The Pacific Shoreline marathon in Huntington Beach on Jan. 27 was beautiful - nice easy course, ocean views and breezes, cool weather, all capped off with a jaunt through Huntington Central Park, which is a large nature park. The park is great - eucalyptus groves to run through, and some rolling terrain.   The run is entirely on pavement.

They also offer a 5k and a half marathon. I believe there were around 6,000 entrants total - not too big, not too small. There was one live band, and scattered spectator support. The run could use a tad improvement in efficiency with regards to logistics etc., but I think race management will improve on that as they get more experience under their belts.

Nearby lodging and numerous restaurants made this an easy race to go to with family - the kids can play on the beach while mom or dad runs. If you like city runs on pavement, this is a good one to go to.