Smith leads SB presence at Boston Marathon

Carpinteria’s Tim Smith turned in the best time of local runners competing at Monday’s 114th running of the Boston Marathon.Smith, 45, hit the finish line at Boyston Street in downtown Boston in 2 hours, 43 minutes, 53 seconds. The time was a considerable improvement over his result from last month’s Los Angeles Marathon. He ran 3:13.27 on the course from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica.Jamie Haggar, 31, of Santa Barbara, was the next fastest in 2:55.10.The top local woman finisher … [Read more...]

Locals fare well in L.A. Marathon

There were more than a few South Coast runners competing in the L.A. Marathon on Sunday, many of whom were counted among the 22,299 finishers.Goleta's Jonathan Williams was the fastest local, completing the course in three hours, three minutes and 26 seconds. That made the 28-year-old 148th overall and 29th in his age group.Santa Barbara's Matthew Enna had an official time of 3:08:26 that was good for 216th place overall. The 35-year-0ld was 28th in his age group.Carpinteria's Tim Smith … [Read more...]

WeissCrax: 26.2 miles of civic pride

Randy Weiss with friends after the Santa Barbara International Marathon.

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. From … [Read more...]

Handler, McLarty tops in SB Marathon

MARATHONtab

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 (2:37.35.9).OVERALL … [Read more...]

Marathon weekend is finally here

Robby Cherry

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 the … [Read more...]

Aaron looks Sharp en route to half-marathon victory

halfmartab

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 Santa … [Read more...]

Wrong turn adds controversy at Pier to Peak

Overall winner Eric Forte

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 second … [Read more...]

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 an elevation gain of nearly 4,000 feet to the finish line at Lookout Park on top of La Cumbre Peak.The torturous climb up the long and winding Gibralter Road will take runners … [Read more...]

Full-length marathon coming to SB in December

MarathonTab

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 and … [Read more...]

Fred Flintstone look-alike wins Half-Marathon

2008 Santa Barbara 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 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 cross … [Read more...]