Palos Verdes Marathon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

southbaygirl .
San Pedro, CA

  (06-03-2011)

"This is my local race and loved it last year, but this year the course changed as did the start. It moved from a start at pt Fermin park to starting on PV Drive,right by Terranea resort, since they are now the host hotel.

The reason i like this race is because it\'s low key and challenging. It seems now they want to become a bigger race-so they changed the course to a \"flatter\" course and moved the start to a ritzy resort. Well, i didnt like it! I was very disappointed.

It started with the parking. Parking is now all satellite parking. Three places to park-the largest facility being about 15 minutes away. This was fine-the trip to the start was pretty straightforward and organized and there is a Starbucks right where you wait for the bus.

Once you got to the start there were enough porta potties-and it was feeling like the \"old race\" but then the race started. Now I didnt mind the \"hills\" on the old course, but I sure dont think this course is flatter! I think there were more hills. And this course wound thru residential neighborhoods and on roads that no one would drive in Palos verdes unless you lived there! And I\'m sure the \"posh neighborhoods\" led to the DISTINCT LACK OF PORTA POTTIES ON THE COURSE! And I was not the only one to complain about this! When you did find a porta potty-you usually stood in line for a good 5 minutes! Kinda a bummer when you are \"running a race\" But when you have to pee-you must pee!

This course took you to the overlook at pase del mar and Palos Verdes Drive west and that when you started back. Rolling Hills. On the final uphill to the Start/Finish I all of a sudden remembered-you must run an additional 3 miles after you pass the start/finish area. I hate running past the finish when I\'m not finishing!

I\'m so glad I was only doing the half marathon-the full marathon is two loops-I would have gone crazy! 2 loops of that madness and to run past the start/finish line 3 times before you actually finish? Just wrong.

The icing on the cake was the shuttle bus back to parking!

There were no emergency blankets given out at the finish so if you didnt check clothes your were kinda out of luck. This would have been fine except that it was cold and rainy! And then I walked to the shuttle bus line-WOW what a line!

And there i stood in line for 45 minutes freezing my arse off with my arm inside the \"finisher\" shirt I got waiting for the shuttle bus to my car! 45 minute wait! That is just wrong!

Pretty irritating way to end this race! I may not run it again!

"

Reviewed by a: Repeat Participant for 2011

southbaygirl .
San Pedro, CA

  (05-18-2010)

"The course and views (and the proximity to my house) finally brought me to this race! I live 5 minutes from the start but it's taken me about 5 years to get up "the nerve" to conquer this course-probably because I know the area very well! Not that I'm scared of hills-I run trail races but this is a hilly road race and I had heard it was tough.

I entered the Half the day before the race. Yet another spur of the moment race decision. I registered at Dick's Sporting Goods in El Segundo, CA and got my race number. I was told I would get my t-shirt when I finished. Sweet, a finisher t-shirt, I don't have many of those (they don't seem to give those out anymore).

This was the 44th Annual Palos Verdes marathon and half. It's one of the oldest in the country and it has kept it's very simplistic charm!The entry fees are cheap compared to other Fulls and Half's! That alone is a HUGE PLUS!
No swag bags when i registered and no expo-they had an expo on race day and a band. And no chip timing-that kind of bummed me out. This may have been the first Half road race that I was running without a chip!

Parking pretty much sucks! See in Logistics.

The Full marathon started at 7am and the Half at 7:30 and the community 5K after the Half. The staggered start was to stretch out the runners along 25th Street and Palos Verdes Drive S because cars were allowed on a section of the course with a Sheriff Dept escort.

The marathoners took off while I was standing in the porta potty line-let me say...GET MORE PORTA POTTIES next year!! I don't know if more people signed up to run than expected but there were not enough porta potties for the number of runners in line!! Silly Silly Silly!!

The half started on time, ok maybe a minute late. The national anthem was sung and then without alot of pomp we were off!

I like the fact that this race hasn't gotten "spiffy and fancy". It's very much a low key "neighborhood" race, with cheap race entries....the views are why you come and run this race!!

And the views are beautiful as is the course! You see Catalina for most of the race, you see a part of San Pedro that no ones knows about that is BEAUTIFUL and you run thru hilly Portuguese Bend. Beware of the roads-there is land movement in the Portuguese Bend area so the roads are, hmmm how do I say it, bad.

The course starts and heads west on Paseo Del Mar in San Pedro. Around mile 2 you head up "the big hill" which is Western Avenue. Once at the top of the hill you turn left heading into Palos Verdes on 25th (which turns into Palos Verdes Drive South). While on 25th it's relatively flat. Once you hit Palos Verdes Drive South, which I would say is around mile 3-4 you go downhill until Portuguese Bend. You'll pass Trump National Golf Course on your left-this was the area where traffic was being allowed in one direction only.

Once into Portuguese Bend, you have short hills-the last before the turnaround being a short steep hill, then an uphill to the turnaround point, at Wayfarers Chapel.

YEAH the turnaround but you know when you go down hill the return is uphill! Not super steep but one of those long long uphills from about mile 6.5 until about mile 11. Nothing super hard but it was tough. Good thing it wasn't sunny! The long uphill would have been worse in the sun!

When we hit San Pedro again, I knew the hill at Western, that we had gone up, was going to be our big downhill. I felt this downhill on my knees-for the first time ever! But luckily it isn't too long. Once onto Paseo del Mar again, it's slightly downhill until the last mile which is a slight uphill to the finish.

I heard alot of back of the packers saying the last mile was tough! I had a few people pacing off of me for the last 2 mile stretch-why would you pace off of me, a snail??I was very happy that the sun didn't come out for my entire race!!

All in all, I had a fantastic time racing this race. And compared to the two other "hilly" Half marathon's I have run (San Fran and Malibu) this was the fastest of the three!!

It is beautiful and very laid back!!

The medal is nothing spectacular but you can say you ran one of this countries oldest races. I will be back year after year to run this!! I really enjoyed it!! And I hope to drag more people to it! I hope it keeps it's neighborhood charm! Would I recommends this race to a first time-hmmm, if you want a challenge-go for it! But it's not flat.

"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2010

Michelle .
Corona, CA

  (03-11-2010)

"This is a simple race, without the crowd support and fancy swag bag. The course is beautiful, but challenging. There are rolling hills, with a giant hill at about mile 2 (up hill on the way out, down hill on the way back), but other than that one giant hill, the hills weren't too bad. Weather is usually perfect- a little overcast, with the sun starting to come out at the end. The medal and t-shirt are nothing to write home about, but I didn't mind. The fees are very reasonable. I'll definitely run this one again. "

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2007