OC Marathon

I ran my first half marathon and it was an awesome experience. I get to scratch this off my bucket list. The only negative part is when I picked up my race bib, they ran out shirts. I was bummed. But I did get a medal.

(Half #12, 2015)
The Beach Cities Challenge… CHECK!
After running Long Beach, Huntington Beach, and OC, I finally snagged this exclusive – and sometimes, perhaps, elusive – Beach Cities series medal. Each of the routes is just as beautifully scenic as the next (c’mon, they’re all at the beach!) and possibly just as demanding, depending upon your perspective. I mean, I’d only begun seriously running a year ago; experiencing, then, the Pacific Coast Highway solely upon a pair of Sauconys, 13.1 miles at a time, was quite a shift – a refreshingly memorable shift, though. (My PR’s slid, by the way. But I blame this trio: one can’t help snapping a few more photos!) Excuses, excuses… I’ve got a million of ‘em!
What’s great about the Beach Cities Challenge – besides the meandering courses and the cockle-​shaped and golden commemorative medal – is that in order to conquer this challenge, you aren’t required to run each race within the same calendar year like many other challenges. The races, instead, just have to be run consecutively. The Long Beach Marathon is typically in October, Huntington Beach’s Surf City Marathon is roundabout February, and OC returns as always in May.
Unlike the other two runs, however, OC is a point-​to-​point, not looped. You’ll begin at Fashion Island and end at the Orange County Fairgrounds; so unless you’re being dropped off, you’ll be shuttling, buses awaiting you at the Fairgrounds. Speaking then of parking, while you are at the Expo – your packet pick-​up attendance is mandatory – watch for a booth selling parking passes. Getting a pass early costs $ 7, while waiting to pay for parking the day of the race bumps up to $ 10. Why not save?
A little extra: The OC Marathon has a Legacy Club. Sadly, at the moment, I’m not allowed, not special nor cool enough quite yet. But after three consecutive years running OC, I will be. Two more stand in my way, just two more. And the «Double Dog Dare,» someday soon – maybe next year? – I’m coming for ya’! =]

Half marathon # 8 overall for me.
Alright lets start with the expo & packet pickup.Uhh.Note to myself if I decide to run this race again next year or in the future: Pay the extra $ 20 to have my race bib, free cheap tech shirt & packet info mailed to me. I drove up to the expo @ the OC Fair on the Friday before the race on Sunday. Bad idea and I should have known better since I’ve driven up the 5 freeway plenty of times on both weekdays and weekends and know how horrible traffic can be just getting past Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encintas, Carlsbad and then traffic again once you get past the check point and go through San Clemente & Dana Point. Ok sorry for the traffic rant and back to the expo. Uhh first off having to pay at the OC fair parking lot sucked and then having to pay for pre paid parking in the same lot on race day for $ 7 or $ 10 on race morning sucks even more. Then what sucks even more is that there was a HUGE line outside the expo just to get into the expo hall exhibit itself. Seriously WTF.
The race itself. I knew about how horrible again traffic could be just getting into the parking lot so I left my house in SD hella early at 3AM and got to the OC Fair at around 4:10AM.I parked and then hopped into a school bus with a bunch of people to get shuttled to the start of the race at Newport Beach fashion island. The ride there kind of took awhile, but at least I was sitting next to a cool lady who was a pacer for 2:50:00 group on the half marathon. The starting area IMHO was very lacking organization wise compared to other half marathon’s I’ve done this year and last year. Serious lack of port o potty bathrooms, the lines were long. Then right next to them were the UPS trucks for gear check in… wow c’mon. I’m just seriously glad I had nothing to check in. Also the gear check in bags were just cheap clear plastic draw string bags where people wrote their info on paper sticky tabs. The wave corrals were also lacking and not enough of them for a race that is so huge with close to 20K or more runners combined for the full & half marathon each race at the most had 5 wave corrals. The course itself was pretty flat and a couple baby hills. The beach views along the course were decent but don’t compare to La Jolla & Carlsbad. The crowd support was also great and it was nice to the local community come and support the racers. I’ll give the race organizers credit they did a good job of providing plenty of water & gatorade along the course and having honey stingers towards the race around mile 9 or 10 was a nice touch also.
Post race. Pretty crowded but manage able at the OC Fair. It was nice to be able to go into the Hoka One One VIP post race lounge since I wore my Hoka One One Clifton’s and was able to get free pizza & beer. Leaving the race. Uhh again such a horrible hassel. I literally spent half a hour figuring where the F my car was parked in the parking lot and then had to sit another 20 minutes in traffic just getting out of the OC Fair parking lot.
Would I do this race again: Hmmm. I want to do it 2 more times to get into the legacy club but the logistics of getting to & out the race really needs to improve in order for me to consider signing up and paying so much on race registration and parking expenses for the expo and race day parking.
Race #2 in the beach cities challenge complete.

