Marathon qualifying time including 3:05, 3:10, 3:15 and 3:25. You don't often see that with small marathons. - The medical tent people by the finish line were very friendly and didn't try to rush me along when I was getting ice for my foot. - The medal is incredible. In 2014, it was a wave with a Ventura Pier sign and it had a bottle opener. - It was very easy to find parking. I paid $10 to park in a garage near the starting line. - I got there at 5:20 a.m. and there was no traffic wait to get into the parking garage near the 101 exit. - There was NO line for the port-o-potties. I have never seen that happen before ever at a race. - Finishing by the beach and the Ventura Pier means GREAT post-race pictures. - Traffic control by the local police was great. - The race allows people who'll take more than five hours to do the full marathon to start early without road closures or water stations set up yet. The walkers were really good about sticking to the right on the shoulder and I did not find them to be an obstacle. - The race is very flexible by allowing transfers and deferrals. - Nice blue tech T-shirt. Not so good - The course is there and back from the Ventura pier to a pier in the Oxnard area. No run through a historic downtown or by the area's distinctive landmarks. While the starting line and finish line is by the beach and the ocean, you don't really see much of the ocean during the race. It's mainly views of fields, trees and roads. - The roads early and late in the course are in horrible shape. Tons of potholes and road abrasions. With the full marathon starting 15 minutes before sunrise, I was afraid I'd twist my ankle in one of those holes the first mile. - Crowd support is there in the early and middle parts of the full marathon course but it's mostly paltry. To be fair, it was the second year of the race. - Volunteers broke up bagels and fruit with their bare hands without wearing gloves and served it to runners, whose immune systems were compromised from running a marathon. - The running tracking system is primitive, but the race organizers made no guarantees saying upfront it might not work. The system only provided a belated text alert/email of the finish time and not splits. It did not post to Facebook like Xact does. - The race is old school, still using a chip that had to be tied to your shoes when nearly every other races uses chip strips attached to the bib. - The mile markers were cardboard mockups of short palm trees. There were no mile marker clocks. I missed the first two mile markers because I didn't know what they looked like. A couple of mile markers were clearly not accurately placed. For a $104 entry fee, I was expecting a bit better in this department. - The number of vendors at the Ventura Marathon expo by the beach (not on the beach was paltry. No Bondi band. No Stick people. The local casino had a booth though and you could play some games in it. - Having the race by the ocean mitigated the effects of heat. August and September are the hottest times of the year in the Los Angeles area. The race started at 6:20 a.m. in the low to mid-60s with about 80 percent humidity and it was low 70s and 70ish percent humidity by around 9:30 a.m. There was enough heat to make things a bit difficult for me though. It was 98 degrees that afternoon in Los Angeles. - On much of the road to the Oxnard pier and back, there was a very wide shoulder in the road. It wasn't clear if we were allowed to run in it or if running on the shoulder was cutting the course. - The race had a typo in their materials which said the marathon was at 7 a.m. when it was actually scheduled for 6:20 a.m. - The website of Royal Results, which does the results for the Ventura Marathon, was down on the Wednesday after the race. But it was working after the race. - Two of the timing mats were placed in locations that didn't appear to make sense. There was one at the 5.43-mile mark and that mat for those coming back were for the 20.84-mile (33.53 km) mark. There was a mat at the 13.1 mile mark. - No information on the race website about race photos that I could find. A post on Ventura Marathon's FB page says pictures will be provided free.
T. W. from Parker,CO, USA (5/30/2014) "Amazing marathon event! Fun! Fast! Friendly!" (about: 2013) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Ventura Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon. I have run several half marathons and races and came here with 3 friends and we all ran. We had the best time. Amazing support on course. I found it mostly flat with slight uphill in miles 18-20. Mostly nice scenery. Best 4 hour pacer Vanessa (thank you for keeping me with you and yelling at me to GO! At the finish). Pre race pick-up easy. Plenty of Clean nice porta potties and hand washing stations, being a germ-a-phobe I loved that. Post race food was perfection and plentiful. Watermelon, pineapples, salty and sweet snacks, and Starbucks ice cold drinks. Dip in the cold ocean after and shop the fun, friendly vendors after. Bring spending money for cool clothes to buy. Post race party was super fun at the Beer garden. Josh will answer all your questions. We traveled from CO. I have no complaints, well ok, one but it's my fault I missed my BQ by 4mins. Thanks and you absolutely should do this one. Pier to pier. Total blast.
P. R. from San Francisco, CA (11/11/2013) "Great first time marathon!" (about: 2013) 50+ previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 A great local fast, friendly marathon. Great beach party expo and plenty of finish line food even for us slower back of the pack runners. Loved the medal! Worth the drive. Nice cool weather for September.
A. M. from orange county, CA (10/7/2013) "BQ course for sure!" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ventura Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I signed up for this race 7 days prior in an attempt to better my time for Boston (I ran Santa Rosa two weeks prior). I ended up dropping at mile 14.6 due to fatigue, but I would definitely run this course again. It is flat and fast and the ocean layer was key for a September race. It was a little disorganized at the start, but understandable for an inaugural event. I would suggest paper cups at the water stations. And since I did have to drop, there was no plan to pick up runners. I waited for about an hour for someone to pick me up, but once I was picked up, the staff was extremely accommodating and friendly. It was a great small time race and I hope it will continue to better itself. I will be back.
