Worth the price of admission…read more Located towards the rear of the San Diego Fair it's ideal for families. They offer smaller scale rides that are cheaper to get into. More space and space dining tables to sit and relax. Mini ferris wheels and a bible class!

Decided to sign up for this race vs. the SGK Race for the Cure for 2011. I had done the SGK for…read moreseveral years and needed a change. I have heard of the IG from several friends so wanted to check out the girl power. Traffic was crazy exiting off the 5 freeway and Via de la Valle to get to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. However, parking was a breeze. Parking was free and tons of spaces. There was a 5k and 10k, and this time I opted for a 5k since I had just done the LA RnR Half a week prior and I was going to run the Silver Strand Half the following weekend. The 10k started about 15 mins before the 5k. If you're wanting a PR, you're in the wrong race. There are no corrals, and everyone starts at the same time. Also consider there are a lot of mother/daughter teams and lots of kids and strollers. Perhaps I should have started right at the front since we were in the middle of the pack and got stuck behind some walkers and some pretty slow pacers. I didn't care so much for the route. The first mile was just too crowded and there were too many people you were running into. It wasn't until mile 2 was when you're on the open road and you were able to spread out. Mile 2 was uphill, which sucked. Mile 3 was downhill and you finish back at the fairgrounds track. The race was an experience. It's a good way to run/walk with your mom/daughter or to empower your girl spirit. I considered this my combo recovery run post-half and training run for the upcoming half... ================================================ Stats: Overall 88/944 Division 11/156 Gun 29:34 Chip 28:51 Pace 9:19

Hey ! Hey ! Hey ! It's another one !…read more The fifth annual 'Athleta Iron Girl' was at the Del Mar Fairgrounds this year ! The course started and finished on the fairgrounds. It was one of the easier runs for me since it was mostly a flat course with a slight incline towards the end. Great for newbies and experienced runners. I only participated in the 5K since I'm slowly incorporating short runs in between my training for my next BIG race in January: Disney's Tinkerbell WOOOT !!! I enjoyed seeing the mother/daughter teams and even little girls running while they held hands with their mamas. Uber cute ! Although, I think they should have had a separate wave for the young daughters and mama teams just to avoid any mishaps or collisions. Perks: post-race breakfast goodie bag, giveaways, performance tech t-shirts (so femme), professional timing, personalized race bibs, and love the custom finisher medal ! Proceeds go towards the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) to help find a cure for all children with cancer. WIN ! Not so perky: When a little girl can run just as fast as me towards the finish line. Yup yup. Little rugrat was as tall as my knee. haha. She almost bruised my ego by nearly beating me. ooh wee it was close ! (note: still recovering from a knee injury)...not that I'm making excuses or anything. Overall, it was a fairly organized event and their website has more than enough information for participants. Great job Iron Girl ! I would LOVE to make this an annual run and hopefully get my mom involved. We both can go all out with matchy-matchy pink outfits to support breast cancer awareness and hold hands while we sing along and run ! OH JOY !

I arrived about an hour before opening because I knew parking and traffic would be crazy. There was…read morealready a line forming but I was still able to find parking easily and got in right at opening. There were lots of food and drink options to choose from. My friends and I shared most of the items so we could try as much as possible. Almost everything was very expensive, especially on top of paying for admission and parking. I was disappointed with the egg salad sandwich, but I enjoyed everything else we tried, including the lumpia, ube mochi, mango sticky rice, tanghulu, and watermelon slushie. It was a fun experience with friends and a good way to try a variety of foods and desserts.

Fun day out with all kinds of food. More Asian food than anything else…read more Food is expensive and there's no place to get a soda. Lots of different booths with almost the same foods. The weather wasn't too hot so it was tolerable to walk around and enjoy looking. It was very crowded. It's just a once a year thing. I'll probably be back next year.

I try to catch this fair every year. Of course who doesn't love the food. I actually got a chance…read moreto get my frog legs this time. Don't judge. Taste Like chicken lol. The fair has so much going on to keep you busy. Loved the monster trucks and motor sports. With so much more to keep you busy. Now for some reason. For parking and to take the exit to the park. We were in line for 90 minutes. Now this was the Friday before the fourth 2026 but That still was ridiculous. If I hadn't pre-purchased our tickets. I would have say no way. If you can avoid the holiday time. I highly recommend. Being a tourist. I really didn't have a choice. Nevertheless the fair was so much fun!! Can't wait to return next year!! 2027

The theme this year is storytelling; 'Once Upon A Fair'. They have a building dedicated to popular…read morestories and authors from around the world. The annual theme's started in 1980. During the fair's 100th celebration. The very first fair was in 1880. Designed to bring local farmers together and share ideas. A few of my favorite things this year: Flower show, craft artwork, quilts, plant shop and garden show. This year I picked three small plants to take home from Green Acres Nursery, Inc. Desert rose, thyme and jacaranda tree. Each plant I've purchased from Vivian over the years has flourished. So I always know whatever I pick will be a good choice. I look forward to next year!

