Race Review: Surf City USA Half Marathon

Surf City USA offers a full marathon, half marathon, 5K and a kids race in beautiful Huntington Beach, California on Super Bowl Sunday. The scenic half marathon is their main event, although all events sold out in 2010. This race is great for both the first time half marathoner and the seasoned racer.

Half Marathon Details

The half marathon is open to both runners and walkers, with a 6 hour course time limit. The highest point is approximately 100 feet above sea level and the steepest hill has about a 6% grade. The USATF certified course is scenic and mostly flat, with the only hill being between miles 3 and 4 of the race. You can see the ocean during the majority of the race. With an average starting temperature of 48 degrees, even runners from cooler states should find our California weather quite tolerable at this time of year (February for those of you who aren't football fans). Registration for the half marathon is capped at about 12,000 runners and walkers.

Organization

This race is very well organized so that you only have to worry about putting one foot in front of the other and watching your pace. Race directions were on the event website well in advance of race day. The race expo was held close to the starting line so that participants were forced to become familiar with the area and parking the day before the race. The race expo was well organized and picking up your race number was easy since you could find your number online before going to the expo. On race day you won't have to worry about paying for parking, as your parking has already been paid for by your entry fee. You can either use the walk from your car to the starting line as a warm up, or you can opt to take the free shuttle instead. The half marathon has a wave start that goes by your expected finishing time. If you've ever run a crowded race before without a wave start, then you'll know just how great this really is. The wave start really helped diminish crowding throughout the course. Water, electrolyte replacement drink, and energy chews were available at regular intervals along the course. There were also porta-potties every few miles. Nearing the finish line, crowd support was fantastic. Spectators were cheering and bands were playing surf music. The volunteers were wonderful throughout the entire race. Once you cross the finish line, you are given a bag of fruit, energy bars, and other snacks to help you recover from the race. Handing out bags that were already prepared in advance really helped with the typical finish line congestion seen at races. Once you had your finishers medal in hand, you could easily leave to catch a shuttle back to your car, go check posted results, or find your family in an area where your family could stand by the initial of their last name for easy locating. The beer garden could have used more seating, but no one seemed to mind sitting on the floor and feeling the joy of having just completed 13.1 miles.

Special Perks

By far the coolest special perk of this race is the surf board finishers medal. You can see the finishers medal online before you even sign up, so that as you train you know what you are working towards. The long sleeve technical race shirt is also pretty cool. I also enjoyed that at the race expo everything I needed was put into a reusable shopping bag. Now I can show off at the grocery store.

Training Tips

Since Surf City is a primarily flat half marathon, it is a good idea to complete at least a few of your long runs on flat land if possible. While running on flat land you are basically using the same muscle groups the entire time, unlike running on rolling hills. However, you should not train exclusively on flat land or the slight hill may seem a bit difficult to you. It may also be a good idea to try a few training runs where you start out slowly and then speed up towards the end. As always, don't add on miles too quickly and be aware of your body's signals in order to prevent injury.

My Surf City Half Marathon Experience

On February 7th, 2010 I ran Surf City as my first half marathon. I picked the course because it is scenic and fairly close to home. I started off feeling great and enjoying the course. My pace was a bit too fast according to my watch, but I was feeling so great that I decided not to slow down. Shortly after mile 8, I hit the wall. At that point, I kept on running hoping to catch a second wind. I never managed to catch that second wind, but I continued running all the way to the finish line and managed to beat my goal time despite a slow finish. While I wouldn't recommend going out too fast, I would definitely recommend this half marathon to anyone. Surf City was an amazing experience!

For more information please visit: www.runsurfcity.com