Getting to Zuma Beach: Parking, PCH and Race Morning
Zuma Beach is easy to find and easy to underestimate. It is a straight run up Pacific Coast Highway, the lots are enormous, and the start line is a few steps from where you park. What catches people out is the morning itself: the coast fog, the light, and the fact that PCH on a race Sunday is not PCH on an ordinary one.
Here is everything you need to arrive calm.
Where is the start line?
Zuma Beach Lot 12, 30600 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California 90265 (the last parking lot from the entrance gates about a mile north of the entrance).
Every distance starts and finishes here, both days. If you put that address into your phone you will land in the right place, and the lots run the length of the beach so you cannot really miss it.
Driving in
From the 101 and the Valley. Take Kanan Road, which becomes Kanan Dume Road, over the hill to Malibu. Turn right onto Pacific Coast Highway and follow the signs to Zuma Beach. From Westlake Village this is roughly a twenty to twenty five minute drive with no traffic.
From Los Angeles and the south. PCH the whole way, through Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades. Beautiful, and slower than the map says on a weekend morning.
From Ventura and the north. PCH south, past Point Mugu and Leo Carrillo.
One thing worth knowing whichever way you come: cell service on parts of PCH and over the canyon roads is unreliable. Screenshot your directions before you leave.
Parking
Park at Zuma Beach, 30600 Pacific Coast Highway. The lots run the length of the beach and they are large, so once you have parked you are already at the venue. No shuttle, no long walk from your car to the start line, which is unusual for a race this size and one of the quiet pleasures of running at Zuma.
The lots are county run. Parking rates are set by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors, not by us, and they are posted at the lot entrances.
On Saturday, during Expo hours, you can park for free along Pacific Coast Highway if you would rather skip the lot fee. Read the signs before you walk away from the car. Restrictions change block to block and some stretches of PCH are posted no parking, so it is worth the ten seconds. We cannot help with a ticket or a tow, and neither is a good way to start race weekend.
On Sunday there is no parking on PCH. The course uses the highway, so the shoulder is closed to parked cars during race hours. Plan on the beach lots and give yourself the extra few minutes.
Is PCH closed for the race?
Not fully. Pacific Coast Highway stays open on race Sunday.
We take the shoulder and the second southbound lane, which is a partial closure rather than a road closure. If you are driving through Malibu that morning, you will not be blocked, but allow for a delay. The partial closure between the Trancas Bridge and the Bush Drive traffic light opens again as soon as the last participant has passed that point.
Zuma Beach Access Road is the one genuine closure. It shuts on Sunday from approximately 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM, or until the last 5K and 10K participants have left the parking lot and turned onto PCH.
That closure is the single best reason to be parked early.
What time to arrive
Saturday. The 1K Kids Run is at 2:00 PM and the 1-Mile Zuma Dash at 3:00 PM. You can collect a bib and race shirt up to fifthteen minutes before your start, but come earlier and stay. Saturday is a whole afternoon at the beach: the Expo, the Kids Zone, bounce castles, arts and crafts run by the Pepperdine Center for the Arts, and Zuma itself. Everything closes at 5:00 PM.
Sunday. Arrive at Zuma Beach before 6:00 AM, whichever distance you are running.
One entrance serves all of the parking lots, so traffic builds quickly as the start approaches. Getting there early means you park, walk over, find a restroom, sort your gear and settle in without any of it being a scramble.
The reward for the early alarm is sunrise over Zuma, which is a good way to start a race morning.
Carpool if you can. Fewer cars through one entrance makes the morning easier for everyone, including you.
Start times are 8:00 AM for the Half Marathon and 8:30 AM for both the 10K and the 5K.
Picking up your bib
Everyone picks up at the Expo on Saturday, October 24, at Zuma Beach.
If you are in the 1K Kids Run or the 1-Mile Zuma Dash, collect your bib and race shirt that afternoon, up to fifteen minutes before your start time.
If you are running the Half Marathon, the 10K or the 5K, Saturday is when you pick up as well. There is no Sunday morning pickup unless you have arranged one of the options below in advance.
