Formerly known as the Pacific Shoreline Marathon & Half Marathon, the Surf City USA Marathon & Half Marathon takes runners along a flat, fast course that certainly delivers on its name, as it is run mostly along the beaches of Southern California’s Pacific Coast Highway, through the towns of Huntington Beach, Sunset Beach and the Bolsa Chica State Beach.
Considered one of the best half-marathon road race events in the country, this USA Track & Field-certified event saw more than 18,000 runners and wheelchair competitors cross the finish line at its 2016 running, which also includes live music as well as the sounds of the waves crashing along the shore throughout the course.
From the starting line along the Pacific Coast Highway near the intersection with Huntington Street, this flat race — runners will experience an elevation change of no more than 100 feet over the course of the race — follows a mostly long, straight out-and-back course along the PCH, with the brief exception of a detour along Seapoint Avenue, through Huntington Beach’s Harriet Weider Regional Park.
