Ventura Marathon

Ventura Marathon

Ventura Marathon

( 17 reviews )
94% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Ventura,
    California,
    United States
  • September
  • 3 miles/5K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Haley Gonzales

Sacramento , California, United States
52 33
2016
"Great Race to PR"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Haley Gonzales's thoughts:

Ventura is a cute, beautiful city and very flat. So this is a perfect course to run if you are trying to PR. The expo is pretty small, but they had a lot of great stuff; from running related items to women's clothing (strange, but it's nice to have that option). It was below the Ventura Pier, so lots of great photo ops. The packet pick up was a breeze, and it all seemed well organized. At packet pick up I got a nice tech tee, hat, snacks and a bunch of Ventura related info.

The race for the half started at 6:30am. I really have to applaud the volunteers and race management at the start. Very well organized, corrals clearly labeled and the waves went out perfectly. The majority of this race is super flat, so it is an easy race to run in that aspect. It is an out and back, which is one reason I chose to do the half. I am not a fan of out and back courses, but this one was actually pretty nice. I was a little sad that most of the race is not along the ocean, you see it here and there but you are mostly on back roads going through neighborhoods and retail areas. However, there were still plenty of people cheering us on, which I really liked. You do have views of the ocean at the finish, so that was awesome. Aid stations were well stocked and the volunteers did a great job at the aid stations, in fact all of the volunteers at this race were amazing. Up until about mile 9.5 I hung out with the 2:15 pace group. I've never run with a pace group before and I am so glad I did today. Pacing was through Beast Mode and my pacers did a great job! Around mile 9 I was feeling good and told them I was gonna take off and they cheered for me as I left :)

Once you finish the race there is a tent with a TON of food and water. Then there is the post race party...beer, food, pictures, more things to buy. It was a lot of fun, especially right there on the beach. I enjoyed this race a lot. The one thing that really sticks out to me is if you want to PR this is the race for you! As I said, it is super flat and easy and time flew by on this one. Ventura is also a charming town so I'd plan to hang around a little post race and enjoy what the city has to offer.

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