The So Cal Half is a great, smaller race in Irvine. It's on a Saturday, so there's no Expo and a later start time. You pick up just your bib the morning of the race. There's plenty of parking at the local businesses near the start line.

Most of the race takes place on the riverbed, but there are quite a bit of turns in and out of the streets and a few small hills when you go from the riverbed up to the street. I wouldn't say it's a flat race at all. Once you cross the finish, it's a little lackluster, as smaller races are. You get a medal and water, but there doesn't appear to be any swag or goodie bags. I was about to leave the race when I saw a ton of runners with bags. There's an area where there's tons of free goodies on the other side of the finish area. They had protein shakes, granola bars, fruit - definitely a great race finish area once you find it. This is also when you pick up your t shirt!

This race is very small - limited to only 500 runners. I really enjoy smaller races because there's less pressure to PR, they cost less, there are fewer people on the race path, and they make great training races.

The Operation Jack Marathon & Half Marathon raises money for a great cause - Autism. It's right on the beach at Dockweiler State Beach in Los Angeles. There's no expo, and bibs and t-shirts are given out prior to the start. The medal is awesome. It's looks like a huge military dog tag. By far, one of the best medals I've received. The prizes are fantastic too. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each age group for both the marathon and half marathon are given a hand painted picture done by a child or adult with autism. They don't block off the bike path for the race, but since this race is the day after Christmas, there aren't a ton of other folks on the path.

The course goes north first, starting right out of the parking lot. It goes down the bike path and turns up the river path until the turnaround at mile 4.5. You return up the bike path going past the start line for another 2.5 miles and then turnaround to finish the race. The full marathon doubles this path. The elevation is minimal. There's a small dip and rise around mile 3, and then an incline before mile 9 and mile 12, but you get the downhill on each side as well.

I highly recommend this race for anyone visiting or local for the holiday seasoning. It helped me stay on track with my training throughout the holidays and forced me to be healthier than I would've normally.

This is my 3rd year running the Turkey Trot in Long Beach, CA and it was perfect. The race is put on by Justin Rudd, who raises money for the charity he formed, Community Action Team (CAT). CAT is an organization that puts on tons of community based events in Long Beach that benefit children, the environment and the community as a whole.

The "Expo" is non-existent, but proves the purpose of this race is to have fun and support the community. Bib pick up is the day before Thanksgiving or the morning of. Parking is free if you bring canned goods. There is no timing system, but just a large clock that is not really accurate. I would recommend wearing your own timing/GPS watch if you are that interested in your finish time. They don't have a timing system as it allows them to give the money they would to a timing system, to charity instead.

The course is flat and beautiful. It takes place right on the boardwalk on the beach. The weather is normally perfect - either overcast or very cool temps if the sun is out. Nothing is blocked off, so you will find quite a few folks (cyclists and walkers) out on the course who are not racing. I recommend running the first race time (this year was 7:00am - they also have an 8:30 and 10:00 time slot) to avoid more traffic on the course as the day goes on. There are 3 aid stations if you run the 10K, just one if you run the 5K. The course is flat and fast with only some slight inclines in various spots along the route.

They give you a shirt each year, and you can upgrade to a long sleeve for a few bucks more. They give out over 600 pies to random finishers and there's lots of goodies at the end. KIND Bars, fruit, juice, and water. I would definitely recommend this race if you are in the Long Beach area for the holiday!