If Saturday does not work for you, there are three ways around it. Bib By Mail for $25, sending someone else to collect your packet, or adding Race Day Packet Pick-Up for $30, which means your bib, shirt and packet are waiting for you on Sunday morning.
Race Day Packet Pick-Up is already included with the VIP Packet and with the Charity Entry, so if you have either of those you do not need to buy it.
To add it after you have registered, go to your RunSignUp profile, then Upcoming Events, Manage Registration, Add-Ons, and select Race Day Packet Pick-Up.
What race morning actually feels like
The marine layer usually sits on the coast first thing and burns off somewhere between nine and eleven. That means a cool, damp, still start and a warmer finish, which is close to ideal for running and slightly awkward for deciding what to wear. Most people are glad of a throwaway layer at the start line and glad to be rid of it by mile three.
There is almost no shade on the course, so if you are a slower finisher you will be running in direct sun by the end. Plan your hydration for that rather than for how it feels at 7:45.
Gear check
Gear check is near the start and finish line, at the back of the Expo, and it does not move during the race. It opens at 5:00 AM for drop off and closes at 12:30 PM for pickup.
Bring your own bag. Malibu bans single use plastic and we do not hand out plastic bags at gear check, so use the tote from your race packet or anything you already own. Attach the gear check tag, write your bib number on it, and you are set.
Leave valuables in the car. Gear is checked at your own risk, and we are not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged items.
Strollers
In line with Road Runners Club of America guidance, we advise against strollers during the races. We do not prohibit them, because we would rather find a way to include you than turn you away, but if you bring one there are rules and they exist so that nobody gets hurt.
Only three wheel strollers built for jogging or running. Start at the back of the pack. Stay to the right except when passing, announce yourself when you pass, and yield to runners rather than weaving through them, particularly on tangents and turns. Both hands on the handlebar at all times. Everyone in the stroller stays strapped in, and headgear is a good idea.
Parts of the course are out and back with some narrow passages, so take extra care there.
Dogs
Dogs are welcome at the Expo and in the spectator areas, and on the course too, with conditions.
A non retractable leash of six feet or shorter, at all times. A dog who is genuinely comfortable with crowds, noise, music and other animals. One dog per participant, under your full control, and you clean up after them. Start at the back of the pack.
No dogs in the Kids Run. Service animals are always permitted under the ADA.
If a dog is unsettled or unsafe on the day, officials may ask you to step off the course or move to the spectator area. That is as much for the dog as for anyone else.
Where to watch
Spectators park in the same Zuma Beach lots as participants.
The best place to watch is the start and finish line, where every distance comes through. If you want somewhere more comfortable, the Charity and VIP Lounge and the beer garden both look directly onto the finish chute.
We do not recommend trying to watch from along the course. It runs on PCH, and the seclusion that makes it a rare thing to run is the same thing that makes it a difficult place to stand. Stay at the beach. Everyone comes back to you.
After you finish
The finish line festival runs until 1:00 PM on Sunday, with food, music, wellness and the community celebration on the sand. Every distance finishes into the same party, so there is no reason to leave once you are done, and every reason to bring people who are not running.
Saturday wraps at 5:00 PM with the close of the Expo.
Staying the night before
If you are coming any distance, staying close is worth it for a race that starts at eight. We have several room rates at our partner hotels and a set of Malibu options a few minutes from the start on our travel and lodging page.
The short version
Start and finish: Zuma Beach, 30600 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90265
Saturday, October 24: Expo and Kids Zone, 1K Kids Run at 2:00 PM, 1-Mile Zuma Dash at 3:00 PM, everything closes at 5:00 PM
Sunday, October 25: Half Marathon 8:00 AM, 10K and 5K 8:30 AM, finish line festival until 1:00 PM
Parking: Zuma Beach lots at county rates. Free PCH parking on Saturday only, not Sunday
Arrive by: Before 6:00 AM on Sunday
PCH: Open, with a partial closure of the shoulder and second southbound lane. Zuma Beach Access Road closed approximately 7:30 to 9:00 AM Sunday
Bib pickup: Saturday at the Expo, or add Bib-By-mail for $25 or Race Day Packet Pick-Up for $30
Gear check: 5:00 AM to 12:30 PM, bring your own bag