I was skeptical about running this race because I read a lot of horror stories, but I found it to be better than I thought. Just a few minor issues.
Cons–
They ran out of t-​shirts at the expo. Supposedly they will mail one to me. I have so many race shirts anyway that most of the time I don’t wear them, but for some it might be a big deal.
— Paid 25 dollars to have the bib and timing chip mailed to me, but for the money, I think they could’ve mailed me the t –shirt and gear check bag. I had to end up going to the expo anyway just to get a bag.
Pros–
Stayed at the Marriot Costa Mesa. Got on my shuttle and it left right at 5:05. It made 2 stops, so by the 3^rd hotel there were 2 ladies that couldn’t get on bc it was full so I guess that is a con for them. It arrived in plenty of time.
Gear check was fast. I waited less than 5 minutes to drop off my bag with a UPS truck
Course was mostly flat but did have a couple hills. My Garmin came in at 13.22 miles, so I must’ve been weaving around some of the slower marathoners at some point, but being in Corral one it never bottlenecked to a point where it caused me to slow down.
I was really nervous about getting out of there because I read it took people hours to leave the finish line area. I guess finishing 75 out of 9069 people I didn’t really have to deal with a lot of traffic. I finished, grabbed some fruit and Gatorade, warmed down and was able to pick up my gear check and be on the shuttle all very fast. Shuttle left at 8:30 and I was back at my hotel before 9 am .
I PR’d by exactly one minute 1:30:06, but a little disappointed I couldn’t break that 1:30 mark, oh well there will be plenty more opportunities.
Oh and the start corral one wasn’t crowded at all, I got there at 6:10 and found there to be plenty of space. That was my experience with it.

The OC Marathon was great. My performance, not so much! I ran the full this year which started at 5:30 AM. Yes, it’s early, but you’ll be done early too! I loved the course so much. It was awesome to run by the Wedge where waves were literally forming bigger than life! I also loved running by ritzy Corona Del Mar & Newport Back Bay… this is where the course is very scenic and it’s still so early there aren’t too many locals getting their workout on yet. You then run through Costa Mesa and on to Santa Ana and back to Newport via the Santa Ana River trail before heading to the finish at the fairgrounds. I loved when I reached Santa Ana, I knew it, because of the big, burly man saying in his husky voice «Welcome to Santa Ana!!» over and over again. Too funny. At least it was funny to me, but maybe I was delusional at this point. Why you ask? Because I earned my marathons runners right of passage, yes drum roll please… I HIT THE WALL! Yes, marathon #4, you got me! I know you shouldn’t hit the wall if you’re all properly trained, rested with the proper nutrients in your body, hydrated, etc. I totally screwed this one up. I surfed the day before for 3 hours, woke up with the worst «surfers neck», sore shoulders and a wrist injury. Plus I slept for a mere 2 hours… darn Mayweather/​Pacquio overhyped fight of the millenium! Regardless, I had to run OC even though I knew it wasn’t smart… I had to get my California Dreamin’ medal!!! You have to run the 3 Beach Cities races consequtively and this was #3! Ah, the things us runners do for a lil bling! So anyway, miles 13 – 26.55 were terribly painful! My Garmin said the course was 26.55 miles… because 26.2 isn’t enough or anything! Limping and all, I finished. Tough as nails! Marathon #4 complete! I’ll be back next year… I’ll rest the day before and be on my A game. And cut me a lil slack, we all kook it up sometimes. Plus I got to feel what it’s like to hit the wall… what an experience!

