America's Finest City Half Marathon and 5K Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Suann L.
Colleyville, TX

  (08-20-2010)

"Wow! This is a beautiful race! This is a point-to-point race starting at the top of Cabrillo National Monument, taking you through downtown and ending in the fabulous Balboa Park.

The race is capped at 8,000 participants for the half marathon with a course limit of 3 hours. Due to the course limit and the 5 miles of downhill running at the beginning, ending with a 2.5-mile uphill, I do not recommend this for first time half marathon participants.

Race participants are required to park at Balboa Park. There is absolutely no parking at Cabrillo National Monument. This leads to a lot of congestion getting to Balboa in the morning. My suggestion is to get there early. The bus situation is very well organized, but remember, you have 5K participants who are also trying to get to the same place. The race says allow for 30 minutes to park. It took us 45 minutes. Allow for an hour.

The start line had enough port-a-potties. But because of our late arrival, we had to start further back than we would have liked. This led to having to dodge a lot of folks for the first 5 miles.

My suggestion for the race is to have a better corral system. If there was one, I didn't notice it and people were not adhering to it.

Starting from the top of Cabrillo National Monument, you have the most gorgeous view of the city and the ocean as you run downhill for 5 miles. You hit the airport area and run along the harbor, all flat as you run into downtown San Diego.

At mile 10 you begin your climb to Balboa Park. Oh and it's a climb! A few breaks and then prepare yourself for the nonstop 2.5-mile hill to Balboa. But you get a break as the finish line is a slight downhill!

The finishers’ area had great food, no alcohol as it is against the park policy. But you can find a great band and lots of other good food.

This race is the final race in the Triple Crown Series. Carlsbad and La Jolla are the other two. Run all three for some pretty cool swag. I’ll certainly be back to run this race again!
"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2010

Liz O.
New York, NY

  (08-18-2009)

"Great course, beautiful views, well organized. I have only 2 (minor) gripes. First, the course was pretty narrow at the start, meaning it was crowded with a lot of dodging of other runners required; given the location, I doubt that anything can be done about that, so I recommend starting as close to the front as possible. Second, there were no garbage cans and no effort was made to have runners throw their water cups to the side of the road, so the road was littered (literally) with slippery cups; the organizers could probably improve on that for next year. But these negatives don't come close to ruining what is a pretty, fast (read: perfectly downhill sloped) course. Great for a PR. (Yes, I know there was that nasty hill for all of mile 12, but you're so close to the finish that you can pull yourself through it and then the race kindly flattens out and provides a nice downhill sprint opportunity at the end.) I will definitely run this race again. "

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

Wayne D.
San Diego, CA

  (08-05-2009)

"There's only one way to get to the start, shuttle. It is located right next to the San Diego Zoo parking lot so there's plenty of parking.

The first few miles are rolling hills and they'll tire you out if you're not careful. Then you have a really fast downhill before you hit sea level. You're down by the harbor but you run through some of the more boring parts before reappearing downtown. They had a water misting station set up on Ash last year and it was amazing because it was so warm. You have a final push up a large hill on 6th Ave that takes you up to Balboa Park. Once you're in Balboa Park there's a lot of crowd support and it's either flat or downhill for the rest of the race. Only bummer after is that you have to walk a little ways before you find a place to sit down."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008

lp .
, CA

  (07-02-2009)

"This was my first race! The course is flat and easy until the last 2 uphill miles through downtown SD which I ended up walking. In august it was a little warm and a little humid. The organization was great, I think they mailed my bib and timing chip to me. Bus out to the start line, finish in Balboa Park!"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2007