All ArticlesThings To Do
San Diego Beach & Bay Half Marathon, 10K & 5K: A Local's Race Guide
Paul Stritmatter·Jul 21, 2026·5 min.
Everything you need to know about the San Diego Beach & Bay Half Marathon — one of California's flattest, fastest half marathons, plus a 10K and 5K, all on a scenic Mission Bay loop.
If you're chasing a PR, this is the San Diego race to circle on your calendar. The San Diego Beach & Bay Half Marathon, 10K & 5K runs a flat, fast loop around Mission Bay and the coast on Saturday, April 10, 2027, starting and finishing at Tecolote Shores Park. With barely any elevation change and springtime coastal weather, it's built for fast times — and the bayside Finish Line Festival that follows, with live music and a craft beer garden, makes it a full morning worth sticking around for.
Put on by Go Beyond Events, it's an award-winning race that celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2026 and has become a fixture of the San Diego spring running season. Whether you're gunning for a half-marathon PR, stepping up to your first 10K, or keeping it casual with the 5K, here's how the day works.
The draw here is simple: it's fast. The Half Marathon is an award-winning loop that strings together the best of San Diego's coastline — you'll run past SeaWorld, Belmont Park, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and Sail Bay across a single 13.1-mile circuit. With only about 161 feet of total elevation gain across a USATF-certified course, it's one of the flattest and fastest half marathons in California, which is exactly why runners come here to chase personal records.
But it's not all business. The course serves up palm-lined paths, ocean breezes, and sparkling waterfront views mile after mile, with thousands of runners bringing real energy to the bay. Because it's a loop — every distance starts and finishes at Tecolote Shores Park — the logistics are refreshingly simple compared to a point-to-point race. No shuttle scramble, no figuring out how to get back to your car.
And when you cross the line, the party's right there. The bayside Finish Line Festival brings live music, a craft beer garden, a vendor village, and awards — a proper celebration steps from where you finished.
→ Register for the Half, 10K, or 5K on RunSignup
Every finisher gets a medal at the line. The top three overall men and women in the Half earn winner awards, and age-category awards (1st–3rd, male/female) run across brackets from 13–19 all the way up to 90+ — pick yours up at the Awards tent on race day.
On course, OnPace pace teams run goal times from 1:30 through 3:00, so you can lock onto a group and let someone else do the pacing math. Aid stations are spaced every mile or two with water, electrolytes, and basic first aid, and restrooms are positioned at miles 2, 3.5, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. Medical support — including a start-line and finish-line medical tent, roaming "Race Guard" medics, and ambulances — covers the full course.
Whether you're racing for time or just soaking up the bay, this is one of the best mornings on San Diego's spring calendar. For more of what's happening around town, browse our full event calendar — and if all that coastline has you dreaming, start with our Mission Bay & Pacific Beach neighborhood guides.
Want the real plan for San Diego every week? Subscribe to the Hello San Diego Weekend Newsletter — the only weekly roundup of San Diego events that actually tells you which ones are worth your time. No fluff, no AI listicles scraped from press releases, just the local's plan for the days ahead.