Marathon Details - Santa Barbara International Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > CA > Santa Barbara > Santa Barbara International Marathon

Santa Barbara International Marathon & Half Marathon, Relay

Santa Barbara, CA USA

~~November 12, 2016~~ - CANCELLED

http://sbmarathon.com/

More Info:	News
Results:	2014 \| 2013 \| 2012 \| 2011 \| 2010 \| 2009 Top 3 Finishers by Year

Contact

Name:	Rusty Snow
Address:	SBIMarathon 129 N.Fairview Ave Goleta, CA 93117
Phone Number:	805-637-7417
Fax Number:	805-637-7417
Email:	Email the organizers



Become a Verified Race, and stand out from the crowd. We feature a blue check next to verified races on our calendar, and feature your race on the Verified Races section of the website.	Get Verified Now



Getting ready for this event? Get a personalized adaptive training plan and 1:1 coach assistance.	Get Your Plan

Reviews

Course 3.9

Organization 3.9

Spectators 3.8

Write a review

Number of comments: 41 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 > ]

H. S. from Santa Barbara, CA (11/16/2014) "Good Fall Marathon" (about: 2014) 4-5 previous marathons \| 2 Santa Barbara International Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is the second time I have run this marathon and can say that its a good choice for a Fall run. Enjoyed to course change so that we ended on the beach rather than the stadium across the street. For the positives: 1) Good weather. You can count on the temperature being at least 50-60's throughout the race. It may, as it was this year, warmer towards the end, but that isn't something we can blame on the RD. 2) Adequate traffic control and water/gel stations throughout the course. 3) Pace groups for every BQ time and then some. 4) EZ packet pick-up, and transfer to/from parking lot at start and finish of race. 5) Warm Gym available to marathon runners before the start of the race. No sitting outside freezing on the cement. 6) Great location marathon. Good weather, food, wine, etc. Plenty to see and EZ access to SBA and LAX airports. And for the negatives: 1) Although overall flat course, there is a half mile hill at 23miles. The pacers bank 1 min. of time to account for this, but its still tough after 23 miles. 2) The T shirt this year was a bit small for size. The shirt from last year was of better quality. Also, medals were unavailable because they were stuck at the port due to a strike. They will be mailed to us. Overall, I think my experience was great. The pacers do a wonderful job of trying to keep you on pace and motivate you throughout the course. Good weather is a big deal for me, so I rate the predictability highly. The swag isn't big at this race, but that isn't important to me. A relatively fast course with excellent support are of much greater concern.
A. K. from Bay Area, California (11/11/2014) "Terrible event, I will never run this race again." (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 This race was awful and a waste of my time and money. The medals got held up at customs and we didn't find out until the expo so no medal at the finish. The race shirts that were handed out are a cotton/polyester material and not meant for running in. The expo was on the smaller side and the items were pricy. They attempted to save money wherever they could, but I did not receive what I paid for for this race. The finish line festival had a massage tent and food trucks, but both finished up before the marathon did. The race was clearly catered to the half marathoners. The post race food was cookies, rice krispy treats and other sweets, with the only healthy item being a banana. They advertised that a medal and 'reusable' water bottle would be handed out at the finish, but the water bottle was just your standard plastc 16 oz. bottle. The race starts at 7:30am and it is a very open course with little shade. A few miles are on a bike path and a bicyclist almost hit me, despite the path being close. It is a race for Veteran's Day and there were supposed to be veterans lined up along the last mile cheering on the racers and handing out flags. When I came to this part, the only spectators were runners who had finished the race. I came in just under 4 hours and 21 minutes and it is a 6 hour course limit. The course is decent, with the last 2 miles of the race descending. The only decent hill is at mile 23. The finish line was along the beach and there was a large grassy area for runners to recover at. Unfortunately, it was not very well marked and people seemed to get lost. This was the 6th year of the race and from what I heard, by far the worst. The organization only seemed to care about the half marathoners and the marathoners who would finish under 3 hours and 30 minutes. The end of the pack runners had to deal with streets being reopened and a finish line that was shutting down when they finished. There was a decent amount of crowd supports and since there were less than 900 marathoners, I never had to worry about any area being too crowded. I tried to contact the organization, but have yet to actually have someone address my concerns. I truly hope that they change everything for next year.
