Welcome to the Surfer’s Path events. The crowning jewel of the Golden State, Santa Cruz County welcomes runners with an enchanting blend of nostalgia, natural beauty and invigorating activities. Whether you choose the Marathon, Half Marathon, Hang 10/5 or 10k/5k you will be treated to scenic courses, featuring breathtaking views of the Monterey Bay coastline and a series of world-renowned surf breaks. An ideal destination event, participants can experience a quintessential California vacation. Create a memory that you will treasure forever by achieving your athletic goal in this picture postcard setting.

The Surfer’s Path Marathon Theme

Many consider Santa Cruz to be the mainland’s birthplace of surfing. It’s arguably the true Surf City. In the authoritative The Encyclopedia of Surfing, Matt Warshaw describes how surfing first came to the American mainland at Santa Cruz. Back in 1885, three Hawaiian princes attending school in California fashioned homemade boards from redwood planks and rode the break at the San Lorenzo River mouth. Locals continued to surf for decades until 1938 when the great Hawaiian legend Duke Kahanamoku visited Santa Cruz and the city’s modern surf era was born.

Today, the Santa Cruz County coast is dotted with legendary surf breaks, including Steamer’s Lane, Pleasure Point and Capitola. In appraising the quality of Santa Cruz surf, Surfing magazine stated, “Nowhere else in the world will you find so many different kinds of waves packed into such a short coastline”. In addition to the breaks, runners will pass points of interest such as the residence of Jack O’Neil, pioneer of the modern wetsuit as well as the Santa Cruz Surf Museum, the world’s first surf museum.

Journey onto the Surfer’s Path, and tour the coastal bluffs of Santa Cruz County, offering views of these famous points of interest and surf breaks. Miles will melt away as you enjoy breathtaking views and the watch surfers ride the waves.

The Capitola Half Marathon consists of a 13.1 mile run from Santa Cruz to Capitola and back. The event starts at the legendary Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and travels east along the coast. The route takes runners past the Santa Cruz Harbor, Moran Lake and Pleasure Point as it makes it’s way to the City of Capitola. Following a loop through Capitola Village, runners will retrace their steps back along the coastline, continue past the Boardwalk, and make a left turn after the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf to the finish on Cowell’s Beach.

Start Time

The race begins promptly at 7:00 am. The half marathon, marathon and relay events begin together.

Course Management

The course is managed at a 6 hour time limit. Runners must maintain a 13:45 minute per mile pace as the course is picked up on a mile by mile rolling basis.

If you are unable to run within the allotted time, you will be asked to move onto the sidewalk. Once you are on the sidewalk, you must follow all traffic laws deemed by the City of Santa Cruz, County of Santa Cruz and City of Capitola. The course will be re-opened to traffic and aid stations may be closed.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RunSurfersPath 

Race Website: https://www.runsurferspath.com/