A Look at the Scenes and the People From the 27th Annual Long Beach International City Bank Marathon
After a long run, Michelob Ultra sooths the soles of the souls with a free beer.
If there is one thing the Bar Blogger believes in, it’s exercise and socialize.
So when I heard that Michelob Ultra was providing 10,000 beers to runners of a marathon, it’s something I had to see for myself. As well as toast those who can actually run 26.2 miles (or 13.1 in the half marathon). Michelob Ultra provided a beer garden for them to toast themselves, and it was a happening party before even noon.
When one gets up at 4 o’clock on a Sunday morning for a some more-than-brisk exercise, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere the very second they step into the beer garden. For some, this was moments after they crossed the finish line. (And some spectators went straight from the start to the beer garden, arriving as early as 7:30 a.m.!)
The beer garden hit its peak with a flash mob involving about a thousand people dancing and partying.
Marathon winner Edwin Romero crosses the finish line in a little more than two hours.
People pack into the beer garden to socalize after a morning of exercise.
And that’s just part of the scene of this annual event, which brings in 25,000 people for the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon and Half Marathon. Here are photos from the 2011 event, which was held Sunday, Oct. 9. It started and finished along Shoreline Drive, went over the water to the Queen Mary, down the beach to Belmont Shore, through Long Beach State, and back to Shoreline Drive.
Bring it ON! The scene at the wildly popular beer garden after the Marathon.
The Michelob Ultra girls enhance the Expo experience on Saturday.
It’s exercise and then socialize to the max.
The male winner was Edwin Romero, a kindly gentleman who flew in from Bogota, Colombia, just for the event. He finished in 2:19:08 despite doing a late impersonation of University of Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson, nicknamed “Shoelaces” because he plays with his shoelaces untied. Well, Romero crossed the finish line with untied laces; they came undone at the 22-mile mark.
I was positively smitten with the women’s winner, 23-year-old Abigail Swift. She’s 4-foot-nothing and weighs about as much as a Michelob Ultra bottle. She’s also as adorable as they come, a bubbly blonde who not only finished fifth overall with a time of 2:43:20 but also qualified for the USA Marathon Olympic Trials. This, by the way, was news to her.
“I’m excited, of course, but I really don’t know how to feel,” she said. “It’s kind of crazy.”
For more on the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon, click here.
The event’s official site is RunLongBeach.com
SOCIALIZE
What's a beer garden without a band, right!?
With the beer flowing, people gather by the hundreds in the beer garden.
One beer was free, but many opted for a few more, and why not, right!?
The band cranks the tunes in the beer garden.
Enjoying the sunshine, Michelob Ultras, the band and the beer garden.
With more than 10,000 beers for runners, there's plenty of empties.
In addition to the beer gardens, there are bands throughout the course.
EXERCISE
As the sun comes up, runners start thier long journey through Long Beach.
The start as seen from the "rollercoaster" bridge on Shoreline Drive.
Okay, only 26.1 miles to go to the finish line!
The Long Beach Marathon is one of the most scenic long runs in America.
The Queen Mary provides a perfect backdrop to the runners.
A fireboat provides a a big spray of water while the Queen Mary is poised in the background.
Arrrgggg! One of the water stations features pirates.
A palm tree-lined park and waterfront run starts the scenic race.
