Great support for the full marathoners. Loved the separate start time from the Half. Best aid stations in any race. GU everywhere. Ocean views are to die for.

This was my 119th marathon and one that I hope to be able to schedule again. The course was great, and what I would consider rolling and not hilly. The views were great, and even when we weren't in view of the ocean, I never felt like I was stuck is a "residential area" either. The organization was second to none, with the exception of the "merge" of the marathoners and halfers. Coming off of an injury, I took this race slow and ran at the back of the pack so the half marathoners didn't alter my pace. I would have been annoyed if I had been pushing the pace though. Traffic control was excellent. I don't think I saw more than 5 cars all day and personally had no problems with parking or leaving the mall. I left a drop bag with extra clothes and recovery drink at the finish and they had it well organized. I was quite surprised more runners didn't take advantage of it. The spectators were very enthusiastic, even at 6 a.m. By the way, I loved the early start. This one is a keeper. I hope the race committee stays intact, even if the race course changes a bit. I made some great friends while running this race; Henry and Steven (both from San Diego), congrats to both of you.

As a race director, I know how much time and effort goes into preparation and logistics for a race. And so, I have waited till now to post this. And, having personally run in over 30 marathons in the past four years, I can offer a contemporary perspective on this marathon.

The Good:

1. Running along several miles of beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean. Decent course elevation: not too flat, not too hilly.
2. Comfortable temps and only mild headwinds (55 to 60 degree range).
3. A nice expo, even though in an outside tent.
4. La Quinta Inn - far enough away to avoid the many blocked streets, a good breakfast, hot tub, and an extremely generous late checkout after the parking lot disaster (see the ugly).
5. 6:00 a.m. start, even though it was a bit dark at that time.

The Bad:

1. Bland, off-brand tech shirts ran about a size too small. Tried three times to exchange for a larger one, unsuccessfully. Hint: If you take medium in tech, ask for a large. If you take an extra-large, good luck.
2. Course maps were inaccurate. My wife came to watch me, but the race map put her in the wrong spot.
3. Ultima sports drink. I cannot understand who drinks this without throwing up. I drank only water.
4. Mediocre goody bag, despite the high race fee.
5. Post-race food. Marginal. Need protein after a race, not pasta.
6. Course had many rolling hills, which were OK, but several roads were canted, which is not good for ankles and knees.

The Ugly:

1. Trying to leave after having run 26.2 and being stuck in the mall parking lot for two hours is not pleasant. We would have been stuck even longer if we did not take a chance in weaving in and out of the parking rows and moving to a traffic line further north. Some cars probably sat there for close to three hours. Perhaps Californians are used to sitting in traffic for hours, but it's not my cup of tea. Police should have manned the traffic lights. Advice for next year: park outside the mall and walk the extra half mile.
2. The full marathon runners had to join the 8,000 half marathoners around mile 13 and 20. I was running 8:30 miles and had to dodge 10-15 min/milers: very tedious. A full marathoner I talked with was nearly knocked over in the final mile.
3. The finish line was enclosed in a fence with only a tiny opening, which added to the congestion. Took five minutes to walk 20 yards.
4. Told to come to the info booth for age bracket awards. No marathon results posted; so I left. Volunteers said their two printers broke down. Moral: if you charge high race fees and have 10,000 sign up, buy a new printer for the race.

Suggestions:

1. Consider making this event solely a half marathon. Why subject those who have run so many miles to have to deal with dodging a pack of slow runners? Not fair!
2. Consider either a smaller field or a larger venue with adequate traffic control. I don't know how an emergency vehicle would have left the mall after the race. Very dangerous. All lanes were full and ours was completely stopped.
3. Choose Gatorade or PowerAde. Take a survey and find out what runners like to drink during a long race.
4. Be honest with your shirt sizing. If they run small, mention that on your website.

Will I run here again? Not unless there are major changes made. Even though some of the course had gorgeous ocean views, it was not worth flying 2,000 miles.

The course is challenging but not as difficult as San Francisco.

