The 30th Anniversary Long Beach Marathon was a really cool event. 18579 participants were there for all events. I ran the Half Marathon (2nd ever) and it was pretty fun.
The start was very hard. I haven't been introduced to that many people starting before. I tried to get into the wave I wanted (1:40), but there were so many people! I fell in line wherever I could. Felt like a rock concert. That didn't put a damper on the start, I just didn't want to trip right out of the start and ruin that whole race. I had a 1 minute 9 second start delay with all those people. The first mile, I was dodging bodies by running up curbs, avoiding traffic cones, and watching garbage on the street.
It was cool that we were on part of the freeway, well, on and off ramps, in the start. Urban running. A little incline in the beginning going over part of the ocean inlet, but the downhill made up for it.
The view was pretty amazing. Mostly near the water, you could see The Queen Mary to your right, along with another huge cruise ship (Carnival?). Then as we got further along we were on the bike path next so soft, sandy beaches. Some Long Beach regulars were running and riding on the path which kind of got irritating.
The aid stations were awesome.... lots of goodies and plenty of volunteers to hand them out. There were also a good number of spectators along the way. Tons of them at the start and finish. I love the running spectators. They DO NOT want you to give up. So supportive.
TI liked that they actually put the medal around my neck. The last race I did they just handed it to me. Their goodie bags at the end were ok, I really needed more nourishment, but I took what I could get.
Best part is that I achieved a PR on this course! I told myself I couldn't be slower than my first half, and I shaved 46 seconds off!
Finish was 1:44:35
Great course, Good Times, Cool People! Come out to Long Beach next year everyone!