Catalina Marathon

I did this race as a spontaneous reaction to my friends' invitation. I got a knee pain in Disney Marathon back to January. I waited for my knee to feel comfortable and the weather got totally cleared up. I made my decision a day before. The logistic for this race is a little complicated as the race has a point to point course in Catalina Island. There are not enough rooms in Two Harbor, the start line. Majority of the runners took a boat ride departure from Avalon, the finish point, to Two Harbor, the start point, in the morning of the race at 5:00am. I took the same boat from Long Beach, which departure at 2:15am. The race started at 7:00am. That's quite a long boat ride before the race. Two harbor is a small village with limited services. Our boat docked on the north side harbor. The start line was on the south side harbor. It is about half mile in between these two harbors. I arranged my time line as registration - check in bag - use facility - start run; to make sure I can get into the race. That means I have to walk cross the two harbors 3 times. I made back to the start line at the last second, literarily. Moving the start line close to restroom facilities are very helpful, as I heard a few other runners complained the start line location as well. The course is a very challenging one. The middle section from mile 11 to mile 21 are almost all the way up hill. The roads were muddy in many sections. You have to get your foot wet in a few spots where steams rush cross the road. I made a mistake by wearing cotton socks. I ended up with a blisters and then, the blisters burst because I was keeping running. There are plenty of aid stations with food and drink well loaded. The finish line is in the town of Avalon. I appreciate the traffic police attendances at major intersections. The finish line at Avalon is a nice small town equipped with many services. Many spectators cheered for the runners at the very end section of the course. I was able to take a shower at public shower facility and had a lunch at my choice. I did not book anything ahead of the time. But, purchasing a ride back to Long Beach was easy and smooth. Two days after the race, the results are still not available yet.

This is a stunningly gorgeous marathon with breathtaking vistas of the Pacific and the runners snaking up and down the steep, semi-wild terrain of Catalina Island. I don't recall ever having spontaneously exclaimed 'wow...' during a race so many times. The course is challenging, to be sure, and mostly on dirt jeep tracks, which is nice. Running this marathon is an unforgettable experience. I can't recommend it more highly, and can't wait to go back.

I signed up for the Catalina Island marathon shortly after running the Huntington Beach, CA 'Surf City Marathon' in February 2012. Essentially, I was looking for a marathon in March, and this fit the bill (and was something of an impulse buy.) At any rate, the course looked challenging from the map and elevation profile. The comments / feedback from other runners (on this site) really made the decision easy. Everything about this race exceeded my expectations  including the boat ride, the quaint tourist town of Avalon, proprietors of the lodging and dining establishments, challenging hilly course with tons of vistas, fellow runners per dialogs on course and off, maintenance stops every two miles staffed with happy volunteers, excellent weather, delightful cheers from the locals and tourists at the finish line& I could go on, but you get the picture. So many of the runners are veterans, and for good reason. This is a fantastic marathon. You will not likely achieve your PR here; so as a running friend advocated: PR in Fun. Catalina will likely become a yearly tradition for me as it has for so many others. Looking forward to adding the 2013 Pin to by Catalina Island Marathon Bar. Cheers.