Emilie Reas's Staging Area

I have no regrets about choosing the Ventura Marathon for my first barefoot marathon. I finished much slower than all my prior marathons, but that was a reflection of my training, not the race. The course was almost entirely flat, except one tiny hill around mile 9 and returning at 17. The terrain is entirely on roads, most of which are very barefoot friendly. However, there was a decent stretch (~3 miles) a few miles from the start/finish that was poorly maintained asphalt and tough on the feet, particularly on the return leg. The last quarter mile was also very rough, which made it impossible to kick at the end like I wanted. My biggest complaint was the canted roads. As an out-and-back run on the southbound lane pretty much the whole way, the road is canted one direction for the first half, then the other direction the second half. This did a number on my hip and ankle and forced me to stop a few times to take a break from the monotonous canted road. Although described as scenic, you don’t actually get to see much of the ocean. Spectator support was pretty good, although there was essentially no music along the course, which would have helped on the motivation front! Aid stations were top-notch, spaced roughly every mile and offering both water and sports drink. Race organization and swag were great as well. In addition to a fun orange tech t-shirt, full marathoners got a race hat and a very unique, quality finishers medal. I saw two other barefoot runners on the course, and of course received tons of (all positive!) barefoot-commentary from spectators and runners!