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Newport Beach woman, LA man win Surf City Marathon
Orange County Feb 06, 2023
Surf City Marathon runners. | Photo courtesy of Surf City/@RWBmultimedia
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Michelle Jacobsen of Newport Beach was the women’s winner of Sunday’s 27th Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach while Jason Yang of Los Angeles was the men’s winner by more than 12 minutes.
Heather Gilliland of Cardiff-by-the-Sea was the women’s leader for most of the race, until a quad injury slowed her down. Jacobsen, 44, took the lead at mile 24 and maintained it for the rest of the race, winning in two hours, 57 minutes, 41 seconds. The 26-year-old Gilliland was second in 3:00:26.
The 31-year-old Yang completed 26-mile, 385-yard course in 2:29:01 for his first marathon victory.
“I wanted to start fast and finish strong and I think I executed it pretty well,” said Yang, who finished third last year.
Ruben Gonzalez of Anaheim was second in 2:41:37.
The race began at 6:30 a.m., 15 minutes before sunrise, on Pacific Coast Highway between the ocean and the Hilton Waterfront Beach Hotel, with runners quickly passing the nearby Huntington Beach Pier. The second through ninth miles went through Huntington Beach’s Central Park. Miles 9 through 15 went through the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.
Miles 16 through 25 were on a beachfront running path paved over the sand. The final mile took runners along Pacific Coast Highway to the finish line, also near the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort.
More than 15,000 runners participated in the marathon’s three races, organizers said.
Robert Miranda, 22, of Venice, was the men’s half-marathon winner in 1:05:03 while Elizabeth Camy, 39, of Simi Valley was the women’s half-marathon winner in 1:18:40.
Ismael Samano of Los Angeles was the men’s winner of the 5K in 15:25, three seconds ahead of Michael Foley. Rachel Miura of Laguna Hills won the women’s 5K in 18:00, with 56-year-old Sylvia Mosqueda finishing second in 18:55.
Mosqueda was the 1988 NCAA women’s 10,000 meter champion when she ran for Cal State Los Angeles and 1987 Los Angeles Marathon second-place finisher.
Dorothy Strand maintained her streak of finishing a race in every edition, placing first among women 80 and older in the 5K.
The 83-year-old Strand is a retired nurse from Orange who became a runner in her late 40s. Her sons were running cross-country at Orange Lutheran High School when her husband, John, decided to join them in road races.
“I thought, `Heck, I need to join in on this,”‘ she said.
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