Marathoners Hoof It Through Newport

A field of 2,400 runners from 45 states rumbled through Newport Beach early Sunday in the eighth annual OC Marathon.

Maika Carlsen, 31, won the women's division for the third consecutive year, while Peter Omae Ayieni, 34, took the men's division for the second consecutive year.

Carlsen clocked in at 2 hours, 53 minutes and 13 seconds, while Stephanie Kato, 23, placed second at 2:55:05. Ayieni was timed at 2:31:18,with Nate Clayson, 26, placing second at 2:34:50.

The 2,400 registered participants represented a 4.3 percent increase from last year's tally, race director Gary Kutscher said.

``I was expecting a little bit more than that, given that we have modified the course slightly to make it more favorable to the marathoners, but any kind of a gain in this economy, we're excited about,'' Kutscher told City News Service.

The 26-mile race began in front of the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa before winding through Costa Mesa and Santa Ana and ending at the OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa.

Changes to the course included having the runners pass Greenville Fundamental Elementary School in Santa Ana, whose approximately 375
participants in the marathon's Kids Run the OC program are more than any other school, Kutscher said.

The amount of the race run on the Santa Ana River Trail was cut from 3.3 miles to about 1.6 miles. It was replaced by streets in the Mesa Verde neighborhood of Costa Mesa in what Kutscher called ``a major change.''

``The river trail [is] really nice for a short distance, but after about 3 miles it gets really tedious,'' Kutscher said.

The finish line was moved past the main gate of the OC Fair grounds, allowing runners to run together longer, Kutscher said.

The changes were prompted by comments from runners, Kutscher said: "We are always trying to tweak the course to make things better. We always want to give the runners a better experience. What runners need most out there is support and support comes from people. When you have areas of the course [that are] either industrial or uninhabited, it makes it really difficult to get people out there. What we've found in those neighborhoods we've put the marathon, the neighborhoods really start to feel a sense of ownership, come out there and cheer the runners.''

An accompanying 13.1-mile half-marathon drew 10,300 entrants, a 32 percent jump over last year's 7,800, Kutscher said.

The biggest reason for the increase in registration was the race's affiliation with the Long Beach and Surf City marathons, Kutscher said. Finishers in all three races receive what he described as a ``very large, heavy medal'' for completing what has been dubbed as the Beach Cities Challenge.