Santa Barbara's Sports News and Information
Cowbell.You can never have enough cowbell.It grabs your attention and rattles right through you, like Sunday morning during Santa Barbara’s very own international marathon – it was everywhere!There was cowbell behind Costco….cowbell on Cathedral Oaks…on Cliff Drive… and certainly cowbell down to the finish line near our spectacular Santa Barbara City College on the coast.Cowbell — as in wild, enthusiastic support for the 3,000-plus runners from across the nation. … [Read more...]
Blessed with ideal weather conditions and great community support, the inaugural Select Staffing Santa Barbara International Marathon went off without any major hitches on Sunday morning.Carlos Handler of Pomona was the overall winner, covering the 26.2-mile course from Goleta to Santa Barbara City College’s La Playa Stadium in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 48.7 seconds. Nathan Jones of Shipshewana, Ind. was second (2:35.59.6) and former Westmont College star Robby Cherry came in third … [Read more...]
From a mile run down State Street, to a half marathon along the waterfront, to a neighborhood four-miler on Thanksgiving, a 15-kilometer on Fourth of July and five- and 10-ks on New Year’s Day, the Santa Barbara area has an assortment of distance races throughout the year.Except for one.There hasn’t been a marathon staged on the South Coast since the mid-1980s.Well, Merry Christmas. That all changes on Sunday when close to 3,000 runners line up at 6:30 a.m. at Ellwood School for … [Read more...]
With Aaron Sharp feeling at the top of his game, the rest of the field didn’t have much of a chance to beat him at Saturday morning’s Santa Barbara Half Marathon. The Port Hueneme runner stormed into the lead from the start and never looked back in winning the 33rd edition of the race in 1 hour, 9 minutes, 16 seconds.“I felt really good; running smooth, probably as smooth as I ever have in a long time,” said Sharp, 29, a former cross country star at UCSB and the current coach at … [Read more...]
As the hearty runners made their way up Gibraltar Road in the grueling Pier to Peak Half Marathon, they saw the scorched hillsides left by the Jesusita and Tea Fires.There was something burning on the mountain again Sunday morning but it wasn’t brush. It was the emotions of some of the lead runners who missed a turnaround point and lost valuable time and a high finish. Those runners voluntarily dropped out of the race.Eric Forte stayed on the course and smoked the field to win for the … [Read more...]
The city of Santa Barbara is set to host its first marathon in over two decades – replete with a three-day festival comprised of different races for all age groups and skill levels, headlined by the 26.2-mile race that will wind its way through neighborhoods from Goleta to Santa Barbara.The Select Staffing International Santa Barbara Marathon is scheduled for December 4th-6th, featuring a lecture series on Friday – where two-time Olympian Ed Eyestone will speak about runner’s health … [Read more...]
Aaron Gillen had already put together a rock-solid 2008 before winning Saturday's Santa Barbara Half-Marathon in just under an hour and 11 minutes.That he did it wearing a Fred Flintstone costume only added to the amiable atmosphere at Leadbetter Beach during the annual event, which is Santa Barbara's largest running race of the year. "I was dared by my wife to wear it," said Gillen of his unorthodox attire.Gillen, a teacher at La Puente elementary school who helps coach San Marcos … [Read more...]
While many understandably struggled to summit Gibraltar Peak during Sunday’s Pier-to-Peak half marathon, Aaron Gillen made it look easy.The 31-year-old runner from Santa Barbara dashed from Stearns Wharf to the finish line, a total climb of just under 4,000 feet, in 1 hour, 33 minutes and 4 seconds. … [Read more...]
