Ventura Marathon - Race Reviews

Just enough downhill to encourage quick times. Management foresaw potential weather and flooding problems and had backup plans. The race went off without problems....course was accurate and safe. Plenty of aid and port-a-lets.Great time of year for cool weather. Thanks for a great event.

This is a super fast course, downhill most of the way, with just one hill of any note around miles 7-8. The race starts early, just before sunrise, which is good, because it can be warm, but this year there was a nice breeze and it was barely 70 by the time I finished. Plus, you're shaded most of the way, until the last 10K or so. Few spectators beyond Ojai, which I didn't mind. The bike path this runs on is a great surface, and there were tons of aid stations and ports potties along the way. Would have loved a course map and a few more details prior, plus the expo isn't remarkable, but all in all this race is totally a best kept secret - lovely, peaceful and FAST!! I PRd by 5 minutes!

The Route and the Condition: Ventura Marathon shares a large portion of route with Mountain to Beach Marathon. M2B holds in the spring time. Ventura holds in the fall. Ventura Marathon loops around Ojai for 1.5 laps with about 9 miles distance before entering the narrower bike path. With this arrangement, there were no crowded condition after you entered the narrower bike path. This is a better arrangement in comparing with M2B. The route is mainly downhill. The first 9 miles around Ojai have a few uphill miles. Close to the end of the route, there were a few miles without shade. We were very lucky to have a normal weather on the day of the event. The temperature was high 70s and low 80s. The next day, the entire southern California reached 100 degree at noon time. The Organization: The shuttle bus in the morning was smooth as the bus station was next to Ventura Fairground parking lot. There were plenty of parking available in the fairground parking lot with $5.00 parking fee. If you have extra time, it is not hard to find a free street parking nearby. There were a number of pacers. However, the pacing time are not 3:30; 3:45; 4:00 as we commonly see. I did not understand how the pacer has a time of 3:27; 3:42, etc. There were plenty of aid stations. The placement of water in front of Gatorade or otherwise were randomly arranged in different stations. A few stations stocked with cliff shots or some cliff candy. There were volunteers guided the traffic in all traffic intersections. However, I did see a car accident near an intersection, not runners involved, though. The party with live band at the finish area were excellent and fun. The organizers provide sorted out photos to runners. The photos are free of charge if you don't need high resolution photos. The Spectators: Not many spectators. Ventura is a small town. The route is mainly bike path.

I ran this race in 2015 when the course was out and back, flat and virtually shade-free. I was excited by the new course down from Ojai to Ventura, and I was not disappointed. The downhill course is fast, naturally, but even more importantly, it is often protected from direct sun until the last 10k in Ventura. Bathroom available at each aid station, and volunteers were great. Not much for spectators, but that is not for me here. Scenery is not spectacular, but certainly pleasant for most of the course. Organization was well done, and if they keep this course going forward, I think they have a winner for a good Boston qualifier.

Ventura can be a boring run at times but is also a fast one. I'm not running all my races for the views of the ocean. I have run ocean view marathons like Surf City and hated it. This marathon is well run from the website to the finish line. For a small race it was done right. And I did run a BQ by over 8 minutes. See you next year Ventura!

If you are looking for a scenic California marathon then this is not the marathon for you. If you like lots of spectators along the course then this is not the marathon for you. If you want Pacers that are reliable and accurate then this is not the marathon for you. If you want a course with plenty of aid stations/bathrooms along the course then this is not the marathon for you. Not sure how a runner helped create this marathon but failed to provide in the above mentioned areas. The few spectators that line the course were cheerful and volunteers did a spectacular job. I saw several runners needing medical attention primarily due to the lack of aid stations along the course as several seemed to have dehydration issues. I have seen marathons with 50 runners have twice as many aid stations. The positives were that the medal was cool an and the shirt was nice. No chocolate milk at the finish area that I saw, but they did at least have water and watermelon. Overall not a terrible marathon, just that in California there are dozens of better marathons to choose from.