Whew! I finished OC Half marathon and the Beach Cities Challenge with a new PR of 1:56:57 (Hey, what do you expect I’m a hobby jogger). The weather was perfect for running. The course was awesome (except for the beach path). Post-​race (finishers village?) was cool lots of free stuff like water, Gatorade, Chocolate milk, Kind Bars, pretzels, Finishers jacket (instead of those aluminum foil blanket things), Non-​alcoholic beer (plus the real stuff if you wanted it), snap peas, etc. The shirt and medal were top notch as well.
Now for the negatives. From mile 7 (I think) to mile 9 or 10 the course is on a much too narrow path. I was constantly getting stuck behind people who seemly were out for a nice Sunday stroll instead of racing. Plus It was way too crowded I lost count of how many times people with hairy arms bumped into me! The scenery, although nice grew monotonous (though not as bad as Surf City). I mean how many million dollar homes can you look at?
How does this race compare to Long Beach and Surf City? The course OC, LB, SC
Post Race OC, LB, SC
Medal LB, SC, OC
Shirt OC, SC, LB
Scenery LB, OC, SC
Would I run the OC Half Marathon again? yes, but not next year cause I’m doing the Beach Cities Challenge again but the Full marathons.

Ran my first full at the 2015 OC Marathon, and I’m glad I got the opportunity to do it here! The course is challenging, but who wants to train for months and months only to have a boring course?
There are TONS of people that run this race. Usually a big race will thin out within the first 6ish miles… I was surrounded by people well into the 17 – 18 mile range. For a half I might have been upset at how many people there were, but for a full it’s nice to have other people around you.
Water and aid support throughout the race was perfect, although we lucked out because it was overcast until almost 10:30. I think if the sun had been shining, there would have been a lot of hurting/​injured people.
Spectator support was nice when it was around, but because it is in residential there are just a lot of random people watching from their homes. It is nice because they are clapping for you — but it is also just kind of weird. Whatever, running through residential is fun for me because I just distract myself by looking at all the pretty homes, and the OC doesn’t disappoint when it comes to looking at nice houses!
I was kind of disappointed by the finish though. Once you go through and get your medal, you can tell that those poor kids handing out drinks and snacks have just been attacked by half-​marathoners. Their tables look in sad shape and I was honestly worried the people behind me might not have enough when they get through. ALSO — I just ran stinking 26.29 miles… why are you making me walk so far before giving me any food?!
All in all, the race was lovely. I’m so glad I did it and I’m so happy that I was lucky and the weather was cool. I don’t think I’ll do this marathon again just because I don’t want to do it in the heat.

Ran my first half marathon yesterday. Despite everything hurting today, I have to say that the overall race experience was much better than I expected.
I was probably most worried about the massive number of people that would be at the race. Yes, there were a ton of people, but I thought things were managed pretty efficiently. Parking sucked, but they had race shuttles and runner drop off locations to smooth out traffic. I got dropped off and walked about 5 min. to get to the race start. Waited in one of the porta-​potty lines for about 15 – 20 min., and then I was ready to go. Start of the race wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be either. It took me about 15 min. after the official race start to cross the start line, and I was in corral 3.
Communication regarding the race was great. They sent out several email reminders telling us where/​when to pick up bibs, and the bib/​t-​shirt pickup was very efficiently organized. Even though for some reason they weren’t able to find my bib, I was quickly assigned a new number. I was surprised they let you choose your t-​shirt size during the pickup expo, though. So you technically didn’t have to select the size that you indicated when you signed up. I know several people complained that certain sizes had run out.
The course itself was lovely. Besides the big hill at mile 11 and another hill at I think mile 7.5 ish, the course was very flat, with beautiful scenery. Certain parts of the course did get pretty narrow (almost single-​file status), but they quickly widened up again. There were porta-​potties set up throughout the course, which I was so thankful for (I had some severe mid-​race digestion issues). The volunteers were great about handing out water and gatorade every mile or two. There were lots of spectators, and especially towards the end of the race, it was really nice to see people high-​fiving and cheering us on. Got really lucky with the weather yesterday as well. It was slightly chilly and overcast – perfect running weather.
The medals this year were very pretty! The t-​shirts were nice too. You get a lot of free stuff at the end of the race. They make sure you’re hydrated (chocolate milk, water, gatorade, beer) and they provide snacks and massages too!
Not sure if I’d do another half marathon, but I’m happy the OC was my first.

