Childhood Paves Way for Marathon Victory

Rob McNair usually wouldn’t bother competing in a mere 26.2-mile race, especially one that’s mapped across unforgiving asphalt. He prefers longer runs across mountain ridges and through forests, not a sunny jaunt down Pacific Coast Highway.

But McNair couldn’t pass up another chance to compete in the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, which weaved its way through the streets on which he grew up.

McNair, a 43-year-old electrician, also didn’t mind the chance to improve on his second-place finish of a year ago, which he did, winning the second annual race in 2:49.12 Sunday.

“I’m not a pavement runner. I’m a dirt runner,” McNair said. “I’ve got a 31-mile race next week. I don’t even do this, I just did it because it’s Huntington Beach, because I’ve lived here all my life.”

McNair, who finished in 2:45.57 last year, is more comfortable running distances between 50 kilometers and 100 miles. He ran the Angelus Crest 100-mile race in September, but a knee injury in that event slowed his competitive schedule. Next weekend he’ll run in a 50K race up Mt. Wilson.

McNair has set several age-group records in ultra-marathons and his personal best over 26.2 miles is 2:37.

“I’m old, I’m just trying to hang on,” McNair said. “These young guys are supposed to be killing me, especially with a bad time like this. I mean this is slow.”

McNair said he took the lead about the second mile and stayed ahead the rest of the way. With the up-and-back layout of the course, he was able to keep track of the nearest pursuer, second-place finisher Jim O’Brien (2:51.41) of Monrovia.

Some local knowledge didn’t hurt either. “I grew up downtown so I know where every rock is on this course,” he said.

The first woman to cross the finish line, and fourth overall, was also a local runner. Kelly Flathers of Huntington Beach set a women’s course record with a time of 2:55.06 in her first marathon race.

Flathers, 26, had shown her ability in shorter races, winning two local 5K runs last summer, including the Bastille Day 5K in Newport Beach.

In the half marathon, Ivo Rodrigues, 35, of Monterey Park persuaded a race official to give him a number two minutes before the start of the race and then went out and won the event in 1:08.33.

Rodrigues, who was third at the Southern California Half Marathon in Irvine two weeks ago, took the lead for good in the fifth mile.

Sarah Burns, 23, of Glendora was the first woman to finish the half marathon, running a personal-best time of 1:21.06. Burns graduated from Azusa Pacific, where she twice set the school record in the 10,000 meters last year.

David Parsel, 42, of Costa Mesa, won the 8K race in 25.30. Joan Gallagher, 33, from Long Beach, came in first among the women with a time of 30.14, followed by Carol Wimbish, 46, of Huntington Beach (32:43).

In the 5K, Anet Meyer of Tustin was the first woman, finishing in 18:29. David Jackson of Crestline was first overall with a time of 16:05.

Marathon Results

PACIFIC SHORELINE MARATHON

Top 100

1. Rob McNair (Huntington Beach), 2:49.12; 2. Jim O’Brien (Monrovia), 2:51.41; 3. Ted Stull (Lawndale), 2:53.50; 4. Kelly Flathers (Huntington Beach), 2:55.06; 5. Kyle McNeil (Mission Viejo), 2:55.50; 6. Steve Lind (Huntington Beach), 2:57.07; 7. Jim Morehart (Torrance), 2:57.30; 8. Jason Holmes (Redondo Beach), 2:58.02; 9. Juan Pacheco (Los Angeles), 2:58.23; 10. Steve McMillan (Glendale), 3:01.37.

11. Mike Schneck (Redondo Beach), 3:02.30; 12. Pierre Rolin (Pacific Grove), 3:02.59; 13. J Dean (Riverside), 3:03.15; 14. Mark Matyazic (Irvine), 3:03.32; 15. Dan Goldstein (Thousand Oaks), 3:04.05; 16. Gerald Tabb (Mission Viejo), 3:05.31; 17. Oscar Fricke (Mission Viejo), 3:05.42; 18. Chris Johnson (Laguna Niguel), 3:05.58; 19. Keith Daniels (San Diego), 3:06.01; 20. Mike Hughes (Rancho Santa Margarita), 3:06.05.