H. P. from California (11/11/2014) "This is really a half marathon event." (about: 2014) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 It was obvious from the start that this was really a half marathon event with a marathon added as an afterthought. There are so many negative things to write I don't know where to start. There were two good things: 1) the aid stations had great volunteers and 2) there was a motorcycle cop on the bike trail that checked on us three times (I am a back of the pack runner). The course was NOT clearly marked and I almost got lost but a local runner caught up to me and we stayed together to the end. My friend that was a half hour ahead of me did get lost and off course. Go to Facebook and see all the negative comments. I will NOT run this one again. Oh and the shirt is cotton and three sizes too small. No medals at the finish line. They will be mailed when they arrive = poor planning. The cheering section was gone long before the 6 hour cut off. Ice cream was also gone before the end of the event. The event said there would be food trucks but they only stuck around for the half marathon (which started 15 minutes before the full). Over all a HUGE disappointment.
k. h. from Los Angeles (11/9/2014) "good experience but Wachovia out for mile 23" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 All the previous comments are all good description as my 2014 race's experience. Good course organization, tons of water stations and table to give out gels. The crowd was just amazing, they were everywhere on the entire course, cheering and high-fiving and so welcoming to our runners. Love they opened up the high school gym and with music to keep us warm and pumped. Plenty of restrooms and restroom inside the gym were open to use. Free bottles of water and easy bags drop-off and pickup. Easy shuttle bus and parking. Expo was in a very convenient location, not much vendors but u find everything u need there, yes, and they have gels for sale too. Love the $50 for every pair of new shoes table, they even have hoka one one for $50, new, women's size only though. One major drawback was they didn't have finisher medals available in time for the race. They got stuck at the customs. But the medals should have been done months before the race, not days before the race. They said they will mail them to us once they will arrive. That is gonna cost them thousands of dollars. This is the only race I have done without a finisher medal, but oh well, that didn't ruin our experience! They made it up with the post race food and easy race result chck. I read all the review before signing up this race as everyone mentioned mile 23-24 is all uphill. And they weren't kidding. I trained for weeks on running uphill to prepare this. But boy, the one mile uphill happens after u have run 23 miles, that's a killer. My 3:10 pacing group's pacers were amazing btw. First time I saw 2-people pacing, first pacer for the first 13.1, then second pacer showed up at mile 12.6 then slowly took over. They even switched their running watches so the time was right on. Daniel , our second pacer, kept guiding us in focusing on our movement and enjoy our surrounding, it helped. But by mile 22, only 2 runners could hold on to him. Jennifer was the last one hanged on to the pacer as the second woman finished the race as well. I think if u want to BQ in this race, u will have to bank at least 4 mind by the time u hit mile 23 to have couple mins to cushion. The last 1.5 miles was the most beautiful finish I ever had. As the race's title was veteran day race, so they put up all the American flags all the way to the finish line. As you will go downhill the last 2 miles, u turn and saw the most beautiful ocean view with trees and grass, and everyone in the neighborhood came out to cheer for u. One nice gentleman cheered for me the last mile,'I know you got that in you. You can do it!' He even cheered me for half a mile down the course. That pumped me up! I would recommend this race to anyone who like to experience this beautiful southern CA course. But will need to train running a one mile uphill at the end of your long runs to simulate the race.
T. S. from USA (11/10/2013) "Not a PR or scenic course, but reasonable" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 All four of the people I traveled to the race with exceeded their finish time estimates by 15 minutes, despite all being very experienced marathoners. Do not try to PR here because: 1. This is a very hilly course (much more than Cali International in Sacramento) 2. The start is very late (7:30) putting the bright sun right overhead in a course with lots of open-blacktop running 3. There is enough talent up to about the 2:50 range, but very sparse faster than that if that is your range. You could win, but you'd have no one to run with. That said, the race itself was generally good. The expo was very small (do not plan on finding your Gu-of-choice there, very little selection). The shuttle bus was no problem to catch at 6AM, although the area of UCSB was a little difficult to find with some unannounced closures (at least one bus even took a wrong turn on the way to the start). They, again, had the gym to crash before the start complete with nice bathrooms. The port-a-potties did get lines too long to complete starting about 20 minutes before the race start. I liked the bag drops (sort them yourself by number). Both races started on time this year. The small size of the full (1700ish?) made for no crowding on course. The spectators are always appreciated and were sprinkled throughout, but very sparse. If you need that to be pulled along, there were many very desolate, lonely stretches. The pace leader for 3:00 was absolutely reasonable (working with up/down hills, but average very steady) and on-time. They bank 1 min for the hill at 23...I cannot imagine anyone losing only one minute on that monstrous hill. As above, I just would never choose this race for a PR. For a nice, smaller race, maybe a tune-up or a tempo to 20, sure. And if you're a local or recreational marathoner, then I'd go for this.
