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@Rosecam
Huntington Beach, CA Raving since 2016 Active 4 years, 6 months agoAbout Me
My Races
Organize, track & review your races and personal bests here.
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(Marathon or Ultra) + Half
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Future Races
Personal Bests (1)
| Race | Distance | Location | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach Marathon & Half Marathon | Marathon | Long Beach, CA | Oct 9, 2016 | 4:33:32 |
Future Races (0)
| Race | Distance | Location | Date | Paid |
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Past Races (2)
| Race | Distance | Location | Date | Result | My Raves | My Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach Marathon & Half Marathon | Marathon | Long Beach, CA | Oct 13, 2019 | 4:43:40 |
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| Long Beach Marathon & Half Marathon | Marathon | Long Beach, CA | Oct 9, 2016 | 4:33:32 |
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Long Beach Marathon & Half Marathon
Great race, a bit expensive
Long Beach Marathon & Half Marathon
Pluses: The course is varied and gorgeous. Great volunteers, and fun little pockets of cheering observers alternating with quiet stretches. Water stops, nuun, and honey stingers on the course were … MORE
Pluses: The course is varied and gorgeous. Great volunteers, and fun little pockets of cheering observers alternating with quiet stretches. Water stops, nuun, and honey stingers on the course were all great. And the post-race snacks and beverages (yay terra chips, coconut water, and honey stinger waffles!), and live band (and chairs!) at the beer garden were all great. Gear check was also super quick and easy, both for drop-off and pick-up.
Main minuses: The beach path part of the course is narrow, so it can get a little crowded for that part. If you’ve positioned yourself well, it’s not a big deal, but if you’re too far back it can be annoying because it’s hard to weave through. I was annoyed that they charged $15 parking at the convention center for bib pick up, but didn’t warn runners about that in pre-race-weekend emails. Apparently the race-day parking permit included expo parking too, but that was also not communicated – I might have gotten that parking permit if I knew. Better communication would have helped me to either save money or at least be better prepared. Finally, I would have appreciated a more obvious first aid tent in the post-finish area (I started cramping and ended up getting anti-cramping spray from a prepared fellow runner because neither of us could see the tent).
Long Beach Marathon & Half Marathon
Good race, a few weak points
Long Beach Marathon & Half Marathon
I found the marathon course to be quite lovely - the first 6 miles are over and around the bay with the sun rising, then there's a stretch on the … MORE
I found the marathon course to be quite lovely – the first 6 miles are over and around the bay with the sun rising, then there’s a stretch on the beach, sections through different neighborhoods, and around the Cal State Long Beach campus with a lot of students out to support. It was overall quite nice. The first 6 miles has heavily cambered roads and the next 5 or so are on concrete – so that can be hard on the legs – but what marathon isn’t hard on the legs?
The big minuses: The water stations were often too far apart on the marathon course. One was electolyte-drink (NUUN) only, the next was coconut-water only. I went at least 5 miles without a water station at one point, and then 3 miles after that. There should be water at each station. The water stations were also quite short, so it was only realistic to grab one cup of water. Given the heat and how far apart they were spaced, this wasn’t good. I was VERY happy to have my 20-oz hand flask, and stopped at 2 water stations to refill it. If I run this race again next year, I’m going to look into a camelback.
There isn’t much “crowd support” on this course. There are a few areas where people cheer, but many long stretches with no one watching, or just a few people who are waiting for their particular runner to come by so not cheering for others. I didn’t mind really, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re a person who feeds off of race-day crowds.
And yup, the race shirt is pretty blah. The “swag” is minimal. But the ice-cold wet towel they hand you at the finish? AMAZING. 🙂
Overall I had a great time for my first ever marathon, and I will definitely consider running this again.