Take a run around the course known to locals as “inside the loop” at the Irvine Half Marathon & 5K (known before 2019 as the Southern California Half Marathon & 5K), which celebrates it is 29th annual running in 2023 as the official warm-up road race for other California races like the Los Angeles Marathon, the O.C. Marathon and the Surf City Marathon later in the year.

Following a route through the area known as the Woodbridge Loop, the Irvine Half takes runners on a mostly flat (though occasionally hilly) course through suburban neighborhoods, city park areas, and along the waters of the San Diego Creek.

Runners begin their race with a starting time of 8:00 AM at the Woodbridge Village Shopping Center on Barranca Parkway and Lake Road and follow a loop course that takes runners along the Irvine bike trail system.

Along the way, runners will run along the waters of the San Diego Creek for the first half of the race, coasting slowly downhill for the first four miles. At this point, they turn onto the Walnut Trail, where the course begins its gradual uphill climb for the next three miles. With an elevation change of 130 feet in 3 miles, the climb isn’t an especially arduous one but is still the only big hill runners encounter in this race.

After this hill, the second half of the race is a gradual descent with the occasional rolling hill mixed in. Along the second half of the course, runners will run past or through parks and green space areas including Valley Oak Park, Oak Creek Community Park, and the Woodbridge Community Park, and will run entirely on paved surfaces (both streets and Creekside trails) throughout the race.

Race organizers allow a three-hour time limit for those running in the half marathon to receive finishers’ medals and have their results counted in the race’s official statistics. For those who prefer a shorter race distance, the event also hosts a 5K run (around the neighborhood known as the “Yale loop”) and a one-mile run for children, around North Lake.

The race has seen its popularity surge in recent years, growing from a field of about 950 runners at its inaugural running to a field of more than 5,000 runners in both races combined at its 2016 running.

01-07-2023, 07:00 am - 01:00 pm