Christine Soh's Staging Area

I’ve heard nothing but great things about this race and it’s always been on my bucket list. Finally got to experience it myself and it did not disappoint at all! This race has everything that I love about a race. Laid back, super friendly staff and volunteers, and VERY supportive community.

I am a back of packer. I love to just hang back and enjoy my time on course.
Before arriving, I’ve heard from so many people that it’d be super hot and humid, so I was a tad nervous. BUT…we lucked out this year with some pretty amazing weather. It rained, which helped keep the humidity at a tolerable level, and the temp lower. The wind died down at the start of the second half, and the sun peeked out for a moment towards the end of the race. This raised the humidity level a bit for the second half, which was when I fell apart. This SoCal gal am just not used to the humidity.

The course was AMAZING! I don’t get to see much greenery in SoCal, so running in places where you’re just surrounded by super green trees everywhere is just so serene. The morning fog was still lingering in between the trees when the race started and made it feel like we were running through the jungle. Plenty of rolling hills throughout the course. Not to mention that “tiny hill” called Blackberry Mountain, which was a toughy. If that was not enough, they whammy you with another hill at mile 23. Since it rained this weekend, around mile 15 was the mud obstacle course. Honestly, I had a blast with the course.

There’s aid stations pretty much at every mile from mile 2 onward. And each aid station was manned by one of the community’s groups, whether it be the church group, school sport teams, or a supportive family. Everyone at the aid stations were SO nice, greets you with a smile, and oh so accommodating. Southern hospitality at it’s finest.

To me, what makes a race great, other than the scenery, is the course support and the race staff. EVERYONE involved with this race was nothing my Rock Stars! Absolutely AMAZING race and if I can fit it into my budget, I would be coming back for sure!

I’ve ran this race for three consecutive years now. It’s always been an easy course, with just one hill (not horribly steep) to go up. This is a race I recommend for people that wants to run their first half marathon, or try to get their PR. Since majority of the race is on PCH itself, there hardly any shades from the sun, so be cautious of sun exhaustion.

The course basically positions the Pacific ocean to one side of you at all times. It is an out and back, so it’s a perfect tanning opportunity as well. ;P Crowd support are very slim to none at most parts of the course, but some of the residence of the Seapoint area would be on the course (or their back/front yard) cheering on the runners. Definitely keep an eye out for Gavin’s water station. This cute little guy has his station setup to pass out water for the runners.

The race swag is OK. You get your typical tech race shirt, but i do like the reusable, pretty sturdy tote. Race merchandise has been sub par for the last two years, so I have not purchased any since their 20th anniversary race.

Race communication is pretty good so far. They’ve always started on time and parking this year was a bit more organized that previous years. Rather than having runners park as they wish, they have volunteers direct people in order of entry. And there’s plenty of water stations on course.

Post race food was OK. You get the banana, pretzel, fruit cup, and Cliff bar. TruMoo was definitely more prepared this year than last. They brought enough chocolate milk for runners to take two if they wish. There’s food trucks where you can buy food as well.

The beer garden this year was in a better spot. They’ve moved it onto the sand, which allowed for a bigger space for all the runners. Pas two years, the line to get into the beer garden was ridiculously long, I’ve always skipped it. I actually went in and enjoyed n=my free beer this year.

The race organizers were very considerate about the temperature change this year. I appreciate these little things. I ran the Surf City 10 and the course is very similar, but the one hill to the Bluff was the only challenging part of the course. Other than that, if you’re looking to PR, this is the race to do it.

This is definitely a community supported race. Super well organized. You get to run in Corona Del Mar, through the streets of million dollar homes. The start and finish has the view of the beach. Super gorgeous area. The community support is awesome. Since it’s sponsored by the Corona Del Mar Chamber of Commerce, the local shops sponsors the breakfast spread at the finisher festival. No medal, just yummy breakfast. A few hills, but not so bad. Great way to burn calories so you can sample all the food at the finish.

This was my 1st race after a 10 year hiatus, also was the first time this event was held in Pomona, CA. Not my best performance since 7K was the longest I’ve ran in years. The course ran around the drag strip on the Pomona fairground, parking lot, and up a small section of the nearby park area. The race was very well put on though. Organized, smooth start, and you get a complimentary cosmopolitan with commemorative martini glass at the end.