Monday, March 15th, 2010 • Santa Barbara, California

 
WeissCrax: 26.2 miles of civic pride

WeissCrax: 26.2 miles of civic pride

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.
Cindy [...]

Handler, McLarty tops in SB Marathon

Handler, McLarty tops in SB Marathon

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 [...]

Marathon weekend is finally here

Marathon weekend is finally here

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 [...]

Aaron looks Sharp en route to half-marathon victory

Aaron looks Sharp en route to half-marathon victory

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 [...]

Wrong turn adds controversy at Pier to Peak

Wrong turn adds controversy at Pier to Peak

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 [...]

Competitors gear up for Pier to Peak

The Pier to Peak half marathon is not your average weekend road race. Not by a long shot.
Those who enter the annual Labor Day weekend event probably have a masochistic side to their personality. Starting at 6:30 a.m. Sunday at the dolphin fountain, where State Street meets Stearns Wharf, the race course takes runners on [...]

Full-length marathon coming to SB in December

Full-length marathon coming to SB in December

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 [...]

Fred Flintstone look-alike wins Half-Marathon

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 [...]

Gillen, Dillman climb to the top

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.
To get an idea of Gillen’s domination, the [...]