I had the pleasure of pacing the 1:45 group for the half marathon at Santa Cruz. I have never run in SC before, but I had heard that the course was gorgeous, with beautiful views of the ocean and cliffs, and I was not disappointed. :) The course went through some residential areas, some parks/trail areas, and some of the ocean-side cliffs, so collectively, the terrain along the course changed from pavement, to trail, to some-small-rocks-but-not-really-technical areas. There was just a bit of climbing, around 400', enough to keep things interesting, yet the final 3ish miles had a nice descent before literally finishing on the beach in the sand.

My only very slight annoyance about the race was the finish area on the beach. Don't get me wrong; it was absolutely beautiful and actually, kinda novel to be able to finish a race on the sand, but all of the vendors' tents and post-race goodies (food, medics, shirts, etc.) made the entire area a bit of a cluster... and especially with all the runners coming in from the half and the 10k.

It would be lovely to still be able to finish on the beach, but perhaps in the future, at least some of the tents/finishers' items (food, etc) could be moved back onto the street so as to minimize the cluster.

Overall, though, this was a beautiful course and a really positive experience. I'd definitely recommend it.