Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon)

INTRODUCTION: I am a racewalker with a median marathon completion time of 5:24:10. The Surf City USA Marathon was my sixty-sixth 26.2-miler accomplished. COURSE: It was a great day for a marathon: 46 degrees, 51 percent relative humidity, and calm. Our course began on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) at Huntington Street. In an NNW direction, we passed by downtown in our first mile continuing on toward Seapoint Street at mile 2.9. Turning inland, we headed toward Huntington Beach Park. Upon reaching it just past mile 5, our course narrowed down to a winding foot path, punctuated by occasional dirt and a one-time soft surface underneath a jungle gym, for the next two miles. Mostly backtracking to PCH, we encountered our only significant hill, a short 0.3-mile, 54-foot incline on Edwards Street at mile 9 between Talbert Avenue and Ellis Avenue. Shortly after, we would no longer have the course to ourselves for the rest of the race. Beginning with our turn onto Overlook Drive, we would be joined by the half marathon runners, who outnumbered us by more than six to one. For tortoise marathon participants, we would initially be passed by runners running at a pace more than four minutes per mile faster. Three-fourths into mile ten, we returned back to PCH heading northward toward Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve for the next 2.4 miles. We then returned in the opposite direction for the next 4.2 miles where we separated from the half marathoners at mile 16.4. At 14th Street, U-turning northbound onto the Huntington City Beach bike trail, as warned by the organizers, we encountered cyclists, dog walkers, pedestrians, and marathoners going the opposite way on the eight-foot wide-asphalt path for the next couple of miles. Adjacent to the PCH/Seapoint Street intersection, as we entered Bolsa Chica State Beach, our course widened to, apart from crossing the bridge over the tidal inlet, a pancake flat, 20-foot-wide smooth asphalt surface with an imperceptible cant for the next 2.7 miles. All along, we had vistas of surfers, waves crashing against the beach, and Catalina Island off to the west; and the Long Beach skyline, where their marathon takes place in October, to the north. Turning around just before mile 21, we retraced our steps to 14th Street and slightly beyond, exiting back onto PCH at 11th Street for a total of approximately 9.1 miles of the marathon course on the multi-use trail. We then could count down the streets from 11th to 1st just before crossing the finish line. Atypically, separate finish lines were established for half (on the left) and full (on the right) marathons. Weather at the finish was 67 degrees, 46 percent relative humidity, and calm. ORGANIZATION: A nicely done event. It was a beautiful day for the efficiently run expo, which was held underneath tents in the Huntington City Beach parking lot. Free race day parking was provided at the Huntington State Beach, with the gates opening at 5 am. Those who arrived early were parked 0.8 miles away from the race start. Later arrivals had the option of boarding school busses stationed approximately 1 and 2 miles away from the start. Near by the expo, the beach bar, featuring Michelob Ultra and Kona Longboard Lager, was open Saturday expo day and, of course, race day, where a live band, disappointingly not playing surf music, was present. In keeping with the race theme, four-foot-high blue surfboard shaped mile markers made it easy to keep track of where we were on the course. Good support provided by the volunteers who manned the aid stations. SPECTATORS: Sparse. What appeared to be a junior high school aged brass band was playing in Huntington Beach Park at mile 6.3, and two surf bands were playing alongside PCH at Huntington City Beach parking lot and the entrance to Bolsa Chica State Beach. Faster marathon runners were within earshot of the appropriate tunes three times each, once on PCH and twice while on the multi-use trails. CONCLUSION: For those who enjoy running alongside the Pacific coast for 19.3 miles, this marathon should not be missed. Well done, Surf City.