Santa Monica Classic

So glad that the Santa Monica 5K/​10K Classic is back in 2015! The Santa Monica race was held in mid-​May from 2006 to 2013, but returned in mid-​September in 2015. Benefitting the Santa Monica Educational Foundation, this race has one of the most scenic and beautiful race courses in Southern California. Running definitely doesn’t feel like a chore especially when going down Ocean Boulevard with views of the Pacific right next to you. Start line is located at Ocean View Park and the finish line is located at iconic Santa Monica Pier.
The 5k course is a nice and short run for beginners, and I suggest registering for the 10K course if you want a more challenging course. The first two thirds of the 10K course goes at a steady but slight uphill grade. Almost stopped to catch my breath during the first two thirds of the 10K, only to be saved by the remaining downhill third of the course. Happy to have accomplished my goal of finishing a 10K in under an hour at the Santa Monica Classic!
For race day, there’s plenty of parking available on adjacent residential streets and city-​owned structures, but come early. We parked in the city-​owned structure right by Third Street promenade, which was about a 20-​minute walk to the start line, but a very short walk from the finish line! Also, shirts are not handed out at bib pick-​up before the race, but rather after the race, so there’s really no need to do your bib pick-​up the day before.

My first Santa Monica Classic Run and it was a smooth 5K with my 7 year old daughter. I’m glad we’ve tried it.
9÷13÷15. It was a very warm and humid day and the water stop was at Mile 2. There was no difficult elevation at all.
Smooth process. Started on time.
Next time, I will park close to the finish line which is a mile away from the start. The expo was at the SM Pier. There were many stuff that they were giving away but the line was ridiculous and with the heat? No, thank you. We claimed our bling and shirt and we walked away.
Overall, the challenge was the heat not the course itself. ;)

Nice course, with a small enough size to keep things a bit easier in terms of race day logistics, but big enough that you’re not cheated on the basic amenities you expect.
Water stations were a lot smaller then I was expecting, but then again, it isn’t the LA Marathon size crowd that I’m usually used to. Good thing I brought my own drinks to supplement what they were giving out.
Cool shirts and medals, and extra star because they let you run with strollers.
Only thing I’d change is to allow strollers start further up. Narrow lanes on some of the street means I had to do a lot of weaving to pass up a lot of the slower runners. Most were responsive and let me pass, but the ones who had headphones in, or were just oblivious were frustrating to get by.

Where is bag check for this event?

I love this course! Although SMC starts earlier than most other 5Ks, I have no problem making the trek down to this area. You must allow yourself extra time to find a parking spot… watch for posted signs if you park in the residential areas! I would rather park in one of the city-​owned structures for a small fee. The course offers scenic views of the bay and it is relatively flat. Post-​race expo is a bit of a let-​down for some reason and I always get the feeling that they always run out of things. I do love their t-​shirt designs, however. Packet pick-​up is offered on-​site or the day before the race… I would advise picking up early. I try to make this an annual event and so far, I’ve done the past 4 years. Registration fee may be higher than other races but it goes towards Heal the Bay so all is good!

I’m a fan of the course for sure. However, I’m disappointed that they ran out of sunglasses and, most importantly, they ran out of food! I was famished by the time I finished the 10k. I saw everyone eating bananas and oranges and made a bee line to the stand but they were completely out of everything!!! What the??? Not cool especially since this was not a cheap run.
BTW — This is for the 5÷20÷12 run. I would have given it 5-​stars was it not for the lack of food. I’ll be back next year. Hopefully they figure it out by then.

My knees took a pounding during this one due to the steady climb up Ocean Avenue and San Vicente, but overall, this race was very organized and challenging enough for someone who has only a few 10Ks under her belt.
Beautiful scenery throughout the run, especially along Main Street and along Ocean Ave. I love that they handed out our shirts at the expo after the race for those of us that don’t have a bystander to hold your crap as you run the race. The expo itself was typical. Freebies included water bottles, chocolate milk and bagels.
I think I’ll do this one again next year.

