Santa to the Sea is a fun, festive, and very well-organized event for all ages and abilities. Takes place in my hometown of Oxnard, CA. Race options include diaper dash, kids 1K, 5K, Quarter Marathon, Half Marathon Relay, and Half Marathon. Volunteers and crowd support are awesome and the monies raised go to wonderful local charities and scholarships. They also do a toy drive! Santa hands down is my favorite local race. Register early to get the best pricing! read more

Santa To the Sea Half Marathon - Santa to the Sea 2022. Fun, very festive, and well-organized weekend of events for all ages and abilities. - Races & Competitions Near Me - Oxnard, California

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I LOVE this race. I've run the 5k a couple of years in a row and did the half this year. I had such a great time with my friend. If you sign up early enough you get a great price! Such a great cause to run this race. Bring an unwrapped present for an underprivileged child to be given to this Christmas. A race that focuses on giving back to the community. The course goes by SO quickly, mainly because it's mostly flat but also because you have so much of the community involved. Throughout the race we were cheered for by locals, had live bands playing and even passed by a house with people banging on their pots and pans, yeah!!! Local schools had cheering stations and plenty of water/ electrolytes stations, too. At the half way point, you're given gels, too. Japanese drummers at the half point got my blood pumping, what a way to cheer. Thank you!!! And you run feeling safe thanks to all the volunteer and Oxnard PD helping with traffic. Cool bling at the end to boot. Great job Mike Barber and rest of Santa to the Sea Committee. Can't wait to run again next year. read more

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"Flat, Fast, & Festive!" Santa to the Sea is one of my top favorite races locally! It's so much more fun seeing the neighborhood on foot versus driving through the city. My review is based on the half marathon only. I've ran this twice for 2013 & 2016. I haven't done the relay, 5k, or kid's 1k, but I could tell they're just as festive & fun! This race is a point A to point B course. * REGISTRATION: This event is through racemine. For 2016's registration, I had signed up for the relay & was a bit confused on how to enter the 2nd person. My co-worker had the same problem. I emailed the contact information they provided on the website & never got a response until a couple weeks later; however, they were still unable to answer my question. I messaged them on facebook & they responded faster than the email, but did not know the answer to my question. My co-worker actually called the phone number behind the racemine website & they were able to respond with all the answers. The answer to my question was: once you register under the relay, when you get your packet pick up, you will get 2 bibs. Basically one person pays for the entire thing & it's up to you how you'd like to split it. The website only charges you all in one registration. Unfortunately, by race week, my family friend couldn't make the relay so I had to switch over to the half marathon which is doable by the solutions booth at packet pick up. The downside is that the relay costs more than the half marathon & they do not do refunds. This is your best price on a half marathon that is UNDER $100! Price increases throughout the year, but they send several emails with discount codes every holiday now & then. * PACKET PICK UP: This year, they only had 1 day for packet pick up. It's located at the Marine Emporium Landing where the finish line is. Simply show your ID & the email they sent with your bib number. If you do not know your bib number, they have a "bib look up" booth as well. They also sell running gear with a few booths out. What do you get with your bib? - Tech shirt/long sleeve - coupons for food/other races - Salonpas - Kind bar - Gogo yogurt - Pamphlet for what's around Oxnard * TOY DRIVE: This race gives back! You must bring an unused/new toy for any child's age worth a minimum of $10. Bring it to the starting line & drop it off to where Santa is posted! * PARKING: If you're lucky to have someone drop you off at the starting line & meet you at the finish line, that is great. Otherwise, they do have shuttle buses! I parked at the Palms which is where the old Oxnard outlets are & they have shuttles taking runners to the starting line & from the finish line. We had to be by the shuttles at 7:15am the latest for the start line & the latest they were taking runners back to the Palms from the finish line was 1pm. * WHAT DO YOU SEE ON THE COURSE? - You know that Santa that you see all year round driving on the 101 fwy (Going south, it's on your left side & going north, it's on your right side), that is the starting line! It's near the Oxnard Auto Center. It makes sense: Start at SANTA & finish at the SEA, lol. - Pacers between 1:30-2:30 - Local cheerleaders from both elementary & high schools cheering you on along the course - A few bands playing - Local elementary, high schoolers, & clubs volunteering by giving water, snacks, & keeping up with the traffic with the PD - Oxnard neighborhoods from the north side of Oxnard to the beach houses going towards the Harbor - All the Christmas decorations - Water stations & gatorade stations are throughout the course - There is only ONE "hill" on this course. Mile 6! It's the bridge going towards the plaza in downtown Oxnard * FINISH LINE: A very festive finish line! It looks the same every year, but they acknowledge all the finishers through the speaker. The medical staff is from Dignity Health, they provide post race snacks, & they have a stage where they announce the top 3 finishers for both male & female. There are a few food trucks & jolly jumpers for kids to play. Marine Emporium Landing is next to several restaurants & farmer's market so the entire area is busy. * WHY 4 OUT OF 5 STARS? I rate this race 5/5 stars for being a local & enjoyed the flat streets/neighborhoods (minus the pot holes). I seem to do this course fairly fast, which is why I have fun running it. I only docked a star off because of the website & contact info. My coworkers & I were struggling to find information on parking, packet pick up, & transfers with little information on the emails that were sent. Even on the FAQS section, we were unable to click on it. How I also struggled contacting the person behind the email should not have taken weeks to respond. I had to google search the parking information as well. Overall, I love the race, just the website needs to be updated & response rate a bit faster. Otherwise, don't sweat it, you can do it all at packet pick up. read more

