Santa Monica Classic 10k (42:09)

Santa Monica Classic 10k is my fastest 10k in a while. You’d think after 15 years of racing, I would learn not to take races out too fast. That wasn’t the case here. My first mile was 6:23 and for a brief moment I thought: is this a 10k I could break 40 minutes at? LOL, that’s not what happened, and by mile 3 of the Santa Monica Classic 10k, I was cooked.

Anyway, I always enjoy the Santa Monica Classic 10k. Maybe it’s because I usually get a hotel right on the beach with hotel points, or maybe because it feels like the unofficial start of fall. Some years the Santa Monica Classic 10k is very hot. Last year, they actually cancelled the 10k and just kept the 5k because the weather was so brutal. In 2025, the weather was not too bad.

Before the Santa Monica Classic 10k:

We left the desert around 1 and there was some traffic, so we got to Santa Monica around 2 pm. They now have packet pickup at the Third Street Promenade, which is basically downtown Santa Monica. So it involves traffic, parking, and walking down. Packet pickup was easy and we were in and out in around 20 minutes. We got an early dinner, decided to head back to pick up some things, and then headed to our hotel. It actually meant I walked a bit further than I wanted that day, but I wasn’t too concerned.

I ended up waking up kind of late the morning of. The Santa Monica Classic 10k starts at 7 am (and the Santa Monica Classic 5k starts at 8:30). I usually like to be up at 4 eating, but it was more like 5. It was fine, but not ideal, and I didn’t really hydrate as much as I wanted. I didn’t feel bad but not great either. I just kind of felt overall blah. The Thursday before, I ran a pretty solid workout with about 6 miles of work. I knew it would likely mean my legs didn’t feel great on Sunday and they didn’t. They didn’t feel terrible, but not amazing either. I did about a 2-mile warmup, got to the start, and then relaxed. We had a couple-minute delay but then we were off.

Santa Monica Classic 10k Race:

I knew the first mile was somewhat downhill and when we started I was actually feeling pretty good. I thought: maybe I’m just going to have a really good day. There were a couple of small hills, but nothing crazy, and I ran a 6:23. A lot flashed through my mind, and I was like, well that was probably not smart.

The new Santa Monica Classic 10k has an uphill from miles 3–4.8. It’s not as bad as the previous course, but it’s still challenging. It also goes right by the finish line at mile 3. I ran a 6:29 mile 2 and I wasn’t feeling the worst. As we headed down towards the finish line and the second half of the course, it was about then that I was like…oh no. I had not taken the race out smartly for the day. On a good day, on a faster course, I do believe I could run under 40 minutes…but that was not the day.

I ran a 6:45 next mile and we started up the long, gradual hill. At first it doesn’t feel like much. Running just becomes harder and then halfway up the hill you realize: I’m going uphill. I ran a 7:12 next mile, which wasn’t as bad as I thought. We turned around and immediately I felt like I was flying.

You can really push the last mile of the Santa Monica Classic 10k because you get that gradual downhill of around 100 feet. I think they must have routed us on the wrong side of the road because the mile marker was on the opposite side and we ended up crossing oncoming racers. Dangerous? Yes.

That sent me into a little bit of a weird frame of mind, but I just kept trying to push towards the end. I was hurting, but I chose to put one foot in front of the other. I saw a few friends going the opposite direction as well. Someone yelled, “10th woman overall,” and I was fairly surprised. Santa Monica Classic 10k always feels like such a big race to be in the top 10.

I ran the last mile of the Santa Monica Classic 10k in 6:31 and crossed the finish line in 42:09.

Santa Monica Classic 10k Thoughts:

I know I’m in better shape than 42:09, but with the combination of taking it out too fast, feeling tired, and a challenging course, it was not the day for that. It is my fastest Santa Monica Classic 10k time for the three times I’ve done it and my fastest 10k in a while. I had a lot of fun as always. I’m looking forward to fall racing and building upon that fitness.

You can see Strava here and see all all race recaps here.

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Questions for you:

What is your favorite race?

Is the 10k the hardest race distance?