The Long Beach Marathon course is relatively flat and fast with a few elevation changes that break up the otherwise mostly flat route.
Starting in Downtown Long Beach, runners head towards the historic Queen Mary and then through Shoreline Village. After running next to the Pacific Ocean on the flat beach path, marathoners head through Belmont Shore toward Marine Stadium. Cheerleaders, sororities, fraternities, clubs, student organizations, faculty, and the school mascot Prospector Pete come out full-force to cheer as runners complete a 5K loop around the California State University, Long Beach campus. With 6.2 miles to go, runners head back towards Ocean Boulevard toward the finish.
The Long Beach Marathon was the 25th largest marathon in the U.S. last year and was the 29th largest in 2022.
This year 3.8% of finishers qualified for the Boston Marathon and 8.9% of runners qualified for Boston in 2023.
This gives the Long Beach Marathon the 217th highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in the U.S. last year and the 317th highest percentage so far in 2024.
Its Course Score of 98.89 ranks it as the 217th fastest marathon course in the U.S. and the 17th fastest course in California.
The typical race time temperature and humidity levels are above the ideal range for optimal marathon performance. This, coupled with the Course Score, gives the Long Beach Marathon a PR Score of 96.79. This PR Score ranks it as the 347th fastest marathon in the U.S. and the 25th fastest in California.
Learn more about PR Scores and Course Scores on the FAQ page.
Long Beach Marathon Elevation Chart
Max Elevation: 83 feet (25m) Min Elevation: 5 feet (1m)
The first ten miles of the course is spectacular and beautiful, along the marina and beach. There are less than 2000 participants in the full marathon, so it never feels overly crowded. But then the full marathon course breaks off inland where it;s uphill, "ugly" and spectators are sparser. Then at Mile 23 or so, the course rejoins the half marathon course and it gets considerably more crowded (there are 7000+ half marathoners). Tons more spectators, but you're also surrounded by people who've only run 10 miles which can affect your positive attitude as you struggle towards the finish.
Race Tips
The course is mostly flat, especially the first half. The hills between Miles 10 and 23 are not particularly steep or grueling, just seemingly never-ending. There's one climb at Mile 22 (when you're supposed to be going downhill back towards the coast) that can catch you off guard. The last miles when you rejoin the half marathon course can be a struggle. It's flat and straight and long, and you're surrounded by people generally running faster than you (because they've only run ten miles to your 20+). Try not to get distracted by all that, focus on yourself.
MY FIRST MARATHON!!! I can now sport the 26.2 logo with pride! I signed up for the marathon for my 30th birthday which was 4 days after the race! 30th anniversary - 30th birthday... a perfect combo! Running a marathon is a true accomplishment and I felt such a wave of emotions crossing the finish line. It made all the months of training and preparation worth it.
I highly recommend the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon and here's why:
-Great crowd support all along the course - many thanks to the volunteers and the local residents who passed out water, Gu packets, Gatorade, oranges, watermelon, bananas, bagels and the like!
-Fast, flat course - for the full marathon, the elevation gain was 383 ft and the elevation loss was 377 ft.... this is the lowest elevation gain/loss you will find for a 26.2 mile course!
-Beautiful views including the Queen Mary, Rainbow Harbor, Shoreline Beach path with miles of ocean views, Marine Stadium, Belmont Shore, CSULB, Recreation Park and Downtown Long Beach.
-The expo was well organized, efficient and had lots of great vendors and merch.
-Separate starts for the marathon and half marathon. The half marathon has 4x the number of participants in it so I was very pleased the race organizers started the half marathoners a full 90 minutes later. The full marathon started at 6AM and the half started at 730 AM.
-I loved the 6 AM start time.... I had finished running a marathon by 10 AM! Sweet!
-Post race finish line with separate finish lanes for the half and full marathons -Great bands, cheerleaders and supporters along the way! I loved the energy of the Poly HS Track Team!
-Pacers provided - I ran with the 4 hour pace group for the first half of the marathon and the pacer was encouraging, fun and talked to the group throughout the course. Every mile he had a trivia question related to running, Long Beach and the like! I got the 4 mile trivia right... Long Beach is known as the Aquatic Capital of America, thank you very much!
-Lots of treats at the finish line - Power Bars, fruit, cookies, Gatorade, water, coconut water, Michelob Ultra, etc.
-Race results were posted within hours with numerous splits provided so you could analyze your performance over the full 26.2 miles!
-The 30th anniversary medals are heavy, high quality and the shell design is awesome! Excellent medals!
Thank you, Long Beach, for helping me accomplish something I've always dreamed of doing! Yes, miles 20-25 were tough, but just remember your mind will quit 100x before your body ever will! Don't let your mind trick you into immediate satisfaction (walking, stopping, etc.) and instead remember your goal... which is to finish and finish strong! Keep running and just remember, YOU CAN DO IT! We are capable of more than we know! I'm already looking forward to next year! RUN LBC!
4 Stars from 2 Reviews
