By far the best views of the 3 surf city challenge races. The only bad part of the race is the constant change in surfaces you run on. You get it all, you run on asphalt, cracked asphalt, cement, pavers and wood. But now that I got the bad done with, this race has the best views, as you run over the bridge to the Queen Mary, although I wish the course would take you slightly closer to the Queen Mary, a wrap around the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Pike. You get to run several miles down on the bike trails on the beach before heading back for the final stretch or split if you run the marathon. My kids loved the medal for the race and for me this was the completion of the surf city challenge (Surf City, OC and Long Beach) and received a special medal that was a blue whale, next years is a sea turtle, so will be back to run again and complete the race and get the new medal. I wish there were more vendors at the expo or had more local races to register or at least advertise for. All in all, I set a personal best for the year and looking forward to beating that time next year.