Beautiful coastal run, and the climb out on Palomar Airport Road only adds character to the event. Support on the course is fabulous! Like clockwork: water and sports drink every mile.

It would have been perfect marathon if we did not merge with the half-marathon folks for the last 5 miles or so. I ran 3:18 and had to fight through 10-minute/mile half-marathon folks to hit my goal times.

No sour grapes: the race was terrific fun and the expo (considering the size of the event) was excellent!

Our 3:20 pacer was awesome; he ran an impeccable race.

All in all, this is a challenging, well organized event that needs to clean up the finishing merge between the 1,500 marathoners and the 8,000 half-marathon folks.

Thank you, Carlsbad Marathon; we all appreciate your efforts on our behalf.

I ran the half-marathon and was expecting "gently rolling hills" that felt more like the Sierra Nevada. The spectator support was the best I have encountered yet. I really did appreciate all of the support from the locals.

My one complaint is the parking situation. There was supposed to be plenty of parking at the mall, but my husband dropped me off, then left after the start. When he returned to pick me up, there was NO PARKING anywhere and the staff were no help. He had to circle around near our planned meeting until he saw me.

Also, the congestion at the finish line was ridiculous. I got my water and food bag and couldn't get out of there due to the small opening in the fence.

Great course, good weather, and except for my own little complaint, good organization (oh yeah, besides the parking situation)....

When I finished, I needed to warm up and put a jacket on or something similar. I asked the medical tent for a space blanket, but they were only available to runners "under treatment by medical staff," so I had to walk out to my car and grab my jacket and come back (not my favorite thing to do after finishing), where I was promptly denied access back to the finishing area with all of its food for the runners. Not cool at all....

Great race. I was a bit worried about the 300-foot climb up Palomar Airport Road. The race organizer told me that I would have no trouble with it since I was from San Francisco. Still, I was intimidated by all of the warnings by previous runners not to expect a PR on this marathon or use it for a Boston Qualifier. But as the Boston deadline loomed and with no other marathon around, what choice did I have?

To qualify, I needed to run a 3:35 race, 17 minutes faster than I had run my first marathon about a month ago. I was prepared to "leave it all on the road," but I was totally unsure of my ability. I was counting on following a pace group. I found my pacer who had written "3:35 or die" on his bib. He was at least determined.

At about mile 5, I learned that my pacer had run the Carlsbad Marathon - but about 20 years ago. I shouldn't have worried because he turned out to be exactly what I needed. He was very steady, reaching his goal pace within 2 miles. He would inform us (there were about 10 of us in the pace group at the start) of his over/under time at each mile, never letting it vary by more than 30 seconds. He gave tips to his group - and others - such as "shoulders down; you're all tensed up." I found out that he was a cross-country coach for a local high school and knew the route like the back of his hand. He would manage his "banked" time to give us a little relief on uphills. Though by mile 24 his knees were "killing him," he kept the pace till the end and he finished 20 seconds under the 3:35 time. It is to him that I owe my PR and my Boston qualifying time. Having a smooth, steady pace was invaluable, but what was great for me was at mile 24, he said, "You look great - go for it." By then I was not sure if I was going to finish at 3:35; I was becoming quite aware of my tightening calves. I was doing my best to just hang in there, but when I heard those words, I took off, surprised myself, and finished at 3 minutes faster than my goal time of 3:35.

Oh, about Palomar Road, it was gradual uphill with one steeper section (about 4-5% grade) for about half a mile near the top. I handled it by taking control of my breathing. Luckily my pacer slowed down for the ascent. But future marathoners won't have to worry about it at all, as Palomar Airport Road will soon be history. The Carlsbad Marathon is morphing into the Beach City Marathon and will now follow much more of the Pacific Ocean - instead of heading inland and uphill. Now they tell me!

Weather was in the low 50s at start - a bit too chilly for me as it makes for many pit stops. We started in darkness 6 a.m., and as it got light, it stayed overcast: perfect running weather. Also, because of the early start, I didn't have to worry about clogging sweat pores with sun screen.

