Marathon Offers a Run in the Woods
Baz Hawley, the Pied Piper of Orange County ultradistance trail running, knows how difficult it is to get runners to go long.
“It’s very hard to persuade even a marathon runner to run 50 miles; it goes over their heads,” Hawley said. “But now slowly but surely people are enjoying not so much racing trails but just running in the woods.”
About 100 hardy souls will be doing just that Saturday at Hawley’s Saddleback Mountain Marathon. The 26.2-mile race starts at 8 a.m. at Blue Jay Campground off Ortega Highway in Cleveland National Forest.
The race is a prelude to the San Juan Trail 50-miler on Nov. 20 and is run partly on the same course.
The marathon has a strong field, including defending champion Doug Spencer of Redlands; Orange’s Scott McKenzie, who won the San Juan Trail 50 last year; San Diego’s Tom Nielsen, who won the Angeles Crest 100 last month, and San Diego’s Suzanne Brana, who won the women’s division of the Angeles Crest and the Western States 100-mile run in June.
Runners can register the day of the race. Allow at least 35 minutes to make the 21-mile drive from Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano to the turnoff for Blue Jay Campground.
For more information: (949) 635-6988.
IRONMAN FINISHERS
Eleven triathletes from Orange County finished the Ironman World Championship Saturday in Hawaii.
Keith Meter, a 28-year-old from San Clemente, was the first county resident to finish, crossing the line after 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 of biking and 26.2 of running in 10 hours 56 seconds.
Three county residents finished the race for the fifth time--David Buffington, 45, of Santa Ana Heights, in 10:24:22; Chris Johnson, 49, of Laguna Niguel, in 10:27:05, and Costa Mesa’s Michele Frey, 49, in 14:14:28.
Tustin’s Johnny Estrada, 41, finished for the third time in 10:33:07, as did Laguna Beach’s Jack Boyster, 52, in 10:39:47.
Other finishers from the county: Patrick Gleason, 38, Huntington Beach (10:42:49); William S. Flanagan III, 30, Laguna Niguel (12:15:57); Rick Olson, 43, Capistrano Beach (12:49:43); Jim Jennings, 50, Laguna Niguel (13:20:14), and Mickie Shapiro, 63, Costa Mesa (16:29:21).