T. T. from USA - New Mexico (3/27/2013) "Great race - be prepared for the hill at the end" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was a great race. I had prepared to run the NYC Marathon the week before, but it got cancelled, so I ran Santa Barbara. My time wasn't any where near I'm used to finishing. By the time SB came around I was spent physically and emotionally. I would love to run it again and give it my full focus. It's a great course and well organized. It could have had better post food however.
Emilio Martinez from Chicago (12/1/2012) "Phenomenal energy, loved it!!" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Wow! How did the organizers pull off what they pulled off: fighter jets flying over at the start with bagpipes doing god bless America with lead WWII vehicles, motorcycles, side cars, elliptigos and more. The energy was just awesome! I am so pleased I made the Choice to run this well organized wonderfully supported event in the most beautiful place in the world! The course was fast too and weather perfect. I pr'd in what was my 6th marathon. I heard there were problems with the shuttles but I got there early as was suggested and had no problems. Great time in SB after the event! Thank you, see you next year!
M. V. from Westcoast (11/29/2011) "Truly awesome! Better every year!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Santa Barbara International Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Clearly the organizers have listened to their participants! NO lines for Porta Potties! plenty of water/Gu Brew on course. TWO GU Energy stops at mile 9 and 19 and one thing I really noticed apart from the incredible beauty of the first few miles and the last few miles was the amount of police on the course. Wow, I've run NYCMarathon as well as Boston and I counted over 80 on course! Either the community of SB is on board this race or the organizers have some serious expenses! Loved the Veteran's day theme as well with all volunteers waving usa flags. The finish at SBCC track Stadium is just perfect...not to mention that delicious Chocolate chip cookie. I'll be back as I'm sure it will grow BIG TIME!
T. C. from Morgan Hill, CA (11/15/2011) "Enjoyable race, may go back again sometime." (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I really enjoyed this marathon overall. I thought it was well organized, and I liked the course. I especially liked the gym that we were able to wait in before the start; it was so nice not to have to wait outside in the cold! More than enough porta potties, barely even had to wait in line. Very friendly & supportive volunteers and spectators, aid stations were well manned. We absolutely lucked out with the weather. It was pouring rain the night before, and was supposed to be raining marathon morning as well, but it ended up being overcast with temps between mid 50s and low 6os...perfect running weather! The only problem weather wise was that for the last six miles I ended up running against a headwind...NOT fun. I don't know if Santa Barbara is normally windy or not, but I do know that if I was to anticipate running the last 6 against the wind again, then I would not sign back up for this race! The 'it's all downhill from here' finish is a bit exaggerated. There's a slight incline in the beginning of that stretch (and I mean, this is AFTER the hill at mile 23), then the downhill after that isn't really steep enough to give you much of an advantage in the late stages of a marathon; perhaps I would have appreciated that stretch more if I hadn't been running against the wind, which unfortunately completely negated any advantage I could have gotten from the downhill. I loved running into the stadium and finishing on the track there; it was great inspiration for a strong finishing sprint that I've never been able to pull off in a marathon before. I also thought this marathon was just the right size. With only about 1,000 runners, neither the start nor the course was too crowded at any point, yet there were enough runners around me the entire time that I didn't feel lonely out there! My only complaints (besides the wind of course, which was obviously out of anybody's control) were that there were no 'drop bags' at the start, and that the food at the end was kind of pathetic. I was searching for food tents and all I found was a tent offering some recovery drinks (which tasted awful, but I'm sure were very good for me :) ) and then a tent with a very nice spread of food that I wasn't even allowed to eat! Here I was having just finished a marathon and there's this awesome smorgasbord of cookies, yogurt, fruit, and I can't even remember what else...a ton of options...and there's a sign that says something to effect of 'for select people only.' Apparently just running a marathon didn't quality me. I even asked the lady to be sure, and she just looks at me like, 'no, you're not special enough for this stuff.' I'm not sure who exactly that food was for (because there was a lot of it and I didn't see anybody actually eating it), but I was quite miffed that I walked away from that field with no food whatsoever, only a cup of recovery drink!
B. H. from California (11/15/2011) "Perfect race" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Beautiful course, well organized friendly event, started on time, lots of aid stations, well run expo, easy starting point, great finish are with lots of water/ food, cool medals, friendly vibe, perfect size event. Its a hilly course and I still got a PR

