Hawthorne Expected to Be the Class of Field for San Diego Marathon

One name stands out among the 1,500 or so runners who will start the San Diego Marathon today.

Brad Hawthorne of Oakland has such impressive credentials that it would be an upset if he has to extend himself to win the men’s race. He has won the Big Sur Marathon five times in the last six years, has qualified for the Olympic marathon trials three times and has a personal best of 2 hours 14 minutes 4 seconds for the distance of more than 26 miles.

If anyone pushes Hawthorne, it probably will be Jim Sheremeta of San Diego, who won the La Jolla Half Marathon recently.

Among the women, Kathy Smith of Newport Beach is favored to repeat her victory of 1990. She has run the distance in 2:40.

If Smith is beaten, it apparently will be by a newcomer. It takes prize money to draw elite runners, and there was none for this race until the GMC Truck Division came forward last Monday with $1,250 for each winner.

Hawthorne, 37, a database analyst and a graduate of the University of Missouri, is confident of adding today’s title to his list of accomplishments.

Told that he was the favorite, Hawthorne said: “I hope so. I’m really in good shape. I took two weeks off and did some serious training. I’m going to be hard to beat.”

Most runners take long respites between marathons, but Hawthorne is also entered in the Long Beach Marathon on Feb. 7.

“Long Beach figures to be more competitive, so I hope this race will be my last all-out tuneup for that one,” he said. “I’m hoping to do around 2:19 here, and to win Long Beach I’ll probably need to run 2:16 or 2:17.”