Marathon to Test Talent, Patience
There’s something about a marathon that inspires civic pride--runners streaming along city streets seem to herald to the world we’ve arrived.
Such festive aspects of the marathon are somewhat tangential to the heart of the event: one of the greatest tests of athletic endurance.
And when the starting gun sounds at 7 a.m. Sunday for the Pacific Shoreline Marathon at the Huntington Beach Pier, race organizers will be judged on both counts.
The community wants to feel that its burden--the closure of Pacific Coast Highway from 5 a.m. until afternoon near the pier--is worth it. Businesses expect a monetary profit.
“I think it’s good for the city. I think it’s good for people to get involved in things like that, but I don’t know,” said Michelle Turner, who has owned the Sugar Shack restaurant at 213 1/2 Main Street for 30 years. “I don’t know where everyone is going to be parking because they are closing everything. I’m kind of worried about the traffic.”
Turner also worried about fitting in her regular customers amid the crowd.
“It’s kind of hard for me to figure that out,” she said.
Meanwhile, sports fans want to know that they’re witnessing a show--they want to see athletes run faster and endure more than they could run and endure themselves.
Standing poised to greet this barrage of expectations is Herb Massinger, president of Race Pace Promotions. Massinger already has spent more than $100,000 of his company’s money to promote the race, and he’s banking on its success.
However, considering the checkered past of marathons in Orange County, the bumpy path the event took through the Huntington Beach City Council and its difficult place on the marathon schedule between well-established races in San Diego and Los Angeles, some are wondering if Massinger hasn’t spent too much time on a runner’s high.
But, for a moment, follow Massinger along his vision: Some day, there will be a great festival surrounding the event celebrating a theme such as the environment. People will come from all over the world to gather along the beautiful coast and join hands in this cause. You can almost hear him say it: this race could change the world.
“There are things that this thing can be used as a platform for, much greater than just another running event, which the world probably doesn’t need,” he said.
Despite his high hopes, there were no warm welcomes for the new kid on the block from veteran promoter Lynn Flanagan, president of In Motion, Inc., which runs the San Diego event.
“You have to ask yourself, ‘Is there need for another marathon? Does it really make sense?’ ” Flanagan said. “A marathon has a tremendous impact on the community in which it is held because of the road closures and the cost to the city. . . . If you are closing down a city for two or three hundred people, does that really make sense? Are they going to recoup that in businesses, room rental, restaurants and meals? I don’t think so. Los Angeles and San Diego marathons are very different and I think we meet the needs of marathoners in Southern California very well between us.”
This is the third year of the Pacific Shoreline event, which also features a 5K, 10K and half marathon, but it’s the first year a full marathon has been included. About 1,500 participants have preregistered, including about 300 in the marathon.
The difference between staging a 5K or 10K and a marathon is staggering.
“Just because of the sheer distance, the needs of the runners change tremendously,” Flanagan said. “Most people can go out and run a 10K and survive. Even if you make a mistake and you don’t have enough water out there, you’re going to be fine. You do that in a marathon and you’re going to have some serious, serious problems.”
San Diego has about 2,000 volunteers who serve as a race crew to meet the needs of the event’s 7,000 participants--handing out water and T-shirts, monitoring the course and finish line and assisting the medical and timing staffs. Los Angeles has about 13,000 volunteers for more than 33,000 participants. Pacific Shoreline has about 500 volunteers, which should be adequate for its scale and for its looping course that is contained in a relatively small area.
Unlike Los Angeles and San Diego, the Shoreline event will not feature an elite class of runners, who make an event worthy of attention from racing connoisseurs.
“Have you seen [the movie] ‘Jerry Maguire?’ ” asked Bill Burke, president of the Los Angeles Marathon. “Until [Massinger] gets some major sponsorship, this conversation is a waste of time, because it’s about ‘Show me the money, Jerry.’ Elite runners are like all professional athletes, they go where the money is.”
San Diego offers about $1,500 to each of its male and female winners and Los Angeles this year will offer about $15,000 plus an automobile to each of its winners. The Pacific Shoreline marathon has a modest group of sponsors and is offering no prize money this year.
“It’s doubtful that we will have any world-class runners this year,” Massinger said. “Hopefully, as we develop sponsorship to support the event, that will happen. It’s sort of the natural evolution of an event like this.”