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 > ]

Become an Advertiser

H. S. from Santa Barbara, CA (11/16/2014) "Good Fall Marathon" (about: 2014) 4-5 previous marathons \| 2 Santa Barbara International Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is the second time I have run this marathon and can say that its a good choice for a Fall run. Enjoyed to course change so that we ended on the beach rather than the stadium across the street. For the positives: 1) Good weather. You can count on the temperature being at least 50-60's throughout the race. It may, as it was this year, warmer towards the end, but that isn't something we can blame on the RD. 2) Adequate traffic control and water/gel stations throughout the course. 3) Pace groups for every BQ time and then some. 4) EZ packet pick-up, and transfer to/from parking lot at start and finish of race. 5) Warm Gym available to marathon runners before the start of the race. No sitting outside freezing on the cement. 6) Great location marathon. Good weather, food, wine, etc. Plenty to see and EZ access to SBA and LAX airports. And for the negatives: 1) Although overall flat course, there is a half mile hill at 23miles. The pacers bank 1 min. of time to account for this, but its still tough after 23 miles. 2) The T shirt this year was a bit small for size. The shirt from last year was of better quality. Also, medals were unavailable because they were stuck at the port due to a strike. They will be mailed to us. Overall, I think my experience was great. The pacers do a wonderful job of trying to keep you on pace and motivate you throughout the course. Good weather is a big deal for me, so I rate the predictability highly. The swag isn't big at this race, but that isn't important to me. A relatively fast course with excellent support are of much greater concern.
A. K. from Bay Area, California (11/11/2014) "Terrible event, I will never run this race again." (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 This race was awful and a waste of my time and money. The medals got held up at customs and we didn't find out until the expo so no medal at the finish. The race shirts that were handed out are a cotton/polyester material and not meant for running in. The expo was on the smaller side and the items were pricy. They attempted to save money wherever they could, but I did not receive what I paid for for this race. The finish line festival had a massage tent and food trucks, but both finished up before the marathon did. The race was clearly catered to the half marathoners. The post race food was cookies, rice krispy treats and other sweets, with the only healthy item being a banana. They advertised that a medal and 'reusable' water bottle would be handed out at the finish, but the water bottle was just your standard plastc 16 oz. bottle. The race starts at 7:30am and it is a very open course with little shade. A few miles are on a bike path and a bicyclist almost hit me, despite the path being close. It is a race for Veteran's Day and there were supposed to be veterans lined up along the last mile cheering on the racers and handing out flags. When I came to this part, the only spectators were runners who had finished the race. I came in just under 4 hours and 21 minutes and it is a 6 hour course limit. The course is decent, with the last 2 miles of the race descending. The only decent hill is at mile 23. The finish line was along the beach and there was a large grassy area for runners to recover at. Unfortunately, it was not very well marked and people seemed to get lost. This was the 6th year of the race and from what I heard, by far the worst. The organization only seemed to care about the half marathoners and the marathoners who would finish under 3 hours and 30 minutes. The end of the pack runners had to deal with streets being reopened and a finish line that was shutting down when they finished. There was a decent amount of crowd supports and since there were less than 900 marathoners, I never had to worry about any area being too crowded. I tried to contact the organization, but have yet to actually have someone address my concerns. I truly hope that they change everything for next year.
H. P. from California (11/11/2014) "This is really a half marathon event." (about: 2014) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 It was obvious from the start that this was really a half marathon event with a marathon added as an afterthought. There are so many negative things to write I don't know where to start. There were two good things: 1) the aid stations had great volunteers and 2) there was a motorcycle cop on the bike trail that checked on us three times (I am a back of the pack runner). The course was NOT clearly marked and I almost got lost but a local runner caught up to me and we stayed together to the end. My friend that was a half hour ahead of me did get lost and off course. Go to Facebook and see all the negative comments. I will NOT run this one again. Oh and the shirt is cotton and three sizes too small. No medals at the finish line. They will be mailed when they arrive = poor planning. The cheering section was gone long before the 6 hour cut off. Ice cream was also gone before the end of the event. The event said there would be food trucks but they only stuck around for the half marathon (which started 15 minutes before the full). Over all a HUGE disappointment.
