Don Arnold's Staging Area

I missed out on the 2014 marathon due to wicked illness, and got a $95 shirt. This year, I ran the race, but I hated the shirt (sorry, that’s the only thing I didn’t like about the race).

The expo is fine, and you can find parking on side streets off the PCH south of Main. Parking is a little trickier on race day, but I got there an hour early and had plenty of time to walk and get warmed up.

There were about 17-18,000 runners, and the weather was perfect for a nice run up and back the PCH overlooking the ocean. There’s a little jog into the Seapoint neighborhood that has a bit of an incline but otherwise this is a flat course. There’s a huge area at the end of the race to get whatever you need, and tents from racing clubs (AREC and others) for you to wind down. The vibe is really cool and if you’re a local, you have to run this race at least once.

My hometown marathon, and I love running it. The expo is one of the best that I’ve been to, and I bring bags to stock up on nutrition, swag and shoes. I wasn’t wild about the 2014 shirt, but the 2013 official shirt was very good.

Starting line is down by Shoreline and I’ll raise my pet peeve here (and it applies to other races as well): I can’t stand it when walkers are in the corrals ahead of runners….it makes for a lot of congestion and hassle; it happens at a lot of races and I’m not sure what the rush is for the walkers to get passed by hundreds or thousands or runners?

Anyway, you loop around over a bridge and through the edge of downtown by the 710 and then cut back down to the shore and pass the Queen Mary and take the beach trail down near Leeway and then double back onto Ocean, and that’s where the fun begins. Folks with donut holes, gummy bears, orange slices and all the other food groups are waiting to put a smile on your face.

You run through Belmont Shore and Belmont Heights and then into Marine Stadium, which is the halfway point of the race. From there, you go uphill and into Long Beach State and along a long stretch of Atherton St., with more saints offering treats. Run fast so you get your share! The last couple of miles take you back through the same neighborhoods and there’s a house on Nieto that has a stock of Otter Pops that help you deal with the hill past the middle school.

There’s a long stretch on Livingston and Ocean that’s crowded with supporters, and then a sprint down to the finish line and a good area with food and a cool medal. This is a fun race.

25,000 runners at Dodger Stadium is awesome. 87 degree heat and a severe shortage of Gatorade was not. My heel gave out after 11 miles, so I had to walk the last 15, and I was out on the course much longer than I had expected. Plan ahead to reserve your place on the pre-race shuttle, and if possible, have someone meet you at the finish line.

You know how hard it is to find a race that has a kids’ zone? As a single parent, it’s not easy to find a babysitter to come over at 6 am, so I try to take advantage when a race has a kids’ zone, and Seal Beach has the best.

There’s a kids’ race first, and they tear down to the ocean and are met by dozens of volunteers and steered into a kids’ zone overlooking the beach. They’ve got facepainting, games and plenty of supervision. The kids are wristbanded and pick-up is monitored. Extremely well-done!

I’ve done the race several times. The 5K stays west of the PCH and is a nice little cruise, and the 10K has a nice long incline past the base and up to Westminster Blvd and cuts down a bike/running trail and congestion isn’t an issue. The turn onto Ocean to get to the finish is a great 2/3 mile run with plenty of folks out cheering. The finish line area gets crowded, but there’s plenty of food and drink. I can’t recommend this race highly enough.

Thousands of people coming together to raise funds for cancer research. The race was through the Fashion Island section of NB, and there’s an incline in the last mile but it’s a pretty basic course.