10 Weeks to Zuma Beach: How to Train for the Malibu Course
There are ten weeks between now and the start line at Zuma Beach.
That is enough. It is enough for a first half marathon, it is enough for a 10K, and it is more than enough for a 5K you plan to walk part of. Ten weeks is a real training block, not a scramble.
But most training advice you will find online is written for a course that nobody is actually running. It assumes a flat road, steady conditions, and a finish line that could be anywhere. Ours is not anywhere. It is an out-and-back on Pacific Coast Highway with the Pacific on one side and the Santa Monica Mountains on the other, and it asks specific things of your legs at specific miles.
So here is what the Malibu Moves course actually does to you, and how to train for it.
The Half Marathon: You Cross Trancas Twice
The Half Marathon starts at 8:00 AM on Sunday, October 25. It is USATF measured and chip timed, it starts at 27 feet above sea level, tops out at 172, and climbs 345 feet in total.
The numbers are not the interesting part. The order is.
The course opens with a flat loop around Zuma Beach, roughly the first three miles, run once and never repeated. Then it heads out along Pacific Coast Highway and climbs Trancas. From there it rolls, most noticeably around El Matador, out to the turnaround at Nicolas Canyon Beach. Coming back you run those same rollers in the other direction, then get the Trancas descent, then re-enter the Zuma lot to finish.
Four acts, and each one asks you for something different.
One: the loop will lie to you
The opening loop around Zuma is flat, and you will run it in a crowd of a few thousand people at eight in the morning with the ocean right there. Everything about it feels easy, because in that moment it is easy.
This is where the race is most commonly lost, and it is not close. The seconds you gain here get repaid with interest in the back half, on rollers you will meet twice.
Train for it like this: run the first two miles of every long run deliberately slower than goal pace. Not slightly slower. Slow enough that it feels like a mistake. Then bring it down through the middle. Ten weeks of practicing restraint on fresh legs is what buys you the rest of this course. If the second half of your long run is faster than the first, you are ready.
Two: Trancas, going up
The loop ends, you head out onto PCH, and the road climbs. Trancas is the biggest single climb on the course, and it is short and steep. Not a long grind you settle into. A pitch you get up and over.
You take it early, on legs that still feel good, which is the good news and the trap in the same sentence. You will get up it comfortably. The only question is what you spend doing it.
Shortly after, you will pass the "21 Miles of Scenic Beauty" sign, which is the one photograph everyone takes and the moment the race stops feeling like a race for a second. You get it again on the way home.
Train for it like this: run climbs by effort, not by pace. Your watch will show a slower number going up. It is right, and it does not matter. Even effort over hilly terrain beats even pace over hilly terrain every time, because holding your flat ground pace up a hill costs far more than the seconds it saves. Practice ignoring the number for ten weeks so you can ignore it on race day.
And because the climb is short, train it short. Steep repeats of two or three minutes will serve you better here than long steady grinds.
Three: the rollers, twice
This is the act that decides your race, and it is not the one people remember.
Between Trancas and the turnaround at Nicolas Canyon, the course rolls, with the most noticeable stretch around El Matador. Then you turn and run every one of those rollers again in the opposite direction, on legs several miles more tired than the first time through.
Rollers do more damage than one big climb, because there is no rhythm to settle into. Each short rise breaks your cadence and asks for a small surge, and you pay for those surges one at a time until you notice they have added up. Doing that in the back half of a half marathon is what empties people out. Trancas is the hill you will talk about afterward. This is the part that actually sets your finish time.
Train for it like this: stop putting your hill work at the start of a run. Warm up, run easy, and save your climbing for the last third of your long run when your legs are already loaded. Find a genuinely rolling route rather than one long hill, and run the back half of it hard. What you are building is not fitness exactly. It is the ability to keep absorbing small climbs long after you stopped wanting to.
Four: the Trancas descent, and then the lot
On the way back Trancas gives it all to you. It is a long descent, and then you re-enter the Zuma lot and finish flat.
Runners hear "downhill finish" and relax. Then they get there and find their quads are gone, because downhill running loads your legs in a way flat running never does, and this descent arrives at the end of a race that has already put you over Trancas once and through the rollers twice. If you have trained only on flat ground, this is where the course collects.
Train for it like this: run gentle downhills on tired legs, at the end of long runs, every week or two through your block. It will feel unnecessary. It is not. Downhill running is a skill your quads have to be taught, and it is the difference between finishing strong at Zuma and shuffling in.
One more thing the out-and-back does: it flips the wind. Whatever helped you on the way out is in your face on the way back. Run out-and-back routes in training rather than loops, so a second half into changed conditions is something your head has already handled.
Pace groups run from 1:30 through 4:00, so whatever your number is, someone on the course is running it with you.