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Last year I did the Holiday Half Marathon in Pomona but promised my sister I'd give Santa to the Sea a try this year. Goes to show that sometimes younger siblings are right. Parking was easy and painless with a quick bus trip to the starting line which you could probably walk to if so inclined. Published start time was 8:00a. Actual start time? 8:00a. And they gave multiple announcements with a countdown. Even better was taking my place about a 1/3 of the way back from the starting line and getting there in less than a minute. The course isn't the most exciting with a mix of business parks, residential (some nicer than others) and obligatory City streets before finishing just off the beach. A few grades in the uphill direction and two overpasses are the only "hills" you're going to face. Course support is both event sponsored and people coming out of their homes to cheer you on. Everyone was amazingly friendly. The finish line volunteers handed you a small container with orange slices, banana, cookies, strawberry and a pretzel. My only complaint is the 5k and half-marathon runners get the same medals, with the ribbons being the only difference. I get it from a race promotors standpoint but considering everything else positive, it's easy to forgive! A major shout out to the City of Oxnard PD along with the support they received from other public agencies. They had intersections clear, traffic at bay and kept runners the priority all 13.1 miles. And make sure you bring a gift. It's really cool to see the pile in front of Santa! read more

Santa To the Sea Half Marathon - Santa at the start line - Races & Competitions Near Me - Oxnard, California

Wow! This CA girl isn't used to these cold temps. Sure prime running temp is 55 degrees and that I can handle. Driving from LA to Oxnard I saw 28 degrees and was a bit worried. I arrived at the start line of the half by the Big Santa Claus and lucky for me it had warmed up to 36 degrees. I had 40 minutes to try and get/stay warm before the race. Standing in the rays of the sun, hoping my Columbia heat headband would get to work. Bib pick up changed for us folks in LA and while I was excited it'd be at ARC I discovered closer to the date they has switched it to Road Runner in Santa Monica. I didn't care for the switch but it worked out fine. I also really dislike timing chips I need to tie onto my shoe and return after a race. Picking up bibs a week+ before the race, I hoped I'd put this in a safe place and not lose it before the race. There were plenty of bathrooms at the start line, which was nice but some heat lamps would have been appreciated as well. The race started right on time, which was really nice. I didn't care much for the course. I felt it was quite boring with a bunch of back and forth. I had met someone at the start line who mentioned "running through the fields" - this comment alone may have screwed me up a bit being this was the first time I was running Santa to The Sea and I hadn't glanced over any course map. I automatically then envisioned we'd be running through fields the entire time, but instead we were running through neighborhoods and commercial building areas. The shirts weren't yet in when I picked up my bib but were very easily accessible for pick up at the finish line. The most gorgeous part of this race was hitting the beach path, the white sandy shore with the channel islands out back was so rewarding. If I lived out here, I'd run along this path daily, Finish line goodies were abundant, although I only opted for a water and a cookie part of me was hoping for a chocolate milk. Medals were the same for everyone, so weather you run a 5k or a half marathon you'll have the same medal and I like when they are different. This was a nice experience but not a race a need to run again. read more

I've run it twice and 2015 will be my 3rd. The support is very good, it includes a toy drive and a lot of holiday spirit. The finish line is in an accessible and beautiful area. The only part that could be improved is the expo. It's pretty small and could be skipped if it weren't for the necessary race bib pick-up. read more

It's the 8th year for this family fun event with options for even the youngest & the speediest to participate. Toys go to a good cause and the location is picturesque. Thinking of participating next year- do it! You don't have to "run/walk" just go and enjoy the sights! You might find yourself walking along side a Gingerbread man, crossing paths with a walking talking Christmas Tree, elves or cross paths with a gingerbread house! Heck, you might even find yourself in the middle of a snowball fight! In any case, the organizers really have put together a fun event that keeps getting bigger, and bigger each year. I do wish they would have 2 different dates to pick-up bibs and stuff. Had a fun time. Plan to do it again next year. read more

Santa To the Sea Half Marathon - Oxnard College Culinary Arts crew taking GOOD care of runners- thank you! You ROCK! - Races & Competitions Near Me - Oxnard, California

