Bill Perkins's Staging Area

Easy course, nice weather, and beautiful beach locale. IM did a great job managing Covid protocols. Stay at the host hotel for a real spectator and athlete-friendly experience.

This is a great late season Ironman event. The atmosphere is very grassroots-like. Feels like a small town event. The area is generally nice and has the character of many California beach towns. Centralize transition area and course variety made this a really fun event. Although there were over 3000 registered, it never felt crowded or overproduced. The swim was an amazing low-surf ocean swim that starts with a sprint into the wave and circumvents the Santa Cruz pier. There a 0.3 or run to transition thru the sand. The ride is great. You traverse thru town along the course with awesome view of the ocean and plenty of spectators. Then you head up the Pacific Coast Highway with rolling past surf an mountains. A very fast course with a few rollers and moderate climbs. The turnaround leads you back to town with a slight tailwind. The run was the best with coastal views and 3 mile or so trail run. The race finishes on the beach. The town has a hippie-like vibe and a real laid-back atmosphere. Definitely will do this again.

USAT really puts on a high quality event. Their experience in triathlon race production was evident at this event. The registration process was very efficient. There were on-site USAT staff personally assisting athletes with any and all issues. They were extremely professional and catered to the athletes needs with a great attitude. The SWAG was top rate (a tech tee) I am proud to sport from 2XU!. There was a full menu hot breakfast served to athletes prior to the start of the event. The OJ tasted fresh squeezed (likely not, but was a great facsimile). The course was safe and fast. The 1/4 mile run to T1 from the beach was fully carpeted! No need to contend with cars on the bike. We had the entire 2-3 lane road. The run along the beach was beautiful. It was along a shared bike/pedestrian path, however the pedestrians were nicely separated from the participants. Great photos along with a “healthy” post race food menu (no pizza, sandwiches or chips) made this an awesome event. It was also nice it was a combined event with the para-triathlon world championships. I’ve already signed up for next years event!

Just simply a great race. All around. Arrive early and plan for a long 1.5 mi (not steep) climb at mile 22. Get the VIP package, it’s worth it and not very expensive. Enjoy the after party.

This is a nice experience for the family. The course is open and very fast. It is a low cost family friendly PR course. Not a big production, but is a fun place for everyone in the family to participate. It’s a unique, well-produced event that everyone in the Southbay should try at least once.

This was my 1st ultra-distance triathlon, and I couldn’t be happier. Everything about the experience was great. Loved the pre-race activities, the on-course support, fans, the course. This is a must-do Ironman if you live in the Southwest. Plan for a long weekend (Thursday thru Monday) to get your money’s worth. The most important tip for anyone thinking of doing this race is to book lodging early (say 1yr in advance). The event doesn’t sell out as quickly as it used to, but lodging can be a challenge if you want to be within a mile of the event.

I love the selection of events. The is a yearly staple for me. The combo is the “BEST” event. The bike ride is a super fun (fast) closed course which takes you on the Marathon course. There is typically plenty of time to transition to the half. I like the scenery, course, spectator participation and proximity to the runners. Can’t say enough about this race. Another “must-do” for Southbay locals.

This was your basic “race for a cause”. Great thing was the Swag and the prizes for the top finishers. That’s it. Pretty basic fun in the morning race. Race logistics were a bit out of hand, but the race directors did a great job managing with limited volunteers. Inexpensive race with above average SWAG (incl Tech Tee)

This is a San Diego Triathlon staple and great mid-season race. Not too big a field, in a really nice location. The course is fast. Nice beach entry into the bay. The bike course has a couple of inclines, which provides a nice challenge. The run is spectacular. I love the run thru shelter island and along side of tourists. The finish in seaport village is a nice touch to well produced event. Be warned!! this is a really competitive race. If you want to see how you stack up against some of San Diego’s finest triathletes, this is the race for you. Although there wasn’t a lot of free and “unnecessary” swag, KOZ puts your fees to good use by having luxury air-conditioned buses to transport athletes from the finish to T1, in addition to having a Saturday pre-race bike drop. These are conveniences that matter a lot to me.

