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MINDY SCHAUER, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
About 17,000 athletes take part in the 24th Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach in February.
1. Surf City USA Marathon Huntington Beach; 562-795-8900; motivrunning.com/run-surf-city
Orange County’s oldest marathon will be riding a wave into its 25th running on the first weekend of February. “This is a legacy year,” said Dan Cruz, event spokesman, “It’s a milestone and we’re excited.” By tradition, the race is held the morning of Super Bowl Sunday. The 2020 race was held a week after the helicopter crash that killed Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others, including two from Huntington Beach. Organizers honored the victims with a pre-race ceremony, moment of silence and memorials at the 8- and 24-mile markers, signifying Kobe Bryant’s jersey numbers. The race also featured a group of about 60 runners from Hawaii who came to honor and finish the race for Dr. William Travis Lau. A cardiac anesthesiologist from Hawaii, Lau was training for the 2019 race when he was one of three killed by a suspected drunk driver in Honolulu just days before the Surf City race. The 2020 race was held in textbook conditions with cool morning fog giving way to brilliant sunshine. And, as always, it featured the spectacular Southern California coastline as a backdrop. The event is scheduled to be held Feb. 6-8 in 2021. The course is flat and fast and with a half-marathon, 5 kilometer run and a Saturday 1-mile sand run. Entertainers line the course and finishers receive the unique and popular surfboard medal. — Greg Mellen
2. Dana Point Turkey Trot
3. SDCCU/OC Marathon
Turkey and Pilgrim costumes will be on full display, because dressing up and participating in the costume contest is just part of the fun at the Dana Point Turkey Trot. As scenic as any race in Orange County, the race meanders along the shores of the city’s famed harbor area and Doheny State Beach. The Turkey Trot has been a holiday tradition for 42 years. The flat, scenic race features 10- and 5-kilometer runs and a kids Gobble Wobble. Presented by the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce and a perennial winner of local Golden Lantern awards, the small-town secret has gotten out to greater OC The race began as a fundraiser involving 300 people with pizza and beer waiting at the finish line. Nowadays upwards of 10,000 flock to the seaside town to get in the miles and burn off calories before sitting down for their turkey stuffings.
While many summer and late spring marathons were canceled outright in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, organizers of the SDCCU/OC Marathon, traditionally held in early May, pushed the date back to Nov. 7-8 in the hopes of keeping the 15th running going on an annual basis. As of July, race director Gary Kutscher had his fingers crossed it could still happen, but admitted it was up in the air saying, “We hope there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.” Before the virus, Kutscher said, “we were on track for our best year in four or five years.” Registered runners unable to run in November can defer until 2021 or convert to a virtual run and still get their swag. Whether held in late 2020, or its regular date in 2021, the race will still be held on “one of the most beautiful courses in one of the most idyllic locations in the world,” according to organizers. The marathon had been the signature event in the three-day OC Marathon Running Festival at the OC Lifestyle and Fitness Expo, attracting 25,000 runners and spectators and 70 exhibitors.
Dana Point; 949-496-1555, Ext. 101; turkeytrot.com
Newport Beach/Costa Mesa; 949-496-1555; ocmarathon.com
THE BEST OF ORANGE COUNTY SEPTEMBER 2020 21