Santa To The Sea... the big, little local race. :) This was my first one and all of the local runners had talked about it. It seems like a family reunion of races. People dressed up with festive holiday gear to win prizes. There were also some nice cash prizes for fastest runners, so you got the super fast racers as well.
Parking was tight at this race, so they coordinated busses to take us to the starting line. Really easy to find the parking and hop on the busses. Loaded up and dropped off quickly and ready to go! Right at the drop off were tons of portable toilets with very easy access. They also had free Francisco coffee to all the runners walking from the bathrooms to the race start.

Being in Southern California, I can not really complain about the cold weather here, but I will. It was freezing at the start of the race. Maybe 50 degrees? But that is cold in your tiny shorts and short sleeves, or at least out here it is :) The start time was 8:00 am to wait for the sun, which we all appreciated.
The race started at a really cool vintage Santa Claus statue ( http://www.weirdca.com/location.php?location=1) in Oxnard CA and ended at the Channel Islands Harbor. The race coordinators had a Toy Drive before the race and it looked like toys were busting out at the seems. Very exciting to see that. UPS was also there to do gear check and haul our gear to the finish line (13.1 miles away).
There were about 2000 runners all ready to go on the brisk morning. The start of the race was through industrial areas of Oxnard and some farm land. Not the prettiest view, but not too ugly. The one problem with the course was a huge rain storm that happened three days earlier. The course was still a little wet, muddy, dirty with debris. Nothing we couldn't conquer. Loved the Oxnard Police presence helping clear the roads and make the runners feel safe. This isn't a real spectator friendly race, so they had a spectator contest with a few stations for runners to vote on. That actually helped out during the boring times.
Towards the end of the race, you can smell the ocean. Running through a very small community of Oxnard Shores, there is sand on the street from onshore wind gusts. Then, at the last mile, you can see the harbor and all the supportive running friends, fans, and families! The finish line had ample amounts of goodies to devour. Waters, drinks, snacks, fruit, energy bars... all free for the consuming. The expo was pretty small and didn't really have as much runner stuff as I would like. I ended up walking around looking for people to congratulate.
The Tech shirts were cool because they were long sleeved.. I could use that this time of year but no other cool swag. Not even a swag bag :( But I did like the fun Santa Medal.
Overall, it is a fun race to hang with some locals, dress up in Christmas costumes, and have a good time.

This was the first stop of the Lexus LaceUp Running Series. This is a four part running series.I expected a few hiccups, since it was the very first one, and there really weren't too many! Pleasant surprise. Let's break it down for you all:

First off... Three races: 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon. I chose the Half Marathon to better my time from Long Beach and hopefully get a PR. The start was a beautiful spot in Ventura, right on this patch of grass next to the ocean. Gorgeous spot to start. It was a little chilly, since Ventura just got a long needed rain show the day before and we were probably 20 steps from the ocean. At 6am, it was 48 degrees with the ocean breeze making it feel like 30. Check in was super easy. Everything up front was well organized. The Half Marathon and 10K started together and split off after a few miles.

**Only bad thing at the start was a delay in the gun because they had cars illegally parked on the course. I am guessing they were getting towed by the police. So our start was delayed by 20 minutes. Not too bad.**

The course was well marked for a new course. We had lead cyclists guiding the way. Every quarter mile (or so) was a volunteer with a flag directing us, so there was no chance of getting lost. The course AID stations were plentiful and the volunteers were awesome. They were very helpful and encouraging. The course ran by the beach,through the city, and up and down Ventura's bicycle path. I live here and had never been on it. Not the most scenic, but pretty cool. Lots of new things to see, some sun and some shade to mix it up. It was pretty flat with only a few tiny inclines. The finish was right next to the ocean with the last mile on the boardwalk. The only thing I was bummed about was the lack of spectators. I like when there are random people with signs cheering the runners on. But it is a new race, with only two months to promote.

After the race was the free food from one of the many gourmet food trucks they had lined up. Your choice of which you wanted to go to.... FREE!! And a free Sierra Nevada as well!! Score. The expo was small, with few vendors, but still all the runners hanging and congratulating each other filled up the whole place. Winners were announced relatively fast and there was a podium with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place spots for pictures. They had cool plaques/tiles for the top finishers and great looking medals too.

Overall, this race series had really good swag (shirts looked awesome along with their bags), good attitudes, and will get even better the more they get into the swing of things. I couldn't be happier with a new PR knocking almost 4 minutes off my earlier Half time! Go Lexus LaceUp! I can not wait to see you again!

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!

I guess you could say this was the catalyst to me wanting to race all the time. I am a Navy veteran and I am in a small social group called VFT (Veterans in Film and Television). We wanted to run this 5K and support the growing problem of homeless veterans in Los Angeles. It was held on Memorial Day, May 26th 2014. Our team VFT raised $4,550.00 and I personally raised $770.00 of that amount. But back to the race.
So, my first time racing, not sure what to do, what to wear, how fast to start, blahblahblah.. It was really fun. It was held on the West LA VA Campus. Lots of vets hanging out and participating in the run. The course had some ups and downs and I wasn't ready for that. I took off so fast that my first mile was sub-7 minute, and that hurt... plus I had a long sleeve shirt on under another shirt?!? No clue. Lots of volunteers handing out water. Lots of military supporters all together. I finished at 23:09. 2nd in my VFT group (which I was stoked) 7th in my age group and 58th out of 305 runners. Seeing the results of my first real race and ranking made me want to run harder, faster, and ultimately... MORE!!