Part Two of my quest for that Beach Cities Challenge medal, the OC Half Marathon was one of the more fun races I have run. Yes, just a half, because I’m only half crazy. So far, at least.
First off, there was excellent email communication regarding locations and times, bib pick up and shuttles. Clear, simple instructions. The Expo was easy to navigate, and bib pick up was easy. The option to purchase a discounted parking pass for race day was appreciated, as well as the reminder signs near the Expo exits (I would have forgotten without them!)
On race day, the (yawn… so early!) shuttle bus service from the Fairgrounds to the start line at Fashion Island was organized with multiple buses being loaded at once so the line wasn’t long. At the starting area, corrals were clearly marked and the start was right on time.
The weather was perfect for running, overcast but not too cold. There were plenty of ocean views to enjoy on the course and swanky homes to run by and daydream about. The mile markers were nice and big (how far do I still have to go!?), and elevated so they could be seen easily. There were a couple of hills, but a few nice downhill sections too. The aid stations with water and Gatorade were frequent, and the volunteers (thank you!!!) were outstanding.
The finish line was a little hectic, but they all are. Once we stop running we don’t know what to do with ourselves and just wander aimlessly, collecting free stuff. Chocolate milk has never tasted so good.
The post-​race entertainment (love you, Flashback Heart Attack!) was fun, and let’s face it, eating a Wahoo’s fish taco and drinking a beer at 9am is fun too.
I look forward to next year!

When I started reading the reviews about traffic and parking, questioned entering this race.
When I found out the expo was on Friday from 4 – 8 and needed someone to get my bib for me Saturday, I was irritated.
Getting the email saying my assigned bus time was 4:35a, I was ready to eat my entry fees and sleep in.
Then something happened…
I got my ass out of bed at 2:30a, drove to the OC Faigrounds, got on a bus and had a blast!
I loved the course, loved how it stayed overcast, loved the pacing of the corrals (I was in 1), thought it was great they handed out bags post-​race that we got to overstuff with drinks/​snacks and loved most of all how I was back on the 405 less than 20 minutes after getting in my car at the end of the race.
Sure there were issues — how do you not have size L men’s shirts? How do you not have water tables on both sides of the street to elevate congestion? Why is the narrowest part of the course the 400 meters before the finish line?
But I’ll deal with those in exchange for everything else that was so good about this race.
This was my final leg of the Beach Cities Challenge for my clamshell medal but seeing I hate the LB Half and Surf City is the week before the LA Marathon in 2016, will make this a solo repeat next year!

