The She is Beautiful Santa Cruz race course runs along the coast and finishes oceanside with a post race festival on Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz, CA.
Race registration includes a beautiful coastal race course lined with over 50 inspirational signs, a women’s cut technical finisher’s shirt, custom goody bag, and access to our epic post race festival. This race’s feel good, positive energy is unlike any other.
She.is.beautiful was born on a dream, optimism, hard work, and love. It was fueled by a passion for running and to celebrate life in all it’s mess and beauty. Running brought so much strength, gratitude, power, and grounding to Melissa’s life since she began running regularly on her high school’s cross country team at age 15. Melissa knew her passion for running was a feeling shared with others yet she also aware there were many others who had yet to feel the magic…and she wanted to both change and celebrate just that. She.is.beautiful was built on the idea of showing and reminding women and girls how strong they truly are in their bodies can give them a new confidence that will positively effect other aspects of their life. Seeing a women or girl develop and own her body and life, that, that right there is beautiful! Endorphins, kindness, joy, empowerment, and support for yourself and those around you…that is something worth celebrating!
With a background in marketing, event production, dreaming, and a separate full time job, at 24 years old Melissa kicked off the first year of SIB. Her barely-older sister was in Physical Therapy School at UCSF at the time but agreed to show up and help with the race- which is good because not only is Sara quick on her feet and has great ideas, but she’s also SO MUCH FUN. With a love for community, self love, health, girlfriends, sweat, confidence, and keeping it real, She.is.beautiful started with 500 women on a start line in Santa Cruz, CA and has now grown to 6,000 women in Santa Cruz and 2,000+ in Santa Barbara, CA. Hearing the stories and journeys of the women and girls that participate in the event is what keeps the sisters inspired to make each event better than the last.
Eight years later, the course is still lined with inspirational sassy sayings, the ladies tend to show up in pink (but not required), and the positive energy created on these race mornings can move mountains and make you want to crush the rest of your life with more joy and overall badass-ness. You deserve to live a life that makes you feel good!
Since year one, She.is.beautiful has donated to Walnut Avenue Family Center in Santa Cruz and Girls Incorporated of the Greater Santa Barbara Area. SIB is on track to hit their goal of $100,000 donated to Walnut Avenue Family Center by their 10th annual year.
LESS
Will Run Again
fun and inspiring with amazing coastal views and great community support and as such, a great local run for 1st timers to consider especially if you live in northern California MORE
fun and inspiring with amazing coastal views and great community support
and as such, a great local run for 1st timers to consider especially if you live in northern California
It's a Beautiful Time
This is a fantastic race, pink everywhere and positive affirmations to remind you how awesome you truly are! Such a fun event to do with friends! MORE
This is a fantastic race, pink everywhere and positive affirmations to remind you how awesome you truly are! Such a fun event to do with friends!
yasss queeeeen
This race is my all time favorite because all about women, women empowerment, and loving yourself! They recognize life isn't always perfect and it can be a struggle, but we … MORE
This race is my all time favorite because all about women, women empowerment, and loving yourself! They recognize life isn’t always perfect and it can be a struggle, but we are out there getting it anyways and that’s what makes us strong! The motivation and vibe is the best I have ever experienced. They pump you up before the race, and there are tons of motivation and sassy quotes and signs at the start, through out the race, and at the race finish! You will feel like a NEW and AMAZING woman after you finish this race that is forsure!
Just note, at the end, the 5k and 10k walkers/ runners merge together and for the runners, it is difficult to get through all the walkers. I know they are making efforts to work on this. This year they added a “competitive start” which allowed you to start 15 minutes early, and hopefully avoid some of the congestion.
Love this race
This was my 5th year running this race, after last year I was debating if I would do the race again (last year was very disorganized, not well planned out, … MORE
This was my 5th year running this race, after last year I was debating if I would do the race again (last year was very disorganized, not well planned out, and felt to crowded), but so glad I decided to run it again this year. This year was well organized, well marked and overall a fun event. The event had about 6000 runner/walkers and it never really seemed like it was that crowded. Beautiful course, great for all running or walking abilities.
Great scenery with a positive feel
I love this race, its for a good cause, and love supporting women being active. Beautiful course along West Cliff. Normally this race is well organized, the 2016 race seemed … MORE
I love this race, its for a good cause, and love supporting women being active. Beautiful course along West Cliff. Normally this race is well organized, the 2016 race seemed a bit disorganized. Porta-pottie lines that went into the corral waiting areas, corrals not well marked, not good parking, course not as well marked as in the past. Hoping that 2017 will be better. I look forward to this race every year, always a lot of fun!
Great Course
Really enjoyed this run. The entertainment before the run was really good, got the crowd super energized. My daughter and her friend had a great time as well! MORE
Really enjoyed this run. The entertainment before the run was really good, got the crowd super energized. My daughter and her friend had a great time as well!
Beautiful Course
This run was beautiful. For the majority of the race you are running along the cliffs of Santa Cruz with amazing views of the Pacific Ocean. The only negative was … MORE
This run was beautiful. For the majority of the race you are running along the cliffs of Santa Cruz with amazing views of the Pacific Ocean. The only negative was the shirt pick up. The shirts ran small and they were allowing people to select their sizes at the pick up. Unfortunately, for many slower runners, by the time they finished the sizes they ordered where no longer available, because people trade in the shirt they preordered when registering for a larger shirt. That was the only negative. Everything else about this run was top notch.