Marathon may take new route

The Orange County Marathon is likely leaving Irvine and scampering over to Costa Mesa, bringing with it money for local hotels, restaurants and businesses, race organizers said.

For the past four years, the run has started in Newport Beach and continued through Irvine, but concerns about the course and conflicts with Irvine officials led race coordinators to court a different city to help host the event.

“We had some conflicts and we wanted to change the course, so we looked around and several members of our board suggested we go into Costa Mesa,” said Scott Baugh, the marathon’s chairman.

With an expected 13,000 runners and close to 30,000 supporters, mostly in high-income brackets, the race promises to bring plenty of money to the local economy, organizers predict.

Peggy Fort, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Marathon, estimated the event would bring millions of dollars to Orange County, based on numbers reported by marathons of comparable size.

“We’re certainly all very excited about it. I think it’s just logistics now — getting the proper route into the city that fits with their policies and regulations,” said Jane Martin, the race’s executive director.

That course will likely start in Newport Beach and bypass the Orange County Performing Arts Center and some local communities, eventually ending at the Orange County Fair and Events Center, which will host an expo featuring businesses from the health and nutrition industry, Martin said.

One of the big advantages of having the race move through Costa Mesa is that the event organizers plan on hosting runners at Costa Mesa hotels, which will offer incentives to participants and their families.

There were two main forces that drove the run out of Irvine.

First, the coordinators wanted to hold it May 3, switching from its usual winter start, and Irvine was planning a Pediatric Cancer Center 5K for the same day. This would have made logistics really difficult for the organizers, Baugh said.

Also, many runners complained last time that the course was too hilly and secluded, Martin said. The Costa Mesa course, in contrast, is “flat and fast.”

“We really needed to work on the course, so we feel this will really be a top-notch course,” Martin said.

The change of cities is not final until the City Council votes on it, but all of the members seem really supportive, according to Planning Commissioner and Daily Pilot columnist Jim Righeimer, who talked to all of the council members recently.

“It’s an exciting proposal. It’s something that will bring a lot of recognition to our city,” said Councilwoman Katrina Foley, adding that traffic studies analyzing the impact of necessary road closures are the main obstacle that needs to be tackled before the race officially moves to Costa Mesa.

There are also homeowners associations that need to be consulted to make sure they are aware of and OK with the noise and traffic impacts the race might bring, Martin said.

Still, she thinks its 99% certain that the race will end up in Costa Mesa.

“There are things that have to be done, but it’s not like a marathon has never been done before. It’s not like this is a brand new science,” Righeimer said.

Messages left with Irvine city officials were not returned Tuesday.

NUMBER OF RUNNERS EXPECTED: About 13,000

NUMBER OF SUPPORTERS ATTENDING PER RUNNER: About 2

START LOCATION: Fashion Island, Newport Beach

FINISH LOCATION: Orange County Fair and Events Center, Costa Mesa

BENEFITS: Children’s charities

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.