k. h. from Los Angeles (11/9/2014) "good experience but Wachovia out for mile 23" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 All the previous comments are all good description as my 2014 race's experience. Good course organization, tons of water stations and table to give out gels. The crowd was just amazing, they were everywhere on the entire course, cheering and high-fiving and so welcoming to our runners. Love they opened up the high school gym and with music to keep us warm and pumped. Plenty of restrooms and restroom inside the gym were open to use. Free bottles of water and easy bags drop-off and pickup. Easy shuttle bus and parking. Expo was in a very convenient location, not much vendors but u find everything u need there, yes, and they have gels for sale too. Love the $50 for every pair of new shoes table, they even have hoka one one for $50, new, women's size only though. One major drawback was they didn't have finisher medals available in time for the race. They got stuck at the customs. But the medals should have been done months before the race, not days before the race. They said they will mail them to us once they will arrive. That is gonna cost them thousands of dollars. This is the only race I have done without a finisher medal, but oh well, that didn't ruin our experience! They made it up with the post race food and easy race result chck. I read all the review before signing up this race as everyone mentioned mile 23-24 is all uphill. And they weren't kidding. I trained for weeks on running uphill to prepare this. But boy, the one mile uphill happens after u have run 23 miles, that's a killer. My 3:10 pacing group's pacers were amazing btw. First time I saw 2-people pacing, first pacer for the first 13.1, then second pacer showed up at mile 12.6 then slowly took over. They even switched their running watches so the time was right on. Daniel , our second pacer, kept guiding us in focusing on our movement and enjoy our surrounding, it helped. But by mile 22, only 2 runners could hold on to him. Jennifer was the last one hanged on to the pacer as the second woman finished the race as well. I think if u want to BQ in this race, u will have to bank at least 4 mind by the time u hit mile 23 to have couple mins to cushion. The last 1.5 miles was the most beautiful finish I ever had. As the race's title was veteran day race, so they put up all the American flags all the way to the finish line. As you will go downhill the last 2 miles, u turn and saw the most beautiful ocean view with trees and grass, and everyone in the neighborhood came out to cheer for u. One nice gentleman cheered for me the last mile,'I know you got that in you. You can do it!' He even cheered me for half a mile down the course. That pumped me up! I would recommend this race to anyone who like to experience this beautiful southern CA course. But will need to train running a one mile uphill at the end of your long runs to simulate the race.
T. S. from USA (11/10/2013) "Not a PR or scenic course, but reasonable" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 All four of the people I traveled to the race with exceeded their finish time estimates by 15 minutes, despite all being very experienced marathoners. Do not try to PR here because: 1. This is a very hilly course (much more than Cali International in Sacramento) 2. The start is very late (7:30) putting the bright sun right overhead in a course with lots of open-blacktop running 3. There is enough talent up to about the 2:50 range, but very sparse faster than that if that is your range. You could win, but you'd have no one to run with. That said, the race itself was generally good. The expo was very small (do not plan on finding your Gu-of-choice there, very little selection). The shuttle bus was no problem to catch at 6AM, although the area of UCSB was a little difficult to find with some unannounced closures (at least one bus even took a wrong turn on the way to the start). They, again, had the gym to crash before the start complete with nice bathrooms. The port-a-potties did get lines too long to complete starting about 20 minutes before the race start. I liked the bag drops (sort them yourself by number). Both races started on time this year. The small size of the full (1700ish?) made for no crowding on course. The spectators are always appreciated and were sprinkled throughout, but very sparse. If you need that to be pulled along, there were many very desolate, lonely stretches. The pace leader for 3:00 was absolutely reasonable (working with up/down hills, but average very steady) and on-time. They bank 1 min for the hill at 23...I cannot imagine anyone losing only one minute on that monstrous hill. As above, I just would never choose this race for a PR. For a nice, smaller race, maybe a tune-up or a tempo to 20, sure. And if you're a local or recreational marathoner, then I'd go for this.
T. T. from USA - New Mexico (3/27/2013) "Great race - be prepared for the hill at the end" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was a great race. I had prepared to run the NYC Marathon the week before, but it got cancelled, so I ran Santa Barbara. My time wasn't any where near I'm used to finishing. By the time SB came around I was spent physically and emotionally. I would love to run it again and give it my full focus. It's a great course and well organized. It could have had better post food however.
