I ran the Long Beach half last year and loved the course so I thought I would run my 1st full marathon this year here.
Expo: The expo is great! Very well organized. They are ready to take on any problem that you might have as well. They were very quick getting our bibs and shirts to us. The shirts were not the best shirts that Long Beach has had. Really really really did not like that they were white, but the sea shell design on the side was nice. They were also shaped a bit odd. The official merchandise store had quite a large selection of stuff. Loved the hats this year. The expo itself was huge. It really does make OC’s expo look funny. It is very spacious and has pretty much all the vendors that you could possibly want.
Pre Race: The marathon does not have half as many people as the half marathon so everything is pretty easy for the pre race. It was quick to drop off our stuff at the UPS vans and there were plenty of port o johns with no lines at all. The runners village was pretty great too. It gave our group a great spot to set up camp. It was a great place for our group to meet up before and after the race.
Course: The marathon starts off at 6am with the Voice of America’s Marathons, Rudy Novotny! The course goes through parts of downtown Long Beach then goes up and over the bridge to the other side of the bay. Then you come back and run on the bike path on the beach. The marathon was not as packed as the half was last year on this part, but the bike path does get very crowded. I would not suggest running on the sand either. From the beach you head north through the neighborhoods as you make your way up to CSULB. There are some pretty interesting houses to look at. The crowd support was awesome! People were setting up aid stations right out of their own house. There were also people all over the place handing out bananas, oranges and candy. These were not people that were associated with the race themselves, just some amazing people cheering on the runners. The aid stations were great too. I believe there were 24 stations all together with one being about every mile or so. You leave the neighborhood streets for a bit when you get onto Atherton. From there you go through Cal Stat Long Beach. Lots of students out cheering you on! Then you start your way back. Running down Ocean was one of my favorite parts of this race (even though I drive it every day to work). It is a beautiful way to finish up a great race. Nice big houses on your right and the ocean on your left. The finish line is great with Rudy calling all the runners in.
Post race: We were given the best medal I’ve ever gotten. Since this was the 30th anniversary it was a special seashell medal. I really love it. We were given a water and a bag full of snacks. We did not finish this race very quickly at all so there were no foil blankets by the time we got there, which I was bummed about. Not a big thing. The beer garden was alright. Just make sure you get over there before 1pm when it closes.
Spectators: I had my family and friends that wanted to be out on the course for me. The best place that I found for spectators that want to view their runners more than once and not have to move around is right by the start/ finish line. They can send off their runner at the start line, walk across the grass and see their runner at about mile 6.5 (half and full). Then if they walk up shoreline drive a little bit they can see their runner cross the finish line. Other great spectator spots that would be reasonably easy to get to is up by Cal State Long Beach and over on 7th street by Blair field at recreation park.
Overall a great race! I’ll run at least the half next year for sure!