The SoCal Marathon runs along the Santa Ana River Trail and finishes at Huntington Beach State Park. The course gradually drops nearly 400 feet from the start to finish.
The SoCal Marathon was the 298th largest marathon in the U.S. last year and was the 239th largest in 2022.
This year 2.4% of finishers qualified for the Boston Marathon and 5.3% of runners qualified for Boston in 2023.
This gives the SoCal Marathon the 329th highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in the U.S. last year and the 104th highest percentage so far in 2024.
Its Course Score of 100.71 ranks it as the 32nd fastest marathon course in the U.S. and the 3rd fastest course in California.
The typical race time temperature and humidity levels are slightly above the ideal range for optimal marathon performance. This, coupled with the Course Score, gives the SoCal Marathon a PR Score of 100.38. This PR Score ranks it as the 29th fastest marathon in the U.S. and the 4th fastest in California.
Learn more about PR Scores and Course Scores on the FAQ page.
SoCal Marathon Elevation Chart
Max Elevation: 392 feet (119m) Min Elevation: 9 feet (2m)
The course is downhill point to point. But the race is held in early March, when there is usually increasingly strong wind from the coast during the day, resulting in increasingly strong headwind (10 mph and beyond) almost during the entire race. No buildings help block the wind because the course is along a river valley towards the coast. Because of limited number of participants, no runner blocks could possibly form for fast runners to follow to alleviate the effect of headwind. The headwind makes this course actually very slow, in particular for those who try to qualify for Olympic Trial and Boston Marathon, etc. Runners usually finish this course at least 10 minutes longer than their normal finishing time. In addition, for those for BQ and above, many of the aid stations are ill-prepared. There were no aid station and no water for the last 7 miles during my race, when the runners had to battle against the strongest headwind during the entire race. Would not recommend this race to anyone who would want to achieve some qualification time. The volunteers at the finishing line are very nice and helpful though. And the ice creams there are pretty good! ^ ^
Race Tips
Practice how to breathe effectively against consistently super strong headwind (10 mph and beyond) for at least 20 miles.
Nice scenery and a steady downhill for the first half. Headwind throughout the second half. Amazingly I only encountered 3 aid stations for the entire race. The volunteers at the aid stations were moving so those behind may have had a few more. Aid stations were not equipped with gel's as advertised. Luckily a cyclist gave me a sip of their water bottle otherwise I may have been severely dehydrated.
