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California > Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon
Solvang, CA
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Date
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Event
Details
Running thirteen miles through Southern California's Santa Ynez Valley
isn't a bad way to spend a Saturday morning, or at least the nearly
2,000 runners who turned out and crossed the finish line at the 2008
running of the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon thought so.
Organized by the local race and event management company
Destination Races (whose other events include July's Napa-to-Sonoma
Wine Country Half Marathon & 12K
and the Healdsburg
Wine Country Half Marathon in
October), the race takes runners through some of this state's most
gorgeous countryside, past rolling farmlands and vineyards on the way
to the wine and music
festival at the finish line.
The point-to-point 13.1-mile course for the race starts in downtown
Santa Ynez, a small wine country town known for its western-style
architecture that lies just over the mountains from nearby Santa
Barbara. From there, the course takes runners on a mostly flat route
for the first half of the race that runs
northward through town, roughly parallel to Highway 154 (though it
zigzags along the streets with several twists and turns as its runs
near the highway). Once participants reach the half-way point of the
race in Los Olivos, they make the turn and start heading south through
Ballard Canyon along the road with the same name.
This downhill section of the course, which from mile markers 7 through
9 is
considered the race's fastest section, also features some of its best
views. Runners pass field after rolling field of farmland and vineyards
through this stretch, as the area's lush green hills are framed by the
Sierra Nevada Mountains in the distance. After running through Ballard
Canyon, the field then joins up with Chalk Hill Road as it nears the
town of Solvang for the final couple of miles, passing Hans Christian
Andersen Park on the way to the finish line on Copenhagen Drive.
The finish line festival, like those of its counterparts in Healdsburg
and Napa, features perhaps the real reward of the race -- a wine and
music festival that's just starting up in Solvang Park as runners are
finishing their race. Because of the event time limit of 3 hours, 15
minutes --
which means you'll need to keep a pace of 14:30 minutes per mile or
better -- the race is for runners only, and starts at 7:00 AM.
Race
Weather & Climate
Nestled along Southern California's Pacific coastline, just over 30
miles northwest of Santa Barbara, the town of Solvang typically enjoys
mild to moderately warm weather in the late spring, with much drier
conditions than in February, March and April. In May, average monthly
temperatures range between 79°F and 48°F, while
rainfall totals average around 0.39 inches for the month.
Fees
N/A
Registration
To reserve your spot in the spring 2009 running of the Santa Barbara
Wine Country Half Marathon, register online at Active.com
.
Website
www.runsantaynez.com
Course Map
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Share
Your Race Story
Ever run in Santa Barbara's annual Wine Country Half Marathon? Share
your impressions and read fellow runners' stories
and tips for the event.
Discuss it in the HalfMarathons.Net
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