NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.—Esteban Prado of Fountain Valley was disqualified as the men’s winner of Sunday’s 20th OC Marathon for taking fluids from a spectator.
Runners can only get water from official hydration stations.
Jason Yang of San Pedro was declared the winner in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 11 seconds.
In her first marathon, Gabriella Smith of Lynchburg, Virginia was the women’s winner in 3:05:30, 12 seconds ahead of Annika Mellquist of Gardena.
“I never expected to win,” said Ms. Smith, a 26-year-old and mother of an 11-month-old. “The first 10 miles felt like I was flying, boosted by the crowd’s energy and the stunning ocean views—something we just don’t get on the East Coast.”
The race served as the national championship for the Road Runners Club of America, the nation’s oldest and largest distance running organization.
The marathon drew 3,500 entrants, including more than 200 from the from the nonprofit youth marathon training program We Run Our Community’s Kids (WeRock), race publicist Dan Cruz told City News Service.
The 26-mile, 385-yard marathon course began in front of the VEA Marriott Resort Hotel & Spa, then went through Corona del Mar and the Newport Harbor area.
The runners then entered Costa Mesa, passed the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, went around the South Coast Plaza and through Segerstrom High School.
The course continued for one mile in Santa Ana, then turned onto the Santa Ana River Trail for 1.5 miles, exiting at the Gisler foot bridge to run through the Mesa Verde neighborhoods and then the “Bird Streets.”
The race ended at the OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa.
The entrants for the four races that comprise the Hoag OC Marathon Running Festival included 25 runners who have run a race each year the event has been held. They were dubbed by organizers as “marathon legends.”
“Their commitment showcases not only personal endurance but also the history of this event as a community tradition, which has seen its fair share of memorable moments, from inclement weather to record participation in 2024,” race director Gary Kutschar said, referring to the inaugural 2004 race which was run in a cold rain.
The marathon heroes include 84-year-old Vikki Richardson.
Ms. Richardson began running when she was 50 when she decided to run a marathon to celebrate the milestone birthday.
The West Covina resident said she stuffed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the inaugural race.
“That’s where we carried a lot of things,” Ms. Richardson said. “It was the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich ever.”
Ms. Richardson employs the run-walk method, alternating running for one minute, walking the next minute.
“The fun for me is the ability to move myself under my own horsepower,” Ms. Richardson said. “I can speed up. I can slow down. I can run hills. I can run down hills and that amazes me. I don’t need to slow down. I’m already slow enough.”
Ms. Richardson was among the 11,000 entrants for Sunday’s half-marathon, which began at 6:30 a.m., an hour after the marathon. She was timed in 3:36:59, fifth among women 80 and older, 4,626th among all women and 9,175th overall.
The festival’s other two races were run Saturday, both selling out. The 5K drew 4,400 entrants and the kids’ mile run 6,000.
The event has helped raise over $9.5 million for a variety of charities and nonprofit organizations.
- Outreach To The World, which seeks to equip and empower a rural Kenyan village to care for the orphans and widows, the sick and the poor through sponsorships. It provide the children with school fees, uniforms, school supplies, health care, supplemental food and social worker support.
- Project Possible, founded in 2009 by Bonner Paddock Rinn, who was born with cerebral palsy. It raises funds to help fund early learning centers that provide various types of therapies for children with disabilities, along with support for their families.
- Project Youth OC, a nonprofit committed to keeping at-risk youth in school, healthy and drug-free through education, counseling, mentoring and family strengthening.
