Santa Cruz Half Marathon: New Birthday Tradition?

Guess who just registered to run the Santa Cruz Half Marathon 2017?

This girl!

This accomplishment is a shout out to all you other procrastinators, because:

1. It is the last day to register before the prices increase.
2. If I calculated correctly, the half marathon is exactly 16 weeks out. This means I am just in time to start my favorite half marathon plan. The plan is for “beginners,” or people who just don’t have time to workout more than an hour most days.
3. I already booked my AirBnB, so you can’t have it.. but that link would give you $35 off some other AirBnB, just not mine!

Santa Cruz Half Marathon

Location: Starts and ends next to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I parked in a nearby neighborhood.
Course: From the boardwalk to Wilder Ranch State Park and back again. It is a nice flat course – only 325 ft elevation gained during the whole route.

The Santa Cruz Half Marathon is apparently held on the same weekend for the past two years – and that weekend just so happens to be my birthday weekend. I love the idea of combining a mini vacation with the accomplishment of racing… AND, proving age is just a number, I get to enjoy being passed by many, many people older than me during the race. I can only hope I will become faster someday like the women who seem to dominate all the races!

I have only done 3 half marathons, but of these Santa Cruz might be my favorite. The weather is pleasant (even in the rain last year), the course follows the ocean out to a beautiful state park, and the medal is nice too.

There were two things about this race last year that did trip me up. One was the parking – I think you can pay to park closer, but scoping out a spot nearby and walking might be preferable so you don’t have to worry about the road closures. The second is that I thought that the last stretch of the run would be on the sand. It looked that way in the marketing materials, and I was NOT looking forward to running a mile in the sand after the previous 12.

Good news: The race does NOT end in the sand. It is only sandy right at the finish line, cool for photos and for my calves.

Better news: Veggie corn dogs are available on the Boardwalk as a post run snack! 

BRB I got to start training for this – See you soon Santa Cruz!