21. Bill Sieck (Costa Mesa), 3:06.41; 22. Chuck Sohaskey (Irvine), 3:06.54; 23. Derek Peregrym (Canada), 3:07.11; 24. Dan Garten (Huntington Beach), 3:07.28; 25. Kie Soohoo (Anaheim), 3:07.36; 26. Diane Smith Daruty (Newport Beach), 3:07.50; 27. Clarke Mason (Oceanside), 3:08.12; 28. Thomas Hewko (Newport Beach), 3:08.32; 29. Bill Sampson (Sylmar), 3:08.35; 30. Gerry Nelson (Pasadena), 3:11.13.

31. Jonathan Pauley (Irvine), 3:11.24; 32. Robert Harris (Irvine), 3:11.30; 33. Michael Weng (Fullerton), 3:11.51; 34. Eric Piper (Corona del Mar), 3:12.41; 35. Peter Fussle (Warsaw, Ind.), 3:12.49; 36. Randy Thiele (Lake Forest), 3:13.34; 37. David McDowell (Palmdale), 3:13.37; 38. Bruce Guter (Fullerton), 3:13.58; 39. Scott Keil (Huntington Beach), 3:14.14; 40. Fred Morales (Anaheim), 3:14.22.

41. Andrew Altman (Orange), 3:14.26; 42. Mark Nockels (Los Angeles), 3:14.45; 43. Edward Murphy (Newport Beach), 3:15.13; 44. Willie Guevara (Placentia), 3:15.51; 45. Tim Smith (Huntington Beach), 3:18.01; 46. Gerhard Fussle (Winona Lake, Ind.), 3:18.03; 47. Tina Pauley (Irvine), 3:18.33; 48. Stuart Uehara (Anaheim), 3:18.38; 49. Robert Wong (Los Angeles), 3:19.02; 50. Rene Covarrubias (Los Angeles), 3:19.20.

51. Leslie Caldera (Whittier), 3:20.59; 52. Roger Watson (Fountain Valley), 3:21.01; 53. Jackie Sepulveda, (Huntington Beach), 3:21.11; 54. Sena Hoddman (Huntington Beach), 3:21.42; 55. Chris Borg (Huntington Beach), 3:22.11; 56. Raouf Mallouh (Canada), 3:22.12; 57. Mark Russak (Woodland Hills), 3:22.23; 58. Jim Crandall (Huntington Beach), 3:22.55; 59. Kevin Allen (Irvine), 3:23.26; 60. Mark Burton (Los Angeles), 3:23.43.

61. Tym Stark (Anaheim), 3:24.10; 62. Jim Boyd (Lakeside), 3:24.55; 63. Debbie Strosnider (Temecula), 3:25.06; 64. Neil Rosenfield (Tarzana), 3:25.42; 65. Sheri Ellervy (Dana Point), 3:25.59; 66. Hyunchan Choi (Lomita), 3:26.37; 67. Helmut Linzbichler, (Australia), 3:27.16; 68. Jeff Richie (Temecula), 3:27.21; 69. Patrick Tighe (Topanga), 3:28.08; 70. Joseph Lazzari (Seal Beach), 3:28.10.

71. David Lukacko (Rochester, N.Y.), 3:28.37; 72. Clifford Griffin (Solana Beach), 3:28.50; 73. Joe Campbell (Temecula), 3:29.45; 74. William Harns (Manhattan Beach), 3:29.47; 75. Antonio Bugarin (Long Beach), 3:30.02; 76. Brian Hopp (Mission Viejo), 3:30.03; 77. Edward Loh (Huntington Beach), 3:30.58; 78. James Marshall (Agoura Hills), 3:31.06; 79. Tom Przybelski (Camp Pendleton), 3:31.06; 80. Farzad Noori (Santa Monica), 3:31.48.

81. Clayton Steffenson (Van Nuys), 3:33.27; 82. Francisco Rubio (Paramount), 3:33.41; 83. Sandy Mora (Seal Beach), 3:34.00; 84. Lorraine Gersitz (Fullerton), 3:34.16; 85. James Hagen (Huntington Beach), 3:34.20; 86. Bryce Sawyer (Ventura), 3:34.23; 87. Donna Watts (Thousand Oaks), 3:34.25; 88. Christian Pons, 3:34.48; 89. Mary Kite (Los Angeles), 3:34.56; 90. Yoshio Minato (San Francisco), 3:35.51.

