Harris Pulls Away in the Final Mile to Win

Matt Harris didn’t mind that organizers of the Southern California Half Marathon weren’t awarding prize money for the first time in five years. The 23-year-old Redondo Beach resident got what he came for Saturday.

Harris waged a two-man race through the streets of Irvine with 44-year-old Dave Parsel of Costa Mesa before pulling away in the last mile to win in 1 hour 10 minutes 20 seconds.

“It was what competition should be, two guys going at it,” Harris said. “And a half marathon is a long time for that kind of thing.”

Harris and Parsel pulled away from the field six miles into the race. Harris, who holds the school record in the 5,000 meters at Yale, then used a late kick to defeat Parsel by nine seconds.

“We ran pretty much stride for stride until he dropped me with about two minutes to go,” said Parsel, who finished fourth at last year’s Pacific Shoreline Marathon in Huntington Beach.

The first female to cross the finish line was Melanie Ellis of Hollywood (1:20.24). Ellis, a 35-year-old British citizen, used the race in preparation for the London Marathon in April, when she hopes to qualify for one of two remaining berths on Great Britain’s Olympic team.

“It’s a training run because I haven’t done any proper speed work since the beginning of December,” said Ellis, who ran 2:46 at the Boston Marathon last year.