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I run this race a week ago. It was fun, very organized, and the course support was just supper. It felt like every time I turned a corner there was a water station, porta-toilets, and somebody handing me gels. The course itself is fairly easy. Almost too flat for my liking, and I'm no elite runner. I'm a middle of the pack slow 56 years old woman. Runners are encouraged to bring toys (for a toy drive) and donations to the starting line and place them under a giant Santa. Part of the race proceeds go to scholarships to the local colleges. The giant Santa is the race's starting line. Its not on a great spot because it is on a muddy narrow road next to the 101 fwy, but no biggie...that's just the start. The rest of the course runs along the Oxnard strawberry fields, the old town, along the beach for a little while, and ends in the beautiful Channel Islands marina. I can not say enough about the community and volunteers support along the course. There were several school bands along the way, a rock band, a kids mariachi band and choir that was just adorable, neighbors playing Christmas music out of their cars speakers, a couple of ladies handing out cookies at mile 11, and so many entire families out there cheering us on. It felt like the whole town turned out to support the runners. This is not a huge race (3500 runners in the half, I think), it's not Disney, and it's not the well financed RnR's. But, it is an amazing local race run by very hard working and good-hearted people. Certainly a wonderful event to kick off my Crhistmas celebrations season. read more

Whoa it was COLD. The start line was off the 101 freeway at the huge Santa Claus and it was 36 when I took off. It took my body a while to adjust to such cold outside temperatures. My boyfriend and I ran the half marathon relay and this is my experience: PROS: Toys were collected at the start line for 'toys for tots' which was awesome! Race was well organized and started on time. Plenty of snacks and goodies during and post run. Volunteers were AWESOME. The entire community seemed to take part. There were competing schools at different blocks who decorated floats, 'entertained' and cheered us on. I loved that. Kid mariachi band, marching bands, jugglers and much more were part of the entertainment and definitely helped distract from the somewhat boring run. I really loved that we were able to run a half marathon relay, it's not something that I see offered often, if ever. I love my cute red Santa tech tee! CONS: The LA bib pick up location changed. Wasn't a huge deal (originally in Los Feliz then Santa Monica) but I do tend to make specific plans. I ran the first leg of the half marathon and course was bit boring itself. Ran through commercial and residential areas. The run was advertised as beautiful, didn't really get that. However, I loved the supporters and schools as mentioned above, just felt a little deceived from what was advertised. The gear check lines were crazy!!! Start and finish were in COMPLETELY different areas so they shuttled your gear( which is awesome), but took forever to get back your warm clothes. The medal was the same for ALL runners whether you ran half, 5k or the relay. Would've been nice to differentiate a bit. ALSO, the timing chip ankle strap that we had to pass to each other didn't work!!! That totally sucked. We didn't time ourselves as we knew it was chip timed. We had no times what so ever! Don't think I'll be running this race again unless I lived near by. read more

This was a well-run race. Like most races, the earlier you signup, the cheaper it is, and it wasn't too difficult finding a 10% off coupon. It was about an hour away for me, so I didn't want to drive out just to pick up my bib. I get having to pay 20 dollars to have the bib mailed to you, but I think they should have an option, like many races, to pick up your bib at the race for free; they charge 20 dollars for day- of bib pick up. I received the bib in the mail with plenty of time to spare. It was a nice, Christmasy bib which was cool. Shuttles were easy. You park at an outlet mall which has ample ample parking, a quick walk to the buses and you're off. The buses didn't even wait to get filled, there were only 2 people on my bus and we took off- so that was nice. It was a 5 minute drive to the start area. You arrive at an empty lot with a bunch of porta potties, and from there about a 5 minute walk to the starting line. Gear check was easy. I left my bag with some volunteers while I warmed up, then dropped it off at gear check, wrote my bib number on a tag and put it on my bag and was able to pick it up at the finish no problem. Toy drive at the start so if you want to donate a toy- I did- you can do that. Race was great, nice cool December weather. Started on time, maybe 2-3 minutes after scheduled time. Course was flat and a nice chunk in the middle miles were gradually dropped 40-60 feet or so. One noticeable hill around mile 7 but it was short, I ran 1 minute faster than a half I ran just a month before. Small race, maybe 1000 runners, so the start line wasn't congested I was able to easily get right up front without having to push and shove and weave. Pockets of crowd support here and there. The finish area was nice. Nice post-race snacks, a lot of different types of vendors, music, awards for costumes and runners. Nice long sleeve tee and nice big medal, one of the bigger medals I have actually, I almost think it's too big but I guess medal collectors like that sort of thing. Shuttles back to the parking lot from the finish line took a while because it was farther away than shuttle to start, and also now you had to deal with all the road closures and congestion, it took ab half hour to get back to the outlet mall parking. They answered all my questions I had pre race, and at the end my time was not appearing for some reason, so I emailed the RD and he got in contact with the timing co and it was resolved by the next day. I was bummed out because if my results were posted that day I would've received a 1st place age award, but that issue was the timing co's fault, although I think sending me my award in the mail given the circumstances would've been a nice gesture. Overall though I enjoyed it and will probably be back to run again and chase down another PR. read more