On September 11, 2021, Huntington Beach saw the return of the Surf City Marathon seven months after it was supposed to happen. Conventionally, the race happens on Super Bowl Sunday in February, but pandemic concerns delayed this year’s edition. There was another reason to celebrate for people in Huntington Beach: it was the 25th edition of the race.
Originally called the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, 1997 saw the first edition of the race in Huntington Beach. Around 13,000 walkers and runners participated in the 2021 event, some thousands fewer than the usual number of participants. The decline in the number of participants was expected, considering that fewer individuals are traveling these days.
The event usually attracts individuals from many different parts of the US and the world. However, Surf City Marathon representative Dan Cruz stated that only around 1,500 people from outside California took part in the event.
As always, senior Orange County resident Dorothy Strand was the main attraction of the race. Cruz stated that Strand was the lone athlete who took part in it in all of its editions. She ran only the half-marathon, but there were hoopla and balloons to celebrate her effort at the beginning and the completion.
A retired nurse with back pain, Strand runs with a group of friends, and they inspired her to do this. Strand stated that she might have chosen not to run this year but for her friends. Strand’s friends motivated her to participate in the event, and she was motivated also thanks to the legacy that she has set for herself.
Her spouse John Strand would have shared the spotlight with her if he had not missed a previous edition of the race in Huntington Beach. In that edition, John Strand ran in a different state.
It appears that the next edition of this event is slated for February 2021, as organizers expect to host it on the standard Super Bowl day.