My friend and I had a blast here, so much, that we were seriously considering running through it…read moreagain that same night. As previous reviews have mentioned, this isn't really a "race", but more like running through a theme park in the sense that 1) there are different courselands/worlds 2) it's magical 3) it's crowded 4) they have funnel cake. My favorite worlds were the Electro Rainforest (You can stand under my um-brella-ella-ella) and Under the Sea (Life is the bubbles!). What was nice was that the price we paid ($50 with Groupon and Groupon discount code; no, that wasn't the nice part) came with a VIP glow pack that included a T-shirt, LED sunglasses, an LED wristband, jelly rings, and foam batons, so we were all glowed up and ready to go then and there. Of course, you can always purchase more glow stuff ahead of time and go even more crazy with it. There was also a DJ at the start line hyping us up for the run, EDM music playing throughout the run, and an after-party! I was glad there were food vendors and drinks afterwards in case we needed some sustenance. I would totally be down for doing this again, but ideally at a more affordable price.

The Electric Run is fun. They put some effort into the lighting and music. Overall though, is it…read moreworth it for its price? Not really. First of all, it's not an actual race. I'm sure there was a disclaimer about this but no one will care how fast or how slow your 5k time is. Parking is bad but not horrible (just takes forever getting into the lot but finding a spot shouldn't be too bad). Overall, it's a really fun social event to come with friends, but if you're interested in racing and improving your 5k time, or even practicing for a marathon, this is not the run.

Our first visit to the SD fair was on opening day this year and tickets were $5/person. The rides…read moreand booths were all setup. The good news is that the place was not crowded when we arrived. We had enough time and space to walk all around without bumping into people. I like this version of the fair, not crowded with time to enjoy everything. I needed something healthy to eat so we headed to the pop up Albertsons Market that I normally go to across from Chicken Charlie's on the way to the kiddieland. I got a pretzel bun sandwich, chips, and a Naked Juice drink. All for $18. Perfect! We enjoyed our food at the eatery picnic tables next to the market. These tables were sort of clean and had not been used up and dirty like the end of the fair conditions. We visited many exhibits, the woodmaker's shop, the animals, the Hollandia milking show, and so many cool things. We also tried the candy maze in the farm exhibit hall. The nostalgic candy is not fresh so don't be surprised if it tastes old after you buy it; now we know. Very cool to try the Hollandia Dairy Coffee bottles, just cold brew, cream, and cane sugar...it WAS BETTER THAN DUTCH BROS COFFEE! Tried the grilled corn on the cob, and it was delicious, yay! This was a good visit. Thanks!

Taco loco the fair coupon, so lame Not worth it…read moreGot three tacos barely any meat and tried the onions and jt was just more spice than flavor and people kept getting in front of the line and handing recit so they get their stuff before you. Wanted see monster trucks not enough advetised so missed their last showing Not really about fair but people. People cant multi task or task. Stopp right in middle of walking to look at their baby and stand near their stroller. Sad i couldnt find rabbits but i loved the live animals. Chickens and cows goats Had some bundle thing 40tickets Most rides cost 8 or so tickets Rode two rides with one other person and two by myself. Thats with a one doller purchase of an extra ticket, large ferris wheel had stupid long line and the high school with a T i think, not horse park or smth, had a 45 min wait around wvening to get to fair and to go home around 10pm. Watchout july4. Funnal cake bavanara or smth with the berries and custard was ok, custard taste like vanilla. The coupon book not worth it and foody friday didnt make stuff cheaper:/ Like 20$ a meal. 8$ candy half a pound bucket aint worth it either get that candy at 1$ tree or wherever. Jeff the old man, from new york or smth he a bus driver and he is amazing he is a great entertainer and driver

Who would have known that this one of America's oldest half marathon? I sure did not…read more This race starts and ends at San Dieguito County Park.This is one of Kathy Loper's event so expect the price to be very reasonable if you register early. You run your race and you eat tons of chili. I am not a beer drinker but from what I was told, you can drink all the beer you want. What a way to build an appetite running through rolling hills. To avoid potential traffic problems we were asked to park at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and we were shuttle to the start of the race and you get shuttled back. This worked out well, if you are early enough you can actually drive yourself to San Dieguito and park by the streets. It is highly discouraged due to the limited parking. What can I say, it was a great experience and I am looking forward next year's run.