J. R. from Irvine, CA (9/17/2013) "Nice Inaugural Event" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ventura Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 It was a very good inaugural race. I too, was running for a last minute BQ so all I was looking for was a fast flat course and Ventura delivered. It's not a particularly scenic course and only a few spectators were out watching but there's plenty of time to enjoy good scenery after the race from the patio bar at the Crowne Plaza or a pre race drive to Ojai. I didn't have a problem at the start and I got there ten minutes before the gun but I also had to climb over the fence to get in to the corral. I guess I should have arrived earlier. After a week of very hot weather and clear mornings the weather gods cooperated and we had cloud cover the entire morning until noon. The race organization was very good. Considering that they had 3 races going on at an inaugural event and a bike tour the day before. There were plenty of aid stations and the volunteers were really enthusiastic for a smaller race. The long open road over a slight uphill from miles 20 to 23 was more difficult mentally more than physically and I saw some carnage along that section. Luckily, there was no head wind to fight. The finish area was great with lots of food and music. I liked the Starbucks Frappucinos. There were also plenty of massage tables available.
J. H. from Los Angeles, ca (9/12/2013) "Good Organization" (about: 2013) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Ventura Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Good organization, course is good for the 1st half as the second half u have to come back up the hills for miles. If they can find another way back that is flatter or just end at Oxnard. Need more sport drinks and maybe some fruit? Everything is just prefect, expo was fun, people in Venture are super friendly and just a great experience!
Eddie Hahn from Crestline California (9/12/2013) "Classy First Time Event" (about: 2013) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Ventura Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Very well logistically supported. First, a nice beach front vendor boardwalk expo! Great to look at the artwork and browse after number pick up! (Compared to Malibu a few years ago which had nothing and insisted that runners pick up numbers the day before-for $20 here you could pick up the # day of, if you desired.) Not aesthetically pleasing like Malibu or Big Sur in terms of ocean vistas, but very flat if you want to run fast. Few fans, but those that were out there were very enthusiastic and had many motivational signs. Plenty of Gu/Gel and refreshments, very well stocked stations with water-but the electrolyte replacement drink was horrible. Loved the beer and music afterwards, and although the charge was $5 for a beer, it went to support childhood literacy.
Jim Krueger from Ventura, California, USA (9/11/2013) "Great inaugural marathon for Ventura" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ventura Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Fabulous small city experience for marathon runners. Management is the best. Course is flat and fast, slight uphill grade between miles 17-22, otherwise very flat and on the coast. Race mgmt is very involved with the local running community, which is a big plus. My 47th marathon overall, and one of the best experiences available for that distance. Will run it again. Thanks Josh!! Only 3 stars due to the lack of spectators, those that were there were wonderful! Course is out and back, with a keyhole turnaround.
P. G. from CA (9/9/2013) "Perfect for a PR" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Ventura Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I ran this as a last ditch to get a Boston qualifying time and it turned out perfectly. Almost totally flat course (except a verrry gradual rise over miles 17-20 that seemed never to end...), very simple out-and-back layout, and the best thing was: cool temp and cloud cover! The only downer was that the fog hid the ocean and made the course a bit dull on scenery. Organization had some very minor hiccups in distributing race-day VIP packets, but nothing bad. Added bonus: awesome race medal that is a superb, heavy-duty bottle opener. Yeah! Stayed at the Best Western across the highway; easy short walk to the start and finish lines over a protected pedestrian bridge. Lots of food at the finish, though I was too trashed to eat. In all, a very effective, no-hassles marathon. Two thumbs up!
W. C. from Peoria, AZ (9/9/2013) "Very good inaugural marathon" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ventura Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 First of all, I have to say this was very well organized for a first-time marathon. Great traffic control, fantastic volunteers, plentiful water/gel on the course, nice finish line area. Below are a suggestions for possible improvement. 1. Coming from out of town, I felt that I might have missed a few last-minute race details. Race morning I didn't realize both races were actually starting on the pier and the first wave left 5 minutes early according to my watch. I didn't hear the announcer until after I completed the baggage check and the anthem was being sung. The full and the half started together and there was a lot more congestion than I'd expected. Other runners and I had to hop the fence to get into the corral (I wasn't sure if there was any other way to cross the start line). This threw off my pacing. Maybe start the half and full separately next year? 2. More sports drink on the course, and hopefully a different brand (I really don't care for FLUID). The weather was cool but the dew point was high and I was sweating. Noticed a lot of runners brought their own sports drinks and I guess I should have too. 3. The course isn't really quite as flat and fast as touted (there is a marathon in the area in May that I've also run that is super fast so I guess I used this as a comparison). Some gradual, fairly gentle elevation gains that you don't feel until later in the race and then a few rises thrown in for good measure in the later miles. Nothing major, but not quite a BQ or PR course (unless you've been doing your training in the hills). Again, a very good inaugural race and if I were a local I'd run it again, perhaps using it as a long training run.

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