According to the Malibu Times, Malibu's City Council has authorized an annual 26.2-mile footrace to be run from Camarillo Airport in Ventura County to Zuma Beach. The competition will be called the Malibu International Marathon and will come with a half-marathon companion race that begins at Point Mugu State Park. Malibu's marathon will be run November 15, about four month's distance from the Los Angeles Marathon, and will cost $125 for the marathon and $80 for the

Half Marathon — of which Malibu will receive $10 per entrant.

The Malibu race's Web site strikes an unabashedly touristy tone:

“The final six miles roll along the coast past the north Malibu mansions, with owners like Brad Pitt and many other Hollywood Pros. The final mile brings you across the bluffs where you pass the Malibu sign and drop downhill past the Trancas market, and Starbucks.”

When asked about the short, eight-week registration time between now

and the race, Malibu Marathon marketing director Lisa Ohlson told the L.A. Weekly

that she expects the event to draw between three and five thousand

runners from across the country, and that the race “will grow tremendously

during the next five years. Our marathon is a race by runners for

runners. I think our course is stunning and beautiful, and offers

something different.”

L.A.'s Marathon, which also charges $125 per runner, has been plagued by a series of self-inflicted wounds

that range from changing dates, a ban on Sunday races to appease

churches and shifting routes. Complaints about the potential for heat stress upon runners caused the Marathon to move its event from Memorial Day at the end of May to Sunday, March 21, 2010, when it is scheduled to run from Dodger Stadium, near downtown, to Santa Monica Beach. An L.A. Marathon spokesperson was not available for comment at the time of this post.

While

mid-November temperatures can still be challenging for Southern California runners, the Malibu race will benefit from its coast climate,

fairly long flat course and possible tailwinds. Its participants will

reportedly be invited to finish the race by running directly into the

Pacific.

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