OC was my first full marathon. Despite all the training, running a marathon was so much tougher than I expected, both mentally and physically. The most sobering comparison is that it takes me the same amount of time to run 26.2 miles as to fly across the country.
As for the course, I so much prefer OC over both LB and Surf City. For those 2 races, yes you get sand and ocean but it becomes very monotonous after awhile. . and I’m not a big fan of out and back courses. I especially enjoyed the first 6 miles of OC, winding through the beautiful residential areas of CDM and NB. There were a few hills — Irvine Ave and the dreaded Red Hill (actuall a big freeway overpass) but overall it’s not a hilly course. The support along the route was good in some spots and sparse for the most part but I didn’t mind.
Also, the runner tracker app worked great for my family to track my whereabouts along the course and to see my ever slowing splits. :(They should have this technology for all races.
I want to give a shout out to the pacers. They were phenomenal. They were our cheerleaders when quiting was the easiest thing to do. Their energy and encouragement pushed me near the end of the race when I thought I had nothing left. Okay perhaps they can yak less because it’s a little demoralizing when they’re holding full-​on conversations while some of us are struggling for air. Thank you thank you Pacers!!!
Also, the support I received from the A Snails Pace Running Academy made this whole marathon endeavor of mine even possible. The Snails tent at mile 22 was like a beacon and seeing Coach Bill there to cheer me on and run with me for a bit pushed me to be strong. And post race, the hugs and attaboys were pretty awesome too!
The finish line goodies were pretty standard. I do appreciate that the drinks were ice cold despite so many runners. I haven’t been to many expos but it was enjoyable and we were loaded up with freebies by the time we left. The race shirt was also so much better than the LB and Surf City. I actually might wear this one again.
I look forward to returning next year. But too soon to say whether for the full or half.

Expo is a fail… especially compared to Surf City. No Cliff… No Gu. You’d think these guys would be a no brainer at every race, so you have to think either they’re over-​charging for booth space, or being squeezed out by Power Bar. Anyways, to make the drive down there and pay for parking just to basically pick up bib and shirt will make me want to pay extra for mailed bib instead.
Parts of the Half course are way too narrow for such a big race. Bobbing and weaving is bad enough on a wide highway. I think I lost .2 miles during the course.
Overall, Surf City is a better operated race with way more staff and wide open course.

13.1 done and done.
I started my running journey in early 2014 and thought signing up for a half marathon was a good idea. If you are considering running the OC Half Marathon I highly recommend it. I started at corral four and was off and running by 6:30am.
The course gets a little hilly through miles 7 – 9 but then is an easy finish. Towards the end of the half marathon just when you think you cannot go another mile you will get the cheers and ongoing support from the crowds. My friends and family were at mile 11 to help me get through the race.
You get a pretty sweet medal and a jersey to prove to the world and yourself that you are now a half marathoner/​marathoner. Running the OC Half Marathon was comes with such a sense of accomplishment and an amazing runners high that will last you for about a week (not kidding).
Throw your running shoes on, hydrate, carb load and get yourself out on that course! #NotRunningSucks

