Big Sur Marathon Out and Back Course; Running Life Book Discount

Around the Monterey Peninsula, as well as some regions of the Internet, it’s fairly common knowledge that my friend Mike and I write a running column for our local newspaper. And most people in these parts have at least a passing awareness that the Big Sur Marathon is right around the corner.

So when one of the major news stories in our community was the landslide that took out a section of Highway 1 – along with a sizeable chunk of the Big Sur Marathon course – last month, more than a few people wondered when we would write something about it for the newspaper. Obviously, the story was right up our alley, but we wanted to present a somewhat different angle than “Gee, this kinda sucks.”

Fortunately, we had some experience to draw upon: a similar situation 13 years ago, the only other time that the Big Sur Marathon course was changed, and a race in which Mike and I both happened to participate. We realized that our memories from that year weren’t particularly better or worse than other times we’ve run the race, and we decided to look for some objective comparisons that might draw similar conclusions. The result is the article that follows below: an analysis of the one previous “out and back” year compared to others, and a reassurance that this year’s participants will still have a great experience at our hometown race.

Before the article, one more note related to this year’s Big Sur Marathon: Mike and I will be at the race expo, signing copies of our book and selling them at a 20% discount. We decided to extend the discount offer to online customers as well – so between now and race day on May 1st, you can get a copy of our Running Life book at a reduced price from our website. Click here to go to our webpage, and remember to include instructions to us if you want signed copies or any other individual touches.

Or you can just click the photo ...

Running Life 4/7/11 “Out and Back”

As virtually everyone knows by now, a sizeable piece of Highway 1 is currently sitting in the Pacific Ocean. To runners, Highway 1 is better known as the Big Sur Marathon course – so when the announcement was made that the world-famous course would be altered, some portions of the running community went into a bit of a tizzy.

Take it from us: don’t worry about the Big Sur International Marathon. Everything will be fine.

First, let’s clarify something from a practical standpoint: there’s absolutely no way that the regular course could be used this year. Even if a makeshift road is in place by race day – an uncertain bet thanks to weather complications and inevitable construction delays – the road can’t possibly handle the nearly 200 buses that travel back and forth on race morning. Concern for runner safety has to be the top priority, and the race board made the right decision in changing the course for this year’s event on May 1st.

A similar natural disaster caused a re-routing in 1998, which marathon veterans lovingly call the “out and back” year. If you’re superstitious, it’s interesting to note that 1998 was the 13th presentation of the Big Sur Marathon and this year is the 26th. 1998 was also the first year Wally Kastner was Race Director and Dr. Hugo Ferlito was Chairman of the Board, presenting them with a significant trial by fire. Ferlito stepped down last year, but Kastner is still the RD, so the reroute isn’t uncharted territory for him.

We checked statistics from the out and back 1998 race and the regular course in 1999, which both enjoyed nearly perfect weather. The average men’s finishing time in 1998 was 4:08 and in 1999 was 4:09. The average woman’s finishing time was 4:27 in 1998 and 4:26 in 1999. It’s likely that the supposed “advantage” of not climbing the 2-mile grind up to Hurricane Point is compensated by running through the steeply rolling hills of Carmel Highlands twice. Course times were so similar that the men’s winner in 1998, Srba Nikolic, ran 2:21:36 and the following year ran 2:21:37 while finishing third behind winner Arsenio Ortiz’s 2:19:16.


The big difference in logistics is that in 1998 the course repairs were on Hurricane Point, south of Bixby Bridge, which allowed a full 13.1 miles of road from Carmel before the turnaround point. This year’s damage is north of Bixby, requiring an additional 1.75-mile detour through Point Lobos on the way back up the coast. This year’s runners will be the first ever to race through the breathtaking coastline of Point Lobos, which could provide a much-needed pick-me-up between miles 22 and 24.

Another difference from 1998 is what we’ll call the Facebook effect, which has proven to be something of a mixed blessing. When the course change was announced, runners took to posting hundreds of comments on the BSIM Facebook page. Some of the initial commenters were out of town participants who questioned whether the road was really unrunnable, or whether the race should offer refunds because runners couldn’t experience the Big Sur coastline or Hurricane Point. The anger and rudeness of some of them made us cringe, but each one was replied to professionally by the BSIM staff.

Fortunately, the majority of comments were sympathetic, encouraging, and upbeat, and it’s been great to see how most of the running community has resolved to make the best of a difficult situation and embrace this year’s race for the unique challenge it offers. We can assure them that nearly every aspect of the race will be as fantastic as they usually are.

Good luck to all the participants of this year’s Big Sur International Marathon; your accomplishment will still be just as significant, your feeling of satisfaction just as rewarding, and your experience just as beautiful as any other in the history of this wonderful race.

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