• Huntington Beach,
    California,
    United States
  • February
  • 3 miles/5K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon, Other
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

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Laurel

Gilbert, Arizona, United States
26 22
2016
"Surf City Full"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Laurel 's thoughts:

This was my very first marathon. I traveled from out of state and stayed at one of the host hotels. They were great about providing information about race events, a shuttle to the race, and they had fresh, hot cookies all day long at the front desk.

The expo was huge, and very easy to get to. They waived the parking fee for the expo folks, which was nice. Tons and tons of vendors were present, which was good for me because I forgot my socks.

The course itself was nothing spectacular. The first 1/2 of the race was more interesting than the second half, with some hills and a run through the nearby beach park. By about mile 10, the weather had heated up to 86 degrees, and the race course became very monotonous. The view was beautiful (the ocean off PCH, however it was the same view over and over, and even worse it was like a 5 mile out and back along the same road. Even more mentally challenging, was that this long out and back started with a U-turn just feet away from the finish line.

This last out and back segment did not have enough aid stations manned by the race, but there were some supporters that provided bacon, ice, cold towels, oranges and water. Without these supporters, the last part of the race would have been completely miserable.

I was not a fan of how the half combined with the full, nor of the many out and back segments that made up this entre race course. Out and backs make for a much more mentally challenging race.

All in all, it was a fun race but I wouldn't run the full marathon again.

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