Review for 2014:
I purchased pre-​paid race day parking for $ 7 at the expo. Came race day, it seemed I parked in the best lot, not the closest, but it wasn’t affected by the race course so I was able to leave right away.
There were some changes from what I experienced last year. This year, loading the buses seemed to be more efficient or was it just that I arrived later than everybody else? I did arrive to the start line area in enough time to check in my bag.
Speaking of bag check-​in, I appreciate the volunteers’ time but they weren’t able to close up the bags fast enough. We should have been provided with the plastic zip ties to secure our bags ahead of time instead of the volunteers doing it for us. When I got to the UPS truck, since they were all busy tying up bags, the volunteer told me to put my my bag down (on the table) and she’ll take care of it. I was a little reluctant since the strip of paper identifying my bib # could have easily drifted away or been mixed up with somebody else’s. I just watched to make sure that didn’t happen.
I guess they changed the starting line a little from last year. After getting dropped off, we had to walk past the start line to our corrals on the other side of it. Since it was close to start time, it was hard to get through to my corral because we only had the sidewalk and yet that was crowded.
The last area that I wasn’t too pleased with was the wait to get a bottle of water at the end. We had to grab a bottle of water and a baggy for our refreshments. I believe if the baggies were already filled and ready to hand out, it wouldn’t have been such as cluster «you know what» in that area.
I’m not sure if these were in place of heat sheets but we were given these white disposable jackets that came in one size.
The best part of it all was the free massage from Massage Envy. (Shout out to Carolina from the Orange Hills location.) Also, the band who claimed «we’re not a cover band» was entertaining. Everybody seemed to be enjoying.
I want to be a Legacy member since they get an appreciation gift so I will return for 2015!
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Below was my review from 2013 that I never submitted till now:
What led me to run this was last year, I ran the Wahoo’s 5k which ended up being short in distance. Somebody didn’t open up a part of the course resulting in something like 2.6−2.8 miles instead of the intended 3.1. They gave the participants a $ 15 credit to use in this year’s races. It occurred to me that I should just go for the Beach Cities Challenge since I run Long Beach half every year.
At the expo, I parked at the nearby high school at the cost of walking half a mile instead of $ 5. I did opt to purchase prepaid parking for the next morning.
It was too cramped at the expo vendor area. Jars of Biscoff spread were given away. If you know what speculoos is, this is that awesome stuff. Not a big deal but it’s been brought to my attention that these jars expired the following week. No wonder they were giving these out but that does not stop me from using the stuff.
Couldn’t have asked for better weather the morning of the race.
I came in from the north west, off the 405, Fairview. I skipped the entrance from Arlington and entered from Merrimac which appeared less busy and closer to the shuttle buses.
It was probably after 5:00 and the line to load the buses was super long as they were only filling one bus at a time. By the time the bus I was on arrived at the starting area, the race had already started and there were more people still being bused in.
It was nice of some people in the neighborhood to provide music as it turns out my ancient iPod decided to freeze on me.
Contents of the refreshments packet were:
Fig Newtons
Nature Valley PB bar
a small orange
and a Clif Bar
For me, the highlight of the afterparty was getting a massage. The chain, Massage Envy, dedicated 75 therapists for this event. The mini massage I got was great.
After that, I wasn’t happy to get in the long ass line to pick up my bag. They eventually broke the long line into a few smaller ones. Speaking of lines, even though I stuck around a bit after the race, there were still lines of cars trying to exit the parking lot. 30 minutes later, I got in my car and it wasn’t so bad. My advice is if you’re not in a hurry, hang out at the festivities and wait out the traffic.

Such a better course than the Hollywood Half Marathon but still some parts of the race were a bit narrow. Getting to the start line was madness, even for the ones getting dropped off. They really need to organize the flow of traffic better. I wasn’t trying to PR but it was very frustrating trying to zig zag around the walkers at this narrow part of the race. I think every race will have problems with port-​a-​potties and in the first six miles they were lacking. My friends and I didn’t stay for any of the post-​race activities because another friend trying to pick us up was stuck in a lot of traffic again. We ended up just walking to meet him outside at a gas station parking lot. This was my 6^th half marathon and I’d probably rank it 4^th. I wouldn’t mind running it again if they change the narrow section of the course.

I have not run this marathon since back in 2007. I did volunteer in 2010 as one of the section commanders. I entered the race primarily because it was their 10^th year anniversary as well as to complete a couple of challenges. I had run Long Beach and the Surf City Marathons and needed OC to complete the Beach Cities Challenge for an extra medal. I would also get a Double Dog Dare bottle opener for completing both the Surf City and OC Marathons in the same calendar year. With all of these extra medals at stake, I guess I just had to run it this year.
I found the race to be very well organized from the expo through the post-​race festivities. I liked the moderately challenging course except for the stretch on the bike path where Lance Armstrong wannabe weekend warriors try to plow through the runners head-​on with their bikes. So if the course remains the same, keep your head up and watch out for those cyclists!
The free post race beer were served in pretty tiny cups. We had a choice between Tecate Light and Dos Equis so I’m not sure that I would want to drink much more of that beer. Also they probably do not want a bunch of tired drunk runners on the roads. Since the race ends in the OC Fairgrounds, you have several different food and drink options. You can purchase more beer and food from the other vendors on site.
You had a choice of either parking at the start and taking a shuttle back after the race or pay to park at the finish area in one of the parking lots at the OC Fairground. I went with parking at the start since I had my friend that would give me a ride back to my car.
Overall: I had a good experience with this race this year. With it being their 10^th year, I’m sure they tried their best to make it spectacular and I think they were quite successful in pulling that off.