[See the full Half Marathon course and elevation profile →]
The 10K: You Turn Around Near the Top
The 10K starts at 8:30 AM on Sunday and opens exactly like the Half Marathon: the flat loop around Zuma Beach, roughly the first three miles. Then it heads out onto PCH and climbs, turning around at about mile four and a half near the high point of the course at 118 feet. Then you come back down the way you came and run flat into the Zuma lot to finish.
Total gain is 138 feet, and nearly all of it lives in that one climb.
So the whole race is one hill, and here is the part worth knowing: your turnaround sits near the top of it. You climb, you turn, you descend. You do not have the rolling section the Half Marathon runners are dealing with further out.
You also get the "21 Miles of Scenic Beauty" sign twice, once on the way out and once on the way back, which is the shot everyone puts on their phone before they put their phone away.
Three things to train, and they are connected.
The flat loop will cost you.
Three flat miles on fresh legs is the setup that makes people race the first half and survive the second. Same trap as the Half Marathon, shorter fuse. Run the opening under control, and you will have something left for the only part of this course that asks you a question.
The climb is a surge, not a grind.
It is short, and it is steep, and it is over in a few minutes. So train it that way: short, hard hill efforts of two or three minutes, at the back end of a run when your legs are already tired. You want your body to know what it feels like to work that hard at mile four and then keep racing. Long steady hill grinds will not prepare you for this. Steep repeats will.
The descent is immediate, and then the road goes flat.
You come off the turnaround and give the elevation straight back. The instinct is to brake, which wrecks your quads. Better to let your legs turn over and take the free speed. But do not build your race plan around it, because it does not last, and what waits on the other side is the part nobody trains for: roughly a mile of flat road into the Zuma lot on legs that just did the only hard thing on the course. That is where this race is decided.
Train for it like this: once a week or so, run a short steep hill hard, come straight back down the other side, then hold goal pace on the flat for another ten minutes without stopping. Unglamorous workout. Close to exactly what October 25 is going to ask of you.
Ten weeks is a comfortable runway for the 10K. If you are running a few times a week already, you have more time than you need. If you are coming from a 5K, this is a very doable step up.
The 5K: Ten Weeks Is More Than Enough
The 5K also starts at 8:30 AM on Sunday. It is flat and it is friendly: 30 feet of gain across the whole thing, out and back along PCH with a water station at the mile and a half mark.
There is no terrain to survive here. Which means the 5K is not a course problem; it is a consistency problem, and consistency is the easiest problem on this list to solve in ten weeks.
Train for it like this: three runs a week. One of them a little longer than the others. Walk whenever you want to, including on race day, because there is no pace minimum on any Malibu Moves distance and there never will be. If you can currently move for twenty minutes, ten weeks will comfortably get you to 3.1 miles at Zuma Beach.
If you have been meaning to sign up for something for a while now, this is the distance and this is the week.
Saturday: The Zuma Dash and the Kids Run
Not every distance needs a training block, and that is the point of Saturday.
The 1 Mile Zuma Dash on October 24 asks nothing of you in advance except that you show up. One mile at Zuma Beach, a medal at the end, and the rest of your Saturday at the Expo and the Kids Zone. If you want to be part of race weekend without a plan taped to your fridge, this is it.
The 1K Kids Run is the same day, and if you have a young runner, resist the urge to train them. Kids do not need a block. What they need is two or three fun runs between now and October where the whole point is that it is fun, so that race morning feels familiar instead of big. Let them set the pace. Every child crosses the same finish line and gets the same medal, and for a lot of them it is the thing they talk about all year.
[See the 1-Mi Zuma Dash →] or [See the 1K Kids Run →]
Three Things Worth Practicing, Whatever Distance You Picked
Run at 8:00 AM sometimes. Most people train at 6:00 AM before work. Race day starts later, on the coast, in late October, which can mean cool and grey at the start and considerably warmer by the time you finish. Do a handful of your long runs at race time so your body knows what that feels like, and plan a layer you can shed.
Practice your fueling on the course's schedule. The Half has five water stations with water and Voli Wellness electrolytes. If you plan to use them, use them in training first. Race day is not the day to find out how your stomach feels about it.
Get on PCH if you can. If you are in reach of Malibu, drive part of the actual route. Nothing in a training plan substitutes for knowing what Trancas looks like before you meet it with a bib on. Note: do not train on PCH. It is an open highway and not a safe place to run. You get PCH on race day, closed to traffic, and that is the only time anyone does.
Where to Get Your Actual Plan
Everything above is how to think about the course. Here is where to get the week-by-week plan.
Free training plans, built for this course. We have free plans for the Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K, with beginner and advanced options for each, covering running distance, intensity, strength, and mobility. They are written around the terrain described above rather than a generic road. Registered participants get them by email, and they are made to print and stick on the fridge.