But attracting elite athletes in the future may be difficult if the Pacific Shoreline event remains in its current calendar position. Top marathon runners usually compete in a maximum of three marathons per year.
The San Diego marathon, a week earlier than the Pacific Shoreline event, provides a tuneup for some runners for the Los Angeles event, held the first Sunday in March. Pacific Shoreline, however, may be too close to the Los Angeles event to serve as a tuneup. That means many runners will be forced to make a choice.
“I’m not nervous about it because I will be thrilled as long as this event keeps growing,” Massinger said. “I’m probably not going to have a budget like Bill [Burke] has, but I think the word will travel about a coastal marathon and I think the Super Bowl date will turn into a more fun date than the middle of March.”
The history of marathon events in Orange County, however, bodes ill for the Pacific Shoreline Marathon. The Orange County Marathon died after the 1991 race because of financial trouble. The Disneyland Marathon lasted one race in 1995. In Long Beach, organizers have not announced a new edition of their race since postponing it in 1995.
Massinger remained undaunted by history or by the Los Angeles event’s monolithic presence.
“L.A.’s never going to be scenic, L.A.’s never going to be pretty,” he said. “We’re sitting on flat, coastal shoreline. This is a good place to have a marathon event and over time I think we’re going to have a world-class event here.”
Burke agreed that the Huntington Beach site could beat Los Angeles.
“I’m really jealous about his location, although I can’t understand some of what he’s doing,” Burke said.
Massinger said that, in part, he wanted to create an event to fill the void the morning of the Super Bowl for local runners. In Redondo Beach, race organizers have been highly successful with their Super Bowl 10K race that draws elite athletes.
The marathon category sets the Pacific Shoreline event apart from the Redondo Beach event. The marathon also sets Massinger apart among race directors.
“Personally, as a race director, the marathon is kind of the feather in the cap,” Massinger said.
Despite the absence of elite runners, the Pacific Shoreline marathon should attract many experienced runners from all over the country because it has been designated an official qualifying race for the Boston Marathon in spring.
And as for community spirit, Massinger said the marathon brings an element of civic pride that can’t be created by any other event.
“[Orange County] is one of the last major metropolitan areas in the country that doesn’t have a marathon,” he said.
For local runners, the race is like a long-awaited gift. Steve Schumacher, 45, of Yorba Linda, is somewhat of a marathon maniac--Pacific Shoreline will be his 92nd.
“It’s great because it’s so close to home,” Schumacher said. “It’s nice not to have to fly somewhere and plus, Orange County is so filled with runners.”
Schumacher, who will run as part of the Ingram Micro Athletic Club’s contingent of about 25 runners, packs in about twice as many marathons per year than most marathon runners--he averages about five but did as many as 16 in one year. He has run in marathons all over the country and expects the Pacific Shoreline to be one of the most beautiful courses.
“I think it’s great. . . . just the beauty and the scenery provide quite a diversion. It makes the miles go by,” he said. “Once you hit mile 20 it doesn’t matter if you’re in the most beautiful spot in the world, all you want to do is hit the finish line.”
The Huntington Beach City Council voted 6-1 on Jan. 8 to go ahead with the event even though many council members expressed concerns over the closing of PCH as well as the event’s name because it doesn’t include Huntington Beach.
Naida Osline, specific event coordinator for the city, was optimistic.
“It’s about growing an event and creating a community pride for an event, and I think that could happen for this one,” she said.
Massinger has no doubt.
“I plan on setting world records in this course some day,” he said.
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Ready to Race
The Pacific Shoreline Marathon highlights a four-race program in Huntington Beach on Sunday. Race details and a look at the marathon course:
What: Marathon, half-marathon, 10K and 5K
When: Sunday; marathon and half-marathon, 7 a.m.; 10K, 8:15 a.m. and 5K, 7:45 a.m.
Start line: Main St. at Huntington Beach Pier for all races
Registration: In-person today at the Huntington Beach Beer Company, 201 Main St., Huntington Beach, or beginning at 6 a.m. race day
Parking: At city parking lot, Beach Blvd. and Pacific Coast Hwy. $1
More information: (714) 661-6062
Huntington Beach Beer Co.
Starting line