Yeeah Yeeah Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!!! Completed the OC Half Marathon and with that I also completed the Beach Cities Challenge!!!
Woot Woot!!!
I would say this Half Marathon was the most scenic and also the most difficult! I felt like every turn I made I was going up a hill. What da heo! But it was cool. Started off at Fashion Island and ended up at the OC Fair Grounds. I definitely liked how we started in one area and ended in a whole other area. lol
Thank you again to all the volunteers and medics for passing out refreshments and assisting the runners that were not feeling well. My favorite sign that someone was holding was probably the one that said «Make this last mile your bitch.» hahaha!
But the one thing I did dislike about this run (and it wasn’t even about the run) was how much it was a cluster fuck to get out of the parking lot. We entered the OC fair grounds from all these entrances. Why is there only one exit? Took over an hour to get out of that damn parking lot.
All in all. Not bad. I did enjoy this run. Can’t wait to run you more in the future. Complete more of the beach cities challenge. See you all at Long Beach!

Sunday, May 4, 2014 marked the 10^th anniversary of the OC Marathon. This was the fourth straight year I ran the full marathon course. In addition, the race was my 21^st (or 22^nd — I’m starting to lose track) full marathon.
Prior to the race I had been dealing with severe cold/​flu symptoms off-​and-​on for two weeks. When I wasn’t coughing up a lung, I was busy with work so there was zero time to properly train. Not surprisingly, my performance on Sunday was craptastic. Honestly, I was hoping to PR this race but around Mile 10 my energy was zapped. I was fortunate to (a) not pass out from exhaustion, and (b) cross the Finish in one piece. My official finish time was 5:35:35.
I thought the race was well-​organized this year. We dealt with some minor traffic in the morning trying to park at the OC Fairgrounds, but otherwise our bus driver got us to the Start on time.
There was plenty of water at the rest stations. I didn’t care for the PowerBar Energy Gels the volunteers handed out; Clif Shots are tastier with better flavors. Participants received a light windbreaker with the OC Marathon logo on the back; I thought it was a nice way to commemorate the race’s 10^th anniversary. For achieving OC Legacy status I got a free messenger bag which I thought was cool. I also earned a dog tag bottle opener medal for running both Surf City and OC this year which I thought was even cooler.
Hot, challenging race. Still undecided whether or not I’ll be running OC Marathon 2015.

PR BABY!!! Finally able to get a sub-​2!
Ok I’m late posting this but nothing has changed in a year with this course and everything about it.
Able to get the OC Legacy status and got a free t-​shirt and another free beer post-​race. You also get to stay in the VIP tent after the race, but I opted to leave.
See ya OC Halfie!!! It was great running you the past 3 years!!!
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Stats:
Overall: 2232 out of 9980
Women: 811 out of 5992
F 35 – 39: 142 out of 970
Age/​Grade: 55.62% Place: 2073
Finish: 1:59:31 Pace: 9:07
Tag Time: 1:59:31
Gun Time: 2:00:54
Split Times
5 Km: 28:18 Pace: 9:07
10 Km: 54:52 Pace: 8:50
11 Mi: 1:40:41 Pace: 9:10

OC Half Marathon — May 5, 2013 (2.5 stars)
This was my 19^th half marathon in 3 years.
I hesitate to give this 3 stars, but there are no half stars from my 2.5.
Here are the highlights:
–online registration was quick
–home delivery of bib was convenient ($ 25)
–email messages very helpful
–website full of valuable information
–race day event was chaotic with friend dropping us off
–start line there were no port-​a-​potties
–course was BEAUTIFUL
–water support was adequate
–finish line a DISASTER
–shuttle service back to the start OMG WTF!!!
Despite the injuries I’ve endured the past 2 months, I’m happy with my 2:14 finish (no PB this time).
At the end we waited 20 minutes for the shuttle bus to arrive, then another 30 minutes sitting in the bus to exit the parking lot, and another 20 minutes to drive back to the start. I’m loving the medal and shirt at the finish.
Would I do this again?
NO.