The Capriroso app, free for our runners right now. It syncs with Garmin, WHOOP and others, and adjusts your week when your body has a different opinion than your plan did.
Fleet Feet Agoura Hills, powered by ASICS, runs structured group programs with coaching. The 10K program is eight weeks and starts August 31, which makes this a decision worth making in the next two weeks rather than the next two months. Code MalibuMoves15 takes 15% off. The Half program is already underway, so if you want group coaching for 13.1, reach out to them directly about joining in progress.
LA Leggers in Santa Monica offer group training for every level, and if the thing standing between you and this training block is that you do not want to do it alone, that is the fix.
One More Thing
Whichever distance you are training for, you can run it for a cause. The Charity Program lets you enter for nothing upfront, and raising $500 gets you the full VIP package. Every dollar goes to organizations doing real work here: the Malibu Moves Community Impact Fund, Malibu Education Foundation, Emily Shane Foundation, Girls on the Run of LA County, and the Sarah Shulze Foundation. Participants have helped us donate more than $110,000 in two years.
Ten weeks of training is a lot of miles. Some people find it easier to run them for someone else.
Ten Weeks
Training blocks do not really start on a Monday. They start on the day you decide.
The course is not going to change between now and October 25. The flat loop around Zuma, the climb up Trancas, the rollers past El Matador, the turnaround at Nicolas Canyon, and then everything in reverse, ending with the descent back into the lot and the finish getting louder. All of it is waiting exactly where it is.
What changes is how ready you are when you get there, and that part starts this week.
Malibu Moves 2026 is October 24 and 25 at Zuma Beach, Malibu. Registration is open.
FAQ: Training for Malibu Moves
Is 10 weeks enough time to train for a half marathon? Yes. Most half marathon plans run 12 to 16 weeks, and a 10 week block is enough if you can currently run three to four miles comfortably. If you are starting from zero, the 10K or 5K is the better call for 2026, and the Half is there next year.
Is the Malibu Moves course an out and back? Partly. All distances open with a flat loop around Zuma Beach covering roughly the first three miles, which is run once and not repeated. From there the Half Marathon and 10K continue as an out and back along Pacific Coast Highway before re-entering the Zuma lot to finish.
How hilly is the Malibu Moves Half Marathon course? The Half Marathon has 345 feet of total elevation gain. It starts at 27 feet above sea level and peaks at 172 feet. The first three miles are a flat loop around Zuma Beach. The course then climbs Trancas, a short steep hill and the biggest single climb on the course, rolls out to the turnaround at Nicolas Canyon Beach at mile eight, runs those rollers back in the opposite direction, descends Trancas, and finishes flat in the Zuma lot.
Do runners pass the "21 Miles of Scenic Beauty" sign? Yes. Both the Half Marathon and the 10K pass the Malibu "21 Miles of Scenic Beauty" sign on Pacific Coast Highway, once on the way out and once on the way back.
What is the hardest part of the Malibu Moves Half Marathon? The rolling section between Trancas and the turnaround, because runners cover it twice. Trancas is the biggest single climb and it comes early, but the rollers around El Matador are run in both directions, and the second pass lands in the back half of the race when legs are already tired.
How much elevation gain does the Malibu Moves 10K have? The 10K has 138 feet of total gain, and nearly all of it sits in one climb. The first three miles are the flat Zuma Beach loop. The course then climbs to a high point of 118 feet near the turnaround around mile four and a half, descends the way it came, and finishes flat.
Is the Malibu Moves 5K flat? Yes. The 5K has 30 feet of gentle gain across the full distance, out and back along Pacific Coast Highway from Zuma Beach. It is walker and beginner friendly.
Does Malibu Moves provide a training plan? Yes. Free training plans for the Half Marathon, 10K and 5K are available, with beginner and advanced options for each, built around the Malibu Moves course. Registered participants receive their plan by email.
Are there group training programs for Malibu Moves? Yes. Fleet Feet Agoura Hills, powered by ASICS, runs coached Half Marathon and 10K programs with a 15% discount using code MalibuMoves15. LA Leggers in Santa Monica offer group training for all levels.
What time do the Malibu Moves races start? The Half Marathon starts at 8:00 AM on Sunday, October 25. The 10K and 5K start at 8:30 AM the same morning. The 1 Mile Zuma Dash and 1K Kids Run take place Saturday, October 24 at 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM, respectively.
How many aid stations are on the Malibu Moves course? The Half Marathon has five water stations with water and electrolytes. The 10K has two water stations. The 5K has one at the 1.5-mile mark. All stations have restrooms and basic first aid.
Is there a pace requirement for Malibu Moves? There is no pace minimum for any distance. The Half Marathon has an approximate four-hour course limit, and pace groups run from 1:30 through 4:00.