I ran this race with the goal of qualifying for Boston. I just missed qualifying by a few minutes. Overall, this is a fast course. There is only one small hill at mile 9 and again at mile 19 on the return trip. For most of the course, the view is of fields rather than the ocean. However, it was still pleasant. The course is well organized and the volunteers are friendly. The pacers are excellent. I consider the sports drink that is offered along the course to be the main weakness. This is a critical factor for any marathon. I don't know what the drink brand was called and I couldn't find the name on the race's website. It was not like gatorade. It did provide electrolytes and I didn't experience any leg cramping. However, it contained little or no carbohydrates. Perhaps it was too diluted. In any case, by mile 20 I could tell that my sugar levels were running low. I lost a lot of time in the last 6 miles. I have run more than 40 marathons so I am pretty sure it was due to this. Once I got to the finish line and got some sugar back into my system I was fine. However, I felt this made the crucial difference between qualifying and not qualifying for Boston. They do serve gels at least a couple of aid stations. I should have probably taken more advantage of this. However, I am use to getting my calories as part of a sports drink. One other thing is that the temperature warmed up to around 80 F. about 3 hours after the race started. I think this year's race was warmer than normal. The race medal that doubles as a can opener is cool. Overall, I would consider running this race again if the issue that I mentioned is addressed.

Course is billed as scenic and flat. I won't argue with the flat but if scenery is what you desire, this marathon is not for you. The only scenery to be had on this is at the marathon turn around point at Point Hueneme Beach and perhaps coming back and being able to see the mountains in the far far distance. I did get a laugh on the 3:03 Pacer who appeared to falter around the 15-18 mile mark and then came bolting past me at a sub 6 minute pace around mile 25-26. Needless to say his 'group' was unable to keep up. Negatives -not scenic -boring medal (Bike event had a good one!) -aid stations (only two with nutrition) -distance issue with 1/2 marathon (.5 miles off!) -finish line amenities lacking **small tent, little shade **no recovery drinks (gatoraide or chocolate milk) -Photographs, although free require you to share all your facebook information with pic2go (a foreign company)to obtain. GOOD POINTS -Fantastic organization in many aspects **police and traffic support was TOP NOTCH! **Organization at the finish line was great and kept people moving in an orderly direction **Information was clear on website **Parking location and information was clear and convenient **Marathon distance was spot on -Free marathon photos (at the cost of your privacy) -Volunteers were enthusiastic -Expo was pretty good and had some children's activities on Saturday. -Ventura and Oxnard are friendly and fun communities.

I was happy to PR in this marathon because it's a flat, easy course with lots of support. The only hill to speak of was a bridge around mile 9 and again around 17, but it wasn't long and the rest of the course seemed totally flat. The best part about this race was that the post-race refreshments were unequivocally the best I've seen in any of my 25+ marathons: fresh cut watermelon and pineapple, fruit cups, bagels, bananas, cookies, pretzels, candy, on and on. Also, the volunteers along the course were great, lots of medical people on hand at the end, and plenty of portable toilets. Easy parking and no traffic hassles coming or going. An unexpected bonus...the very strong and sweet frangrance of strawberries in the fields the course passes through. It turned out to be a heat wave weekend so it did get really warm, but not a lot that the organizers can do about that. Typically the coast is 10-20 degrees cooler than it was that day. The only thing that could be improved would be the timing system. Marathon results were a bit wonky for a few days, but it looks like they've since sorted it out. My times on the website now match the splits I had. I do give the race director a lot of credit for trying to help each individual marathoner on the spot get their results straightened out. I'd definitely run this again and will probably be back next year.

This was my 18th marathon. This is a great event to do to set a PR or try to qualify for Boston. The only potential problem is because it is early September, it could be hot like it was this year. Although average weather for Ventura in early September is low to mid 60's in the morning, this year it was about 70 degrees on average. But even so, I saw many PR's and BQ's. Although the organization was great, the course itself isn't the most scenic. But from my experience, you usually either get a fast course or scenic course. Let's face it, the hills usually come with better scenery. The aid stations were plentiful with plenty of water and electrolyte beverage. They also had pace groups ranging from 3:05-4:40.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.