Most importantly the course is fun and a bit challenging with rolling hills in the last few miles. I enjoyed the variety of scenery, especially running along the Newport’s Backbay. This event has a “Super” post race expo “Party”. I really likes that split finish lines for the half marathoners and full marathoners. You race 26.2 miles, you get a band welcoming you to the finish…Nice! Free massages were a nice touch…if you feel like waiting for 30-45 minutes. Production was was just right. Announcers worked hard to entertain (pre-race) and motivate you thru the finish. OC fairground is a nice venue. You’ll pay an additional $16-$18 for parking…Drag! But if you sign-up early it won’t feel like such an imposition. This course is worthy of racing a couple times. I’ve completed all races in the Beach cities challenge and I would rate The OC Marathon: #1 for post race activity, #1 for course (challenging and beautiful) and #2 for production (Long Beach Marathon is #1 in my book).

This locale race is fun without a lot of frills. It is definitely a PR course. Its a fun inexpensive race that helps the community. Don’t expect a lot of food trucks and beer gardens. You finish along the beach, right near a cute strip of local beachside restaurants. Only caution is that the start is a bit hectic. 5K runners, 10K runners and walker may all start at the same time. So if you’re a speedster, be sure to get to the front of the line.

Get the whole family involved. Safe easy in and easy out. No parking fees. Definitely a PR course. No beer garden post race. Medal we’re just a step above a children’s toy. However, the price is cheap and it’s a fun environment. I do this event every year and will continue to.

Clearly this race has been around for a long time. The important things were all dealt with pretty effectively. Parking – Easy ($10 for 2 days), Expo – Marginal. Pretty small and insignificant compared to other races. Swag – the “ugly” sweater tech tee design was original and a nice touch, medal design was original and could be used as a Christmas ornament. The “ugly” beanie was cool too. Course – very scenic and somewhat challenging. A few rollers, a few small climbs, a couple long climbs. The hills seemed to come late in the race, so be prepared. Lots of crowd support when you most need it: along the finish chute and hill climbs. The venue was supremely suited for this event, lots of bathrooms, a couple food trucks and beer (no garden needed). Had a good time.

One of the best Triathlon venues in the Southwest. Ironman generally know how to produce a great event, so no surprises. The good: Venue, FANS, volunteers, Aid stations. The bad: nothing really. I had a great time. This course will definitely test your nutritional strategy and warm weather training.

This is the best produced triathlon I’ve participated in. The production value was as good or better than an IRONMAN-produced Tri. Venue, swag, safety, routes AND volunteers were all top notch. The partnership with Athlinks was an added bonus. Athlete tracking and Free pictures! Wow. Unfortunately, the weather was hot, hot, hot. Great pre-race for IMAZ 70.3.

Awesome PR course “if” the sun is not out. OC race series, so the only medal you receive is “if” you qualify (have to run do Race on the base and Run Seal Beach). Well produced and if you are a sub 6min mile runner you could make some money.

Perfect weather, beautiful course and professionally produced. The rolling start was really nice. The logistics would have been a nightmare, but IM did a great job of providing shuttles to the swim start. The bike was beautiful, don’t even remember any climbing. The run was on a nice bike path, however it was a bit narrow with 2-way traffic of runners. But still nice and shaded most of the way. I’ll be back again next year.

Lots of aid stations. Great fan base. Very well organized. Although there were 10,000+ runner, the organizaor did a great job stagering the stages to accomodate the crowds of runners. SWAG & Beer Garden were excellent.

The staff of #runracing know how to organize an event. Though my experience is relatively new, I felt that this event was a TopNotch event and worth every penny invested. I participated in the SuperCombo, a run (5K), bike (20mi), run (1/2 Marathon) event. It was fun, challenging and best of all, I took home 4 medals. That’s right 4! What’s important for this review: you can complete all events or just one and have a blast. The combo event is “timed”, so there is an added bit of competition. Noteworthy: As the forecast shifted (90+ deg) days prior to the event, the organizers quickly made accommodations to allow runners to start earlier. Now that was service. One MAJOR criticism. Since the combo event is timed, the organizers must find a way to place the finish line for the Bike event such that a sprint finish is possible. I recognized that safety was a very important aspect of this event. However, it is a frustrating contradiction to have a timed event but then stop cyclists 30-40 yards before the finish line and issue “walk your bike” orders. Fortunately, the “race” was awesome. 20 miles of completely closed streets. Many thanks to the organizers….I’m ready to sign up for next year.