Emilio Martinez from Chicago (12/1/2012) "Phenomenal energy, loved it!!" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Wow! How did the organizers pull off what they pulled off: fighter jets flying over at the start with bagpipes doing god bless America with lead WWII vehicles, motorcycles, side cars, elliptigos and more. The energy was just awesome! I am so pleased I made the Choice to run this well organized wonderfully supported event in the most beautiful place in the world! The course was fast too and weather perfect. I pr'd in what was my 6th marathon. I heard there were problems with the shuttles but I got there early as was suggested and had no problems. Great time in SB after the event! Thank you, see you next year!
M. V. from Westcoast (11/29/2011) "Truly awesome! Better every year!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Santa Barbara International Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Clearly the organizers have listened to their participants! NO lines for Porta Potties! plenty of water/Gu Brew on course. TWO GU Energy stops at mile 9 and 19 and one thing I really noticed apart from the incredible beauty of the first few miles and the last few miles was the amount of police on the course. Wow, I've run NYCMarathon as well as Boston and I counted over 80 on course! Either the community of SB is on board this race or the organizers have some serious expenses! Loved the Veteran's day theme as well with all volunteers waving usa flags. The finish at SBCC track Stadium is just perfect...not to mention that delicious Chocolate chip cookie. I'll be back as I'm sure it will grow BIG TIME!
T. C. from Morgan Hill, CA (11/15/2011) "Enjoyable race, may go back again sometime." (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I really enjoyed this marathon overall. I thought it was well organized, and I liked the course. I especially liked the gym that we were able to wait in before the start; it was so nice not to have to wait outside in the cold! More than enough porta potties, barely even had to wait in line. Very friendly & supportive volunteers and spectators, aid stations were well manned. We absolutely lucked out with the weather. It was pouring rain the night before, and was supposed to be raining marathon morning as well, but it ended up being overcast with temps between mid 50s and low 6os...perfect running weather! The only problem weather wise was that for the last six miles I ended up running against a headwind...NOT fun. I don't know if Santa Barbara is normally windy or not, but I do know that if I was to anticipate running the last 6 against the wind again, then I would not sign back up for this race! The 'it's all downhill from here' finish is a bit exaggerated. There's a slight incline in the beginning of that stretch (and I mean, this is AFTER the hill at mile 23), then the downhill after that isn't really steep enough to give you much of an advantage in the late stages of a marathon; perhaps I would have appreciated that stretch more if I hadn't been running against the wind, which unfortunately completely negated any advantage I could have gotten from the downhill. I loved running into the stadium and finishing on the track there; it was great inspiration for a strong finishing sprint that I've never been able to pull off in a marathon before. I also thought this marathon was just the right size. With only about 1,000 runners, neither the start nor the course was too crowded at any point, yet there were enough runners around me the entire time that I didn't feel lonely out there! My only complaints (besides the wind of course, which was obviously out of anybody's control) were that there were no 'drop bags' at the start, and that the food at the end was kind of pathetic. I was searching for food tents and all I found was a tent offering some recovery drinks (which tasted awful, but I'm sure were very good for me :) ) and then a tent with a very nice spread of food that I wasn't even allowed to eat! Here I was having just finished a marathon and there's this awesome smorgasbord of cookies, yogurt, fruit, and I can't even remember what else...a ton of options...and there's a sign that says something to effect of 'for select people only.' Apparently just running a marathon didn't quality me. I even asked the lady to be sure, and she just looks at me like, 'no, you're not special enough for this stuff.' I'm not sure who exactly that food was for (because there was a lot of it and I didn't see anybody actually eating it), but I was quite miffed that I walked away from that field with no food whatsoever, only a cup of recovery drink!
B. H. from California (11/15/2011) "Perfect race" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Santa Barbara International Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Beautiful course, well organized friendly event, started on time, lots of aid stations, well run expo, easy starting point, great finish are with lots of water/ food, cool medals, friendly vibe, perfect size event. Its a hilly course and I still got a PR

Become a better runner

Marathon Details - Santa Barbara International Marathon