1st Sunday in October, Long Beach, CA, 8:00 AM Start.

App and info: Click on Long Beach above.

*Need race review of this very popular first street marathon.

Julie Millers comments on the half:

The 2003 Long Beach race was hot, hot, hot (and I mean as in, eighties, sunny, no shade). Last time I did Long Beach was back in 2000, when the course was mostly inland, and offered a boring t-shirt and a coin-token medal, and as a result attracted barely 2,000 runners. This year's Long Beach 2003 race offered a colorful tee-shirt featuring the Queen Mary, and a very nice medal featuring the Queen Mary. The new course is flat, and would be a fast course, but for the heat this year. About 14,000 runners showed up for the race, which included a full marathon, half, 5K, bike ride, and in-line skate race. The marathon and half started at 8:15 a.m. and it was already mid-sixties.

On the plus side, there's ample parking on race day at the Long Beach Convention Center for $8. Register early, the half is $30 before April 1, but $60 after. Also, you have to pick up your chip and bib at the expo the Friday or Saturday before the race. After the race, a good place to eat is Margaritas on First and Atlantic (one block north of Ocean, next to the Long Beach Travelodge).