The Surf City Marathon is more than just a race — it’s a three-decades-long tradition that has become a staple in the iconic beach town, drawing tens of thousands of participants from around the world who overtake Pacific Coast Highway.
The trek takes athletes along a scenic course, the glistening Pacific Ocean and sandy beaches as a backdrop. It doesn’t hurt that while much of the country is buried in snow and relentless storms, the iconic Southern California race’s events most years, including this Sunday, offer sunny skies and mild, pleasant weather to the 20,000 or so participants.
While the races -— a marathon, half marathon, 5k and a 1-mile jaunt on the sand — are the lure, the mega event also offers an expo for the latest products and technologies, as well as a beer garden to replenish and reward the racers after they cross the finish line.
Some will be newcomers to the scene on Sunday, but there are a select few who have shown up year after year, familiar faces among the massive crowds. There are an estimated 1,900 “Longboard Legacy Program” runners expected this year, participants who have run the marathon or half-marathon for three consecutive years or more.
But only one holds the record for showing up each of the past 29 years.
Dorothy Strand, a legacy runner from Orange, joined the first race in 1997, back when it was known as the Pacific Shoreline Marathon. Her son, Eric, was an avid runner in high school and her husband, John, had started training with him.
“I’m not going to stay home, I’m going to go too,” the now 86-year-old recalled on a recent day. “We started to run as a family. We found out that my husband was a natural runner … he started getting me involved, that’s how it all started.”
She ran her first marathon in 1990, and by the time the Huntington Beach race started in 1997, she was running her 12th marathon at 57 years old.
Back then, few women ran the race.
But through the years, she said she found a community of passionate runners, both men and women, encouraging them to put one foot in front of the other, even when they thought they couldn’t run another block.
Cyndee Albertson, 58, from Placenta, is just one of many inspired by Strand. She had health issues, undergoing several surgeries and was told she would never run again.
“Dorothy never let me slip by the wayside,” Albertson said. “There’s a no man left behind mentality with her.”
Just run to the next tree, Strand would say.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
“Just run a little bit,” she would say, sometimes fibbing about the actual distance to keep Albertson going.
“She made us believe in ourselves, it’s a kind of love and friendship that is so rare in today’s world,” Albertson said. “She’s just caring and giving and inspiring.”
Strand has done 46 marathons through the years, her husband, John, who died in 2021, finished 118. It was a way for them to see the world, with races in London, Australia, Russia and all around the United States. They got to go to Athens in 2010 to run the 2,500th anniversary of the original marathon.
She was honored by race organizers following her 10th anniversary, then her 20th, then the 25th, and is again being celebrated this year.
“I’m the only one left,” Strand said. “Everyone else is not there anymore.”
But she had plenty of friends and fans who will be cheering her on. Strand has had a knee replacement and in December had a stroke. She can no longer run, but will do the 5k this year with the help of friend Irv Schwartz, who will help her walk to the finish line.
“It’s a big community, it’s a wonderful bonding thing,” Strand said. “The biggest part is getting your foot out the door. You do that if you know someone is waiting for you and will be with you.”
Another familiar face at the race the past 29 years is David Kuntz, who moved to Huntington Beach from the East Coast in 1988.
Kuntz was a competitive runner in high school and college, and a member of a local running club, so when the event showed up in Huntington, he signed up for the half-marathon.
But that would be the last time he would run the course.
Instead, Kuntz started working behind the scenes to make sure all the runners had a memorable experience. In the early years, he would work the expo before the event. Then he started running the water stations, no easy task when you have to keep tens of thousands of runners hydrated.
His job is making sure all the runners are taken care of and their needs are met — but most of all that “everyone has a good time,” he said.
“It doesn’t bother me to not be participating, it’s my way to give back to a sport I love,” said Kuntz, 73. “It was natural for me, I’m a natural cheerleader. We love runners. It’s our tribe.”
While most years race day lucks out with sunny weather, he remembers a few years that were especially challenging as rain poured down, threatening to wash out the expo area and making the race especially grueling for participants.
“We’ve had some hot races, but thank goodness we didn’t have anyone passing out,” he said. “There has been heat extremes and rain extremes, that’s for certain.”
When his sons, Brian and Randy, were in high school, they started helping too. And then when Brian’s two daughters, Kourtney and Ashley, got old enough, they started volunteering to help.
Now, there are three generations of the Kuntz family working the event each year, making sure that all goes smoothly behind the scenes.
“They just love the excitement of the race,” Kuntz said. “It’s something we all look forward to all year.”
The marathon starts at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, followed by the half-marathon at 7:15 a.m. and the 5k at 11 a.m. A mile beach run will be held on Saturday.
More information, visit runsurfcity.com