91. Hishashi Ohta (Garden Grove), 3:36.01; 92. John Scribner (Hesperia), 3:36.05; 93. Tom Wheatley (Seal Beach), 3:36.17; 94. Mark Munoz (Garden Grove), 3:36.24; 95. Myung Park (Pasadena), 3:36.40; 96. Michael Schiff (Menlo Park), 3:37.18; 97. Thomas Brown (Downey), 3:37.22; 98. Denise Icaza (Manhattan Beach), 3:37.57; 99. Lucy Nieves (Covina), 3:38.15; 100. Daniel Barta (Costa Mesa), 3:38.20.

HALF MARATHON

Male top finishers

1. Ivo Rodrigues (Monterey Park), 1:08.33; 2. Joey Gomez (Fullerton), 1:09.41; 3. Gilbert Salazar (Long Beach), 1:10.14; 4. Ricardo Valenzuela (Riverside), 1:12.11; 5. Robert Leonardo (Van Nuys), 1:12.44; 6. Dan Gaston (Huntington Beach), 1:13.30; 7. Rigoberto Vega (Los Angeles), 1:13.41; 8. Chris Jaggers (Yorba Linda), 1:14.03; 9. Armando Morales (Los Angeles), 1:14.13; 10. Jim Schneider (Louisville, Ky.), 1:14.20.

Female Top finishers

1. Sarah Burns (Glendora), 1:21.06; 2. Suzi Morris (Encinitas), 1:21.51; 3. Alfreda Iglehart (Los Angeles), 1:25.39; 4. Candy Clark (Huntington Beach), 1:26.20; 5. Kiersten Pauling (Stevenson Ranch), 1:26.26; 6. Sharon Zimmerman (Orange), 1:26.38; 7. Sara Giles (Irvine), 1:28.28; 8. Andrea Warner (Tacoma, Wash.), 1:28.49; 9. Marni Cota (Laguna Niguel), 1:28.54; 10. Rhesa Ashbacher (Oceanside), 1:29.31.

8K RUN

Male Top Finishers

1. David Parsel (Costa Mesa), 25.30; 2. Rundy Horne (Contoocook, N.H.), 25.47; 3. Francisco Olid (Monterey Park), 26.44; 4. Daniel Rosales (Anaheim), 26.52; 5. Jaime Cabrillo (Costa Mesa), 26.59; 6. Steve Bishop (Essex), 26.59; 7. Steve Sorkin (Tarzana), 27.20; 8. Robert Rust (Garden Grove), 28.02; 9. Chris Pionessa (Huntington Beach), 28.42; 10. Hugo Velazquez (Venice), 29.08.

Female Top Finishers

1. Joan Gallagher (Long Beach), 30.14; 2. Carol Wimbish (Huntington Beach), 32.43; 3. Mary Vidovich (Los Gatos), 33.01; 4. Julie Lister (Glendale), 33.29; 5. Annette Barnett (Long Beach), 33.48; 6. Erin Zehntner (Irvine), 34.24; 7. Gina Turpel (Aliso Viejo), 34.41; 8. Dawn Templeton (Trabuco Canyon), 34.44; 9. Pam Lopez, 34.45; 10. Brigitte Sewell (Westminster), 34.54.

5K RUN

Male Top Finishers

1. David Jackson (Crestline), 16.05; 2. Travis Morisoli (San Clemente), 16.28; 3. Daniel Rosales (Anaheim), 16.35; 4. Joerg Kinder (Sylva, N.C.), 17.07; 5. Chris Pionessa (Huntington Beach), 17.12; 6. Danny Goldman (Mission Viejo), 17.17; 7. Bill McQuown (Rancho Santa Margarita), 17.46; 8. Thomas Cogdali (Fort Irwin), 17.47; 9. Stephen Masoner (Seal Beach), 17.50; 10. Drew Ausoms (Huntington Beach), 18.11.

Female Top Finishers

1. Anet Meyer (Tustin), 18.29; 2. Yayoi Liu (Irvine), 19.06; 3. Jill Charnaw (Huntington Beach), 20.20; 4. Vanessa Kelly (Huntington Beach), 20.49; 5. Pat Hadley (Yorba Linda), 20.56; 6. Trisha Harris (Long Beach), 21.00; 7. Kathleen Cerullo (Santa Ana), 21.06; 8. Rose Caldera (Whittier), 21.18; 9. Jenifer Padilla (Newport Beach), 22.05; 10. Theresa Morris (Burlingame), 22.13.