Eric Bieniek's Staging Area

Given the challenges caused by the road slip out making the normal Big Sur point-to-point route impossible to run safely, I can’t help but be grateful to the Big Sur Marathon Foundation for providing the opportunity to run a modified out-and-back route this year and be thankful for all the effort their team undoubtedly put in to make it happen on a short timeline. It’s truly a privilege to be able to run one of my bucket list marathons regardless of the circumstances. The scenic views along the coast were still nothing short of spectacular and it was a great experience. Having said that, it was of course disappointing not being able to run past some of the most noteworthy landmarks of the route, namely the Bixby Bridge which is the biggest highlight of the race. My only gripe is that although the organizers allowed deferment to 2025 via a guaranteed entry, they didn’t allow participants’ registration fees to be applied to next year or at least provide a discount. A race fee that is not cheap going down the drain likely forced some on the fence to just run this year even if they weren’t thrilled about running the modified route. I empathize and understand the financial impacts providing this option would have on being able to make this race happen, but that same empathy and understanding could be felt and expressed the other way by the race officials to the runners.

No major bad things to say; overall good marathon event/experience.
Pros: swag, event operations, beautiful weather, number of aid stations
Cons: some inclines towards the end of the course, smaller than expected crowd support throughout and water/nuun opportunities at each aid station