My biggest criticism of the race would be the lack of an express lane for the marathon runners. The marathoners meet up with a huge crowd of half-marathoners in the last quarter of the route. There was absolutely no attempt to channel the slower runners to one side, so getting to the finish was a zigzag with much threading the needle between groups. A couple of times I had to go all the way from one side of the road to the other, even going outside of cones markers to get some clear sailing. Though it made the last part of the race very interesting, there were far too many bumps and "excuse mes," and a pretty high risk of collision and injury. It appears that in previous years, the slower runners and walkers were channeled to one side. I'm not sure why this was not done this year.

Overall, the race was very well organized and I had a great experience.

I really enjoyed my marathon experience in Carlsbad. I understand that this marathon might be changed for next year to include more beach in the course. The course was hilly in places, but well marked and well supported. The views of the Pacific Ocean were fabulous so it is a good thing if they are looking to include more of the beach in the course. The crowds were so supportive. There is an alternate course at mile 24 for walkers or slower runners. It is also well marked and supported. The expo was great. The host hotel (Sheraton) was wonderful! I stayed extra days! I enjoyed the experience. Well done!

This was my 4th running of this marathon. I keep coming back for the weather and the views of the ocean. This is not an easy course and I think they added hills this year. Traffic control and volunteer support are always excellent - water, Ultima, GU, and Vaseline are plentiful. The expo is easy to get to and happens right near the race start and finish line. Fans are fewer than most marathons, but enthusiastic. In previous runs, the marathoners started with the half-marathoners, then split off and rejoined them later. The main problem in this design was that the marathoners would catch up with the half-marathoners who were walking, unfortunately getting in the way sometimes. This year I thought would be different, as the marathon started early (6 a.m.) with a separate start from the half-marathoners. Unfortunately, towards the end (mile 20 something), we again joined the half-marathoners who were faster (which did help keep the energy level high) but very plentiful. This made for more hazardous aid stations... and forget pace teams - unless you were running on top of your pacer, there was no way to judge where you were in relation to the pacers or other marathoners. According to the announcers at the beginning of the race, next year's race will be run in three towns all along the coast and the marathon will be renamed. I hope that this will improve this recurrent issue.

This was a very nice marathon that I would recommend. The ocean views were absolutely breath-taking, especially with thousands of runners in the forefront (view coming into the merge with the half marathoners). I was prepared for the hills (especially miles 8-9), so I didn't find them too difficult. The long-sleeved (white) technical shirt is nice, and the finishers' medal is attractive and solid. I found that, with all the changes in scenery and course variety, the miles really flew by. They started the 1/2 marathoners (8,000 of them!) 90 minutes after the marathoners, so there wasn't the usual congestion at the start. The merging with them on the second half of the course wasn't a big problem for me, as I took inspiration from passing them in the final miles! This also meant there were plenty of port-a-potties both before the race and on the course (anticipating the 8,000 half marathon crowd to follow later). The post-race pasta, salad, and roll were a nice touch, but beer would have been appreciated. We stayed for a long weekend and enjoyed the area.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention some areas for improvement/concerns too:

1. The marathon started about 7 minutes late. That's a big organizational faux pas, in my opinion. I'm not sure why there was this delay.
2. We were told the results would be posted in the information tent, and age group awards could be picked up after the race. To get to the information tent, there is only a narrow opening in a chain link fence, and it was MISERABLY congested! Then, once I got to the tent, only the half-marathon results were posted. When I asked one of the volunteers, they had no idea where the marathon results were. There was one computer terminal outside, where you could wait in line to get "instant results" but there were about 25 people (almost all half-marathoners) waiting, so I just left.
3. With prior comments about the parking and congestion, we parked right near a mall exit in the far corner of the parking lot. We still waited a good 30 minutes with the lousy traffic pattern trying to exit the mall. My suggestion is NOT to park at the mall, but park across the street, or at another business (there's a bank, that's closed on Sunday, for example).

Bottom line, this is a nice race, but could be amazing if they started on time and did something to reduce the post-race congestion and results posting. Even opening up the chain link fence more would help! But if you're looking for ocean views, cool temps, and long weekend in southern California, this will fit the bill.