Photos from the 2017 Oakland Marathon: Semereab Gebrekidan and Katherine Klymko win

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Phil April 2, 2017

SEMEREAB GEBREKIDAN

Semereab Gebrekidan (bib #260), a 32-year-old from Oakland won the 2017 Oakland Marathon with a time of 2:35:54. Katherine Klymko won the female field with a finishing time or 03:09.02. Semereab has won a number of other running events, including the Treviso marathon in Italy last year.

KELSEY GURGANUS

Katherine Klymko (#344) of Berkeley won the womens field. She’s barely visible here, hidden behind the 2nd place finisher, Kelsey Gurganus (#276) of Indianapolis and the 5th place finisher, Jacqueline Sloves (#778) of Oakland.

Gabrielle Maudiere (#657) of Larkspur, pictured here with the 3:20 pace group, finished 3rd among women.

EAST BAY ATHLETIC CLUB Oakland Running Festival - 2017

The East Bay Athletics Club men’s relay team (#9226) was first at mile 5, and finished 3rd overall with a time of 02:36:28.

SFRC RACING TEAM Oakland Running Festival - 2017

The SFRC racing team (#9224) won the mixed relay with a finishing time of 02:24:13, good for a 5:30 pace.

EXCEL Oakland Running Festival - 2017

The Excel men’s relay team (#9034) finished 1st for the men’s relay with a time of 02:26:51.

PIMP MY STRIDE

Mixed relay team Pimp my Stride (#9174) finished 3rd with a time of 02:54:24.

Ivan Medina at the 2017 Oakland Marathon

Perennial contender Ivan Medina (#417) of Hayward finished 2nd overall with a time of 02:39.03.

STRAWBERRY CANYON TC Oakland Running Festival - 2017

The Strawberry Canyon Track Club men’s relay team (#9219) finished 2nd with a final time of 02:31:44.

DENNIS LEFBOM Oakland Running Festival - 2017

And as always, Dennis Lefbom (#686) ran with his Hawaiian shirt.

Photos from the 2016 Oakland