Andy Green's Staging Area

OC Half Marathon runs from Fashion Island in Newport Beach, through Corona Del Mar, onto the Pacific Coast Hwy, past Balboa Island, along the cliffs of the Back Bay, through the neighborhoods on the way to finish at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California. This was my first half after doing many 5Ks, 6Ks, and a number of biking events. Usually this is held in the spring but 2021 was November. Weather was good for running – overcast w/ slight breezes. The lead up to the event included numerous emails and live Facebook shows sharing race information and sponsors. Packet pickup is at a two day event Friday & Saturday before the Sunday run (no race day p/u). Pick up was crowded but lines moved well. Swag included tech t-shirt and a nice long sleeve pullover. Finisher medal is well designed and has some heft to it. I did not do the 5K Saturday, but that would get you an extra shirt, medal, plus a unique third ‘Combo Crush’ medal. If you are from out of the area or want to avoid traffic hassles early Sunday, the Best Western Newport Mesa is right across from the finish line, a 10 min walk. Vendor festival included several gear booths, other race event sign ups, and fuel vendors. They provide school buses to the start since most parking is at the finish line at the Fairgrounds. There were well over 30 buses moving like clockwork to get runners to the start about 10 minute ride. At the start you are corralled into one of 6 groups based on your estimated time when you registered. It seemed to be all on the honor system on race day. I didn’t see anyone checking or asking runners to leave earlier corrals. Start time was 6am and corral 1 left on time. I was in #4 and we started about 14 minutes later. There were 4,723 finishers – this race + the full marathon has seen 3X that number in the past, so to me, I never felt crowded on the course and was able to run my own race, my own pace at any point. The views of the ocean, bays, boats and multi-million dollar homes are nice distractions to look at along the way. Overall I enjoyed the course. Net downhill elevation but there are some decent, but not too long, hills. Runkeeper registered 439 feet of elevation gain over the 13.1miles. Little to no spectators along the start. Sporadic watchers for most of the run until you got into the neighborhood and the last couple miles. After stations seemed plentiful. They were supposed to have Gatorade, but the different options were not well communicated. Finish line at the fairgrounds was line with cheering spectators and race photographers. They captured several angles at the finish, solo closeups, wider shots with the finish banner and crowd. It funneled into getting your medal and then numerous booths to fill provided bags with chocolate milk, bananas, fruit cups, protein bars and more. Race bib had a free beer coupon. In general the finish area seemed crowded, but there were still areas where you could find to stretch out. There were also a number of event backdrops for your group and selfie pics. The event provided free race tracking. There were a couple updates along the course, but in general runner locations were estimated from these check in points. Overall I was excited to experience this event as my first half marathon and there were no aspects of the run that disappointed.