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| Bert Whitson and John Burgos race to the finish at the Pasadena Half/Full/Relay Marathon |
While only a few years old, the Kaiser Permanente Pasadena Marathon has created a formula for success in the crowded Southern California road running circuit, selling out all of its events for 2012. Runners who know Pasadena trained for a course that presented some hills, but were also rewarded with a scenic course that includes the Rose Bowl and a route that parallels the beautiful Arroyo Seco River.
7000 runners took to the streets of Pasadena on Sunday, May 20 to race a full marathon, half marathon, 10K, 5K, or a kid’s run 1K. In addition, race director Israel Estrada worked closely with USATF and Pasadena-based Gritty City Track Club to organize an invitational relay marathon event, the first relay marathon in the Los Angeles area since the demise of the fabled Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon in 2006.
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| USATF LDR Chair Wayne Joness, ARC Runners Sergio Arias, Brian Ramos, and team captain Gerard Deegan, and USATF member/volunteer Rebecca Trahan |
In the full marathon competition, Alexander Garabedian (M20) of the Santa Monica Track Club led the way for USATF runners with a time of 2:58:26. Finishing right behind Garabedian was three-time defending Pasadena Marathon Champion, and 2012 Olympic Trials qualifier Mandy Grantz (F25) representing the home-town favorites Gritty City Track Club. The USATF masters competition was won by the ubiquitous long distance running machine, Joe Ogata (M63), with a time of 3:48:30. In the last ten years, Ogata has run more than 100 marathons, consistently qualifying for the Boston Marathon in his age-group. And rounding out the masters competition was Cheri Rich (F50) with a time of 4:05:09.
In the half marathon, 2012 USATF Southern California Marathon Champion Mark Batres (M27) of Run With Us had a comfortable finish of 1:11:50. Underlining the depth and talent of the Gritty City Track Club was team member Nicole Luque (F32) finishing in 1:31:17. In addition to her athletic abilities, Luque is well-known as a reliable volunteer for various races, and scores the Road Running Grand Prix as well.
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| Gritty City Track Club runners at the finish line. |
While most of the Cal Coast Track Club raced the previous day at the Magic Shoe 5K, distance specialists Matt Ebiner (M51) and Linda Hodgson (F57) represented their team well in Pasadena with first-place masters times of 1:15:57 for Ebiner and 1:44:42 for Hodgson. There can be no doubt that the Cal Coast Track Club is determined to dominate road racing in the Southern California Association: they were the only club to field teams at both the Magic Shoe 5K and the Pasadena Marathon, and Cal Coast won both days, taking a record-breaking 4623 points at the Magic Shoe 5K, and 3593 points at the Pasadena Half/Full Marathon, edging out the Gritty City Track Club with 3593 points.
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| Relay Marathon runners at the first (10K) handoff point. |
Flying under the radar was the Pasadena Relay Marathon, a joint effort of the Pasadena Marathon and USATF Southern California to explore developing a new relay marathon event. Participation was limited to six local teams, with A Runner’s Circle fielding three teams of runners, the Gritty City Track Club contributing two teams, and the Pasadena Pacers with one team. A Runner’s Circle pushed the pace, finishing in 2:35:25, with “True Grit” (Gritty City Track Club) second with a time of 2:42:47. The five person relay marathon was formatted according to national rules, with legs of 10 km, 5 km, 10 km, 5 km and a stretch of 12.2 km to the finish line. Special thanks to Gritty City member Alex Bruno who did much of the organizing to make this event possible, and even drove one of the transport vans used to ferry runners around the course on race day
Pasadena Half/Full/Relay Marathon
Sunday - May 20, 2012
SCA Grand Prix Standings: www.scagrandprix.org
Results
2012 Pasadena Half/Full/Relay Marathon Results
Awards - Full Marathon Open Winners
Open 1st: Alexander Garabedian, M-20, 2:58:26
Open 1st: Mandy Grantz, F-25, 2:58:44
Open 2nd: Roberto Chavez, M-39, 3:29:22
Open 2nd: Andrea Kooiman, F-37, 4:23:03
Open 3rd: Daniel Guzman, M-30, 3:39:43
Awards - Overall Full Marathon Masters Winners
Masters 1st: Joe Ogata, M-63, 3:48:30
Masters 1st: Cheri Rich, F-50, 4:05:09
Masters 2nd: Andrew Calasanz, M-41, 4:15:46
Masters 2nd: Lisa Wikert, F-48, 4:54:47
Masters 3rd: Deo Javarta, M-47, 4:16:17
Masters 3rd: Sue Davis, F-49, 5:30:29
Awards - Overall Half Marathon Open Winners
Open 1st: Mark Batres, M-27, 1:11:17
Open 1st: Nicole Luque, F-34, 1:31:17
Open 2nd: Wendy Roy, F-34, 2:09:27
Open 3rd: Janet Gutierrez, F-31, 2:33:25
Awards - Overall Half Marathon Masters Winners
Masters 1st: Matt Ebiner, M-51, 1:15:57
Masters 1st: Linda Hodgson, F-57, 1:44:42
Masters 2nd: Oliver Gallego, M-50, 1:24:11
Masters 2nd: Dona McBride, F-61, 2:11:40
Masters 3rd: Miguel Magana, M-44, 1:24:18
Masters 3rd: Gail Hubbard, F-46, 2:19:31
Awards - Relay Marathon Winners
A Runner's Circle, Team, 2:35:25
True Grit, Team, 2:42:46
2 Legrit 2 Quit, Team, 3:22:45
Arc Run Club 3, Team, 3:44:43
Arc Run Club 2, Team, 4:25:39
Pasadena Pacers, Team, 5:12:09