Great course, fist half is steadily uphill. I would definetly do this 10k again.
The T– shirt s*****!, I guess they went away from the tech shirt. All in all a good time.

Well-​organized run. Perfect overcast weather.
Good crowd, but didn’t feel too crowded at the start line where runners push and shove one another.
Freebies at the expo included pinkberry (such a long long line though), POM juice, water bottles, almonds, bars. Free unisex dry fit shirt although the shirt is a bit too wide for females.
Planning to make this an annual run for me.

I ran in this event last weekend, I signed up for the 10k which kicks off at 8am, there is also a 5k segment that started earlier at 7:30am. Because of this, the starting area was not that packed and I was able to stretch on the grass area right next to the starting line.
The course starts just south of the Ocean Park and Barnard Way intersection. The course snakes through Santa Monica (Barnard Way, Main Street, Colorado, Ocean Ave, San Vicente Blvd). The turnaround is up San Vicente Blvd at 11^th street, where the 10kers turnaround and head to the finish line at the Santa Monica Pier.
Freebies included Vitamin water, organic bananas/​apples, raisins, fruit bars, Coke Zero, POM Pomegranate juice, and Powerbar. I saw several people with eco-​friendly Heal the Bay bags but they were out when I got there. The free Nike dri-​fit t-​shirts were nice.
Overall I had a good time and all for a good cause, Heal the Bay. They had a cool display with ocean life which included a sea urchin, crabs, starfishes, and jellyfishes.

SaMo Classic, you kicked my ass.
My knees hurt and my hip felt like it was 70 years old.
But I finished, and it was awesome. Can’t wait til next year to do it all over again!

Another great way to start a Sunday morning!
The weather was perfect, the organization was wonderful.
They honored the $ 10 discount to all 5k runners who requested it, due to the non-​marking of the turn around point which added about another mile for some of us during last year’s run.
Great spectators who cheer for any/​everyone at the finish line.
Minus 2 stars for letting the «Under 21 Division» start at the front of the 5k. Another nightmare similar to the one we experienced during the City of Angles ½ Marathon.
These brats made it a point to spend most of the time zig-​zagging and sudden-​stopping all over the place which really slowed people down, not to mention how unsafe it was trying not trip trip over them and trying to refrain from punching them.
The 5 star rating is because everything else about this race is awesome!
The expo rocks! The NIKE t-​shirts are fantastic! Great music. Lots of goodies from Whole Foods (bananas, apples, granola bars, raisins, POM Pomegranate Juice), Free Photo booth hosted by POM, Coke Zero, Vitamin Water, Powerade, and water being passed out. Heal the Bay giving away bags.
Most important:
This race supports one of my favorite causes:
HEAL THE BAY
If you didn’t get to do it this year, please join the fun next year!
Cheers!

This race deserves more stars for the beauty of running near the beach. However, I attended the 5k in 2008 and the course was poorly marked. Instead of there being a turn around point… people either turned where it was marked online to turn (if you went online pre-​race to see the course) or they turned where they chose. I turned where the cop said to… unfortunately this meant running a 7k instead of a 5k. Some people ran 5k’s some 7k’s, all were clocked for the same race even though people behind me most of the race came out in front. This was my first race and unfortunately I’ll have nothing to compare it to because it’s in the air how far anyone ran.
This was the third annual race and it was attended by thousands of people. Very poor management and organization. They didn’t have all the mile markers or timings. it was basically just follow the crowd where ever they may run. People were yelling at me to turn in the right place but everyone around me kept running. I would have turned had I known why these people were yelling to turn at California but I didn’t know who they were or why they were yelling that so I kept going following the markings (or non-​markings).
At the end they had water and handouts and food but unfortunately no bag. The start and finish were ¾ to a mile apart which meant you’d have to walk either before the race or after. If you walked after you carried your bananas, power bars, handouts and whatever else you grabbed in your arms… for a mile!!!