Surf City Marathon - Huntington Beach, California

2/6/2011 - Surf City Marathon - Huntington Beach, California

Running review is below with some tips for those of you who consider to run this race,  a full 26.2 miles marathon ,  in the future:

Distance: 26.2 (Garmin GPS measured 26.35)

Course: Run north along Pacific Coast Highway ("PCH"), make a right on Seapoint Ave, run around Huntingon Central Park and then back to PCH to run north, turn around on PCH to run south then turn around again to run north and one last turn to run down south to the finish line. (see map of the Surf City Marathin detailed course and elevation profile below)

Elevation profile:that's going to be a 0ft. 2 small hills on miles ~3.4 and ~7.6 but nothing worth worrying about

Crowd: Mixed, no elite runners. This year rightfully respectful and impressive best times were 2:35hr and 3:00hr for M and W respectively. Impressive times but clearly not the 2 tenish finish times you would find in marathons where world class runners participate

The easy part: Flat and great weather at this time of the year

The challenging part: The course was shared with more than 17,000 other runners who ran, half a marathon, 5K etc. Some parts of the course were narrow and the crowed have slowed some runners down. Watch for these parts of the course: some unpaved paths in Huntington Central Park and running on the water front walkway. The water front walkway was shared by runners who ran up north to the turning point and by runners who made their way back south to the finish line. In addition there were cyclists and other random spectators... you get the point: the course wasn't dedicated for the surf city marathon solely.

Food, before: yogurt, bread, coffee

Food, after: Salmon & veggies

Price: $110

Pacers: Yes

Timing: Shoe chip. Surf City Marathon split times at: 3 miles, 6 miles, 12.2 miles, 20.9 miles and 26.2 miles

Qualifying: N/A

Official website: Surf City Marathon, Huntington Beach, CA

My 2 cents: Don't miss the Michelob Ultra Beer Garden Beach Party at the beer garden at the finish line

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