I keep wanting to have an amazing experience at Surf City but no luck yet.
The expo is fairly large but packed into a small space. Bib and shirt pickup is pretty easy though. The shirts are always very nice and something I actually wear again.
The race course is primarily on PCH which affords great ocean views. If your looking for a flat course- this is it! However, things were not smooth running.
Ok, the corrals. What is the point of asking a participant their projected finish time if it's not used for corral placement? More than a few people in my corral were in a similar position. I put down a projected 2:10 finish time for the half. The 3:30 pacers were about 2000 people ahead of me.
Water Stations- the race has a lot of water stations, which is great since it has hit the 80's the last 2 years. However, they weren't staffed very well. During the last half of the race the stations were running out of water and cups to put it in. I saw runners have to pour their own water more than once.
The crowd support is great and the views are pretty amazing. A beach finish is hard to beat. The medals are amazing- seriously this year's is a beast! The post race food is pretty good too.