Allstate Life Insurance℠ Los Angeles 13.1 Marathon® brings its runners a new scenic backdrop along the harbor of Marina del Rey and the shores of Playa del Rey. Beginning at the Venice Boardwalk and ending at Playa del Rey, the half marathon race will take place amidst miles of inspiring ocean views and iconic scenery.
| pre-race | course | post-race |
|---|---|---|
| b | a | a |
This wasn’t my favorite race. Even though the start line was 10 minutes from my house, I had to drive an hour and a half each way to pick up my packet before race day, which really soured the whole experience in my mind. They also only handed out only water at the finish – you had to walk over to the “post race party” and search for the kind of hidden food table in order to get so much as a half a banana and an orange slice. I didn’t see any bagels or nutrition bars or anything like that. They need to make some improvements for next year – I think they may be getting a little too “corporate.”
All that aside, the course was nice (pretty much the same as last year) and the volunteers were great. I won’t sign up for this one again until I know where packet pick up is, though.
I literally decided to do the race at the last minute, including attempting to register on-site. I also stayed up super late the night before watching Golden Globe-nominated movies with some friends and only got about 30 minutes of sleep. This clearly was not going to be pretty, but I have committed to doing one half marathon a week for the month of January…
I finally got out the house around 6am (for a 7am race start time – I learned my lesson from the New Year’s race NOT to stand around in the cold.). Unfortunately, I-10 West was partially closed which led to an unexpected detour. I tried following the directions for parking which were confusing but ended up finding FREE parking on a nearby street!
I randomly ran into a young lady at the corner. We chatted a bit. She had just moved here from Houston, and discovered our paces were similar. The short walk had us at the registration table by 6:45am. She was so sweet and waited patiently while I registered. Registration was surprisingly easy! The people working registration were patient, nice and thorough despite the freezing temps which would have made me miserable!
In terms of the race, we had agreed to run slow (2:30-2:40 finish time). Besides, once the sun came all the way up, the views were beautiful!!! It was such a great day that we ended up stopping multiple times so she could take pictures. We ran through Marina del Rey, along the Ballona Bike Path and down to Dockweiler Beach with a finish in Playa del Rey. The course had just a few small hills, though there was a brief stretch where we had to run uphill through a very sandy path.
There were also LOTS of cheerful volunteers, with plenty of water and Gatorade at every station. The stations were plentiful even though they weren’t at every mile. They also had these cool little indie bands at various points along the way, and we even had a guy break dancing at one point in the course. Yes, the sewer smell was unpleasant, but it really didn’t last that long. I’m pretty sensitive to smells, and it wasn’t enough to get all dramatic about it.
As I approached the finish line, there was an older lady being cheered in by a friend. She yelled out that she was probably going to PR. I looked at her and said, “Do you really want to PR? Come run in with me!” With that, we took off running for the finish line. I kept picking up the pace to stay just ahead of her. She ran hard and almost got me to a sprint speed! She was so excited and happy to finish strong. It was really fun and a great way for me to finish by pushing and encouraging her to a PR since I didn’t have a particular goal in mind for myself!
At the end of the race, everything was super organized in terms of medals, finish photos, water, refreshments, vendor area and shuttle buses back to where our cars were parked. The tech shirt they gave us was really nice too, and I NEVER like t-shirts – lol!
All in all, I thought it was a great race – especially compared to some other recent races in the SoCal area! I definitely recommend people doing it next year. I just hope the weather is warmer!!!
My review is ONLY for the 5K portion, I havent ran the half yet, maybe next year! But for the 5K we start about a mile and a half out from the finish line, I also get dropped off at the start so I cant comment on the parking, but it seemed to go smoothly from the cars I saw driving by. This year was nice, they were able to get the bathrooms opened early so we had bathrooms that flushed and running water! Other then that, I really feel like the 5K is just an after thought. Granted its a small field for the 5K we start with very little fan fare, we ran up towards the lovely treatment plant, for the turn around, then back down towards the finish line. We get to the finish line and its not that crowded, but the announcer had some excitement and announced the finishers names which is always nice. The post race was up the street a bit in a park, not much there. But they had bananas, pretzels, oranges and water. Food Trucks were there but was I wasnt interested. The only bad thing for the 5K people is if you park in the 5K lot, you have to walk back the mile + to your car, and uh, you are stuck in the parking lot until like 11:30 until the roads re-open. For the half marathon they shuttle you back to your car.
Over all, its a decent 5K, little fan fare, the shirts are just plain cotton t-shirts and that’s all you get. So if you run 5Ks for bling avoid this race.
So, pre-race was pretty unfortunate. The packet pick-up at Road Runner was difficult to due traffic on a weekend and lack of parking. The gear drop off at the actual race was easy, but the actual start of the race was lacking. There were no rolling starts, just a “ready, set, go” so for the 1st .10 everyone was walking/shuffling along the narrow boardwalk. Everything was fine as far as the course went until about mile 8 when the sewage smell crept in. This lasted until about mile 10.5-11. The last two miles or so were great, one big downhill to the finish. Mile 9 hill was a bitch!!! Overall, the course views (minus the sewage plant) were amazing and delivered on what other races (like OC half) promises–beautiful ocean views.
Post race was ok, the food ran out and was far from the end of the race but it was nice to have a band at the end entertaining. Would I do it again? No, probably not. But, the spinner medal is pretty damn cool.
I did the Karhu 5K affiliated with the 13.1. I was very disappointed.
1. Race was billed as being in Santa Monica, but actually took place at Dockweiler Beach near El Segundo, which is a pain to access.
2. There weren’t any chip mats in place at the start line, so everyone ended up with the clock time–and if you’ve raced, you know that clock time might be several minutes off, due to the large numbers of people crossing the start line.
3. No split times were provided for the 5K.
4. No clock at the finish for the 5K.
5. 5Kers were given bibs that included personalized gear check tags…but gear check was NOT provided for the 5K at all. Considering that it was a point to point course–not out and back–this was really an issue.
6. They made it clear that the 5K was the ugly stepsister: in addition to the above, there was no goody bag. The T-shirt was a yucky looking white thing that didn’t even match the race title. Despite advertising the medals all over their website, they didn’t make it clear that there was nothing given them out to the 5K. The swag doesn’t make the race by any means, but still.
The course was flat and fast, that much I will give it, but it also went right by a sewage plant, which sort of negated a lot of the appeal.
It was OK.
I would have loved that course IF it did not go by the water treatment plan TWICE. The smell was horrible, sent me in dry heaving mode at mile 9 and that sucked big time.
no expo for this race. packet pick up was in a small gym, wished they would offer race day packet pick up since there is no expo for the race.
Medal is really nice and so is the shirt.
This was my first half marathon, so I wasn’t entirely sure how I should rate it since I don’t have one to compare it to!
Check out my heart warming experience on the race here: http://blendhappy.com/fitness/13-1-la-marathon-race-results/
I would like to thank the supporters along side the race, they were such a significant part of the race, it was so nice to see people cheering along!
For registration, during the race, and after the race everyone was very friendly and helpful!
New course this year took you out to the beach from Venice Beach through Marina del Rey and out to Playa deal Rey, which I thought was great. The course ran past the LADWP water treatment path and this day unfortunately the smell was particularly ripe. (I’ve biked this way before and haven’t had problems so it was the luck of the draw that day. ) I liked that there was 2 Clif shot stations. Water stops weren’t at every mile but I felt there were enough. It’s a pretty fast field.
It’s a virtual goody bag. Supposed to be good for the environment but I’m a fan of more swag. Packet pickup could’ve been better and larger – line of people 50 deep waiting to get in the doors to pick up.
