The Big Sur Marathon (#6 / Marathon #105)

This was my sixth time running the Big Sur Marathon, and I knew I was in for a treat. This year, we traveled with our friends Fernanda and Dave and stayed in a house in Pacific Grove. I’ve rented homes in that area before and love the location—we’re able to walk to the beach and run along the bike path, where we often spot sea otters.

Our first stop on the way to the house was Goodwill to pick up throwaway clothes for race morning. I scored a decent jacket and some SpongeBob SquarePants pajama pants—perfect for the start line. I even found a pair of Eeyore pajama pants for David.

We checked into the house on Friday and had a nice dinner at the Whaling Station Steakhouse in Monterey.

On Saturday morning, we met up with Colleen—also running Big Sur—for the shakeout run. HOKA gave out really nice running shirts to the first 400 participants, which was a fun surprise. The route followed the bike path, and we spotted baby seals in the water—so beautiful! After the run, Fernanda wanted to see more, so we walked down the pier to search. A woman pointed us toward the end of the pier to let us know where they were hiding, and sure enough, we found about 50 of them floating in the water with one fin in the air waving at us.  We took photos of them and headed back.

That night, we noticed there was a chance of rain in the forecast—40% at the start—but it looked like it would taper off during the race. This would be the first year I’d run Big Sur in the rain.

Race morning, I made sure to pack a hat, heat shields, and a garbage bag to sit on while we waited at the start line.

We headed to pick up the shuttle buses, and for a moment, we thought we might luck out with the nice coach buses. Kim joked, “Hey, maybe we get the nice ones this year!” But a few steps later, we saw the familiar yellow school buses lined up. As we drove, Kim glanced out the window and said, “I can see the windshield wipers going,” confirming that the rain had begun.

At the start, the corrals were organized into separate staging areas this year—much like the NYC Marathon. The rain started coming down more steadily, so Fernanda and I huddled under our heat shields. As they called the corrals, Kim and I went to drop our gear bags and noticed the line was incredibly long. Out of nowhere, Kim spotted Jim—a runner we met in line ten years ago. It's wild how you can always bump into familiar faces in the running community.

By the time the race started, I was shivering. My throwaway gloves were soaked, and even the hand warmers couldn’t keep my fingers warm. I kept my fleece jacket on for the first few miles, wondering if I’d ever warm up enough to take it off. It wasn’t pouring, but the rain was just enough to be uncomfortable.

Around mile 5, I started having some GI issues, but the bathroom lines were long. I kept thinking, “I’ll wait for the next one.” Eventually, I found a shorter line and stopped. Kim said, “I’ll do a run-walk until we catch back up.” Unfortunately, runners were taking forever, but I finally finished and started running to catch up—right at the start of a hill. I powered up and eventually caught him.

Big Sur is known for its elevation. The course is beautiful and challenging.  The total elevation gain is +2,182 feet and total is of -2,528 feet.  The longest hill is the 500-plus climb between miles 10 and 12.  There are numerous rolling hills between miles 22 and 25.  But the views make every climb worth it. Looking ahead, we could see runners weaving along the road like a trail of ants. It’s hard to describe the beauty—mountains, wildflowers, cows, lighthouses—it’s all stunning. I kept scanning the ocean for whales but didn’t spot any.

I felt strong throughout and didn’t walk any of the hills. Kim and I stopped for photos and soaked in every moment of the course. The strawberries at mile 23 were incredible, as always. Around mile 25, we saw our friend Buddy, who works for The Big Sur Marathon. We screamed, “Buddy!” and got a big hug and a photo with him.

Even with the rain, I loved every second of this race and would absolutely come back to run it again.

That night, we had dinner at Montrio, a cozy bistro that used to be a fire station. The food was outstanding.

On Monday morning, we did a cold-water recovery plunge in the ocean. Fernanda, always a trooper, walked right in. It took me half an hour just to go in above my waist! We met Glen also doing a cold plunge, a local who has run Big Sur 24 times. We promised to come back next year for his 25th.

Later that day, we drove to Big Basin to see the redwoods. It felt like stepping back in time—many of the towns looked like old western movie sets. We hadn’t realized a massive fire in 2020 had burned much of the forest, but the regrowth is remarkable. The tree trunks were blackened, but vibrant green growth sprouted from the tops.

On our final night, we headed to Carmel-by-the-Sea for wine tasting at Scheid Winery—a perfect way to wrap up the trip.

I hope to return next year and experience this beautiful race all over again.