WORKOUT – Elliptical/bike ~ 60 mins/30 mins
Today was a cross training day since tomorrow I’m running a small, local half marathon called The Fishbowl Marathon.
This will be my 3rd race in a 6 week stretch of races…. NYC marathon, Malibu Marathon, Fishbowl half, Seattle Marathon, Las Vegas Marathon and then the LA County Holiday half.
Speaking of Malibu, let’s do some race reviewin’.
The Malibu Marathon was held on November 14th; there was also a half marathon. This was the second year of the race.
I don’t know how much early registration was, but late registration cost $145. (I paid $70 through a Groupon deal)
The expo
The expo was pretty weak. It was held in Malibu in the parking lot of Zuma Beach, and there just wasn’t much there. It would have been awesome if there was race day packet pickup since it took me close to 4 hours of driving to simply grab my bib.
Probably because I signed up through Groupon, but I had to talk to 3 different people who couldn’t find my bib before someone just made me one.
The race is chip timed but with the old, returnable chips.
The race
The race starts in Camarillo, not Malibu, so you park at Zuma Beach and then are bussed to Camarillo. Parking at the beach is $8. lame.
Once we boarded the busses around 5:15am, it took about 30 minutes to get to the start.
The start area, like the expo, was very small, but there were real bathrooms there which is always a big plus. It was a warm day and wasn’t cold at 6am.
The race started right on time at 7am and took off through the farm roads in Camarillo.
The first 8 miles are flat, boring farm roads, but they’re fast running.
The closer you got to the ocean, the windier it got. There was a section from 8-15ish that was really windy. Very, very windy at times.
Water stations were every 2-3 miles. In my opinion, for the temperature, there just wasn’t enough of them. A few of them gave out coconut water and I saw a few random energy gels at some stations.
The second half of the race was incredibly scenic; you run along the Pacific Ocean.
It is absolutely gorgeous and much more hilly than the first half of the race.
Surfers!
After a few final hills, the race finished on the decline in Malibu.
At the finish they handed out water bottles, bananas, Popchips, and I think oranges.
Instead of finishers tee shirts, they gave out beach towels which was kinda fun.
Summary
This is a decent, smaller race but not worth more than $100. If a third of the race wasn’t run in farm country, then it’d be much more “Malibu”. Plus, they definitely need more aid stations. Overall I’d give it a 6.02 out of 10, an ok race but nothing great.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
That is an expensive race. They definitely need more water stations but I bet running by the ocean was unbelievable.
Gorgeous pictures, they’re making me miss the summer, I need to move to Cali! That is an expensive race though. Good Luck tomorrow
I am still mulling over the LA County Holiday Half. Santa To The Sea is flatter and cheaper but the drive!!! But $90 for a half? It’s really giving me pause. Anyway, you are probably sick and tired of running through Camarillo that you would choose anything else but.
Hope to see you at the Seattle Marathon. I will be racing it again this year. Half for me though. I have been slacking on my running! Good luck!
Your last 3 weeks and upcoming 3 weeks are exhausting to read – but congratulations because you are clearly well-prepared! Are you buying yourself a well-deserved Christmas present following the last race?
I love the finish line towels. I always want my medal, but I love when races are creative with the extras. (Frankly, I have enough technical tees for a lifetime.)
You get your corral assignment for Vegas? I’m in #3! Good luck to you! I ran the half there last year and it was awesome, running it again this year.
I ran the Malibu half marathon last year and was also pretty disappointed with the race. They seemed disorganized and the finish line food was chintzy. The view along the coast was beautiful though.