I am a supportive active friend. A good friend of mine who happens to be a stay at home mom wanted…read moreto do this race. We had quasi trained for and ran the Carlsbad Half marathon three weeks earlier and she had decided that the weather was good enough to try this race. There were signups at Roadrunner the day before the race. The sign-ups were from 1-4 and I show up around 3:00 and my friend calls and tells me to run in because there were only 5 spots left. Of course this increases my sense of urgency and I dont even have time to try and talk myself out of it! oh CRAP! no preparation and a birthday party the night before. Some how I made it without dying. Unfortunately, I will continue to push the envelope to see what I can get away with! This race is actually not a bad race but there are several areas for improvement. Lets start off with the good. It is sponsored by the Hash House Harriers! they describe themselves as 'alcoholics with a running problem'. There is beer on the course, at mile one which is too early, but I had some at mile 12 just because I could. The scenery is nice, it did not feel like I was in San Diego rather in the country. And it is hilly but I like the rolling hills. Beer garden at the end!!! I had Stone IPA, but I saw Ballast point and Green flash. Most people in this race were runners and were friendly to talk to. Negatives: Parking. stinks. No. Chip. timing. Walking UPHILL after the race to the beer garden. the 1.5 mile walk back to my car. Starting the race 5 minutes after everyone else. no mile markers at every mile. Waiting on the freeway exit for 30 minutes trying to get off on Loma Santa Fe. They gave out the same medal from 2 previous years.

I've been coming to this event every year since it started and it's my favorite event of the year…read more This year I went both days and had another wonderful time. The food, the vendors, the weather, the location, the libations, and the people who put it all together really make it special. Every year I have a favorite thing that I ate. The first year I had VIP so I won't count the fantastic things I ate in there, but outside it was probably Tanner's and all the Brandt beef. The second year was either an enoki mushroom taco or hamachi crudo. This year it was Matsu's yellowtail flown in from Japan the night before. I look forward to this event every year and every year has been a bit different but I never leave disappointed. Looking forward to 2026

The third annual Del Mar Wine + Food Festival was held last month at the Surf Sports Park on Via De…read moreLa Valle. The venue was the soccer practice fields of the local women's professional club, the San Diego Wave. Having also attended the previous versions, this year's Grand Tasting weekend was even larger with over 300 vendors and close to 10,000 attendees over the two days. I have volunteered each time to help with different aspects of the festival including some of the ancillary events earlier in the week. One of the benefits of setting up on these grounds was that there was plenty of open space. The walk to reach some of the displays was quite far, and I felt bad at how isolated those vendors were. The VIP tent was placed in the back unlike the inaugural year when it was closer to the main entrance. Another aspect that I appreciated was the nearby on-site parking. The charge was $20 per vehicle, but the proximity was worth the price. They may want to improve the dirt road leading to the lot as it was filled with potholes. An area of needed enhancement was a closer drop-off/pick-up zone for attendees using a ride share service. I witnessed many people being dropped off where the toll booths were located. That meant a walk of over half a mile to reach the festival entrance which was not a good situation for those who were nattily dressed for the occasion. Perhaps a dedicated section located near the vendor entrance on the west end of the fields would be a solution. Upon checking in, we each received a bracelet that permitted in-and-out privileges and a complimentary wine glass commemorating the event. There were several spots that had sofas, chairs, stools, high top tables, etc where you could relax and enjoy the food and beverages. I still think more seating and shade were needed given the amount of unused space that was available. A kiosk near the entrance displayed a map of the grounds with all of the participating vendors listed. The different zones were also shown on the map. What was missing was the identification of which vendors were in each zone. That linkage would have been useful to guide attendees of where to find their favorite businesses. More such kiosks would have been beneficial too. My observation was that the Saturday spread was better than the one on Sunday. The diversity of offerings was also not as impressive this time. For example, we noticed that there were minimal dessert samples offered. Other than Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, where were the sweet treats like cookies, donuts, and pastries? I was also looking for a greater variety of seafood items. I didn't find any vendors using lobster or scallop and yet, caviar was used by a couple of places. The Brandt Beef zone was popular as different meat cuts provided by the purveyor were utilized to showcase the creations of the restaurants. The weather cooperated nicely on each day. A strong breeze kicked up occasionally which made objects (e.g. business cards and pamphlets) that were not secured a risk of becoming a flying hazard at the booths. Several more health and wellness vendors participated including one where you could receive a complimentary stretching session. A live demonstration stage was also added where you could watch chefs show off their skills like carving up a bluefin tuna. Overall, the DMWFF was a nice outdoor exhibition of the local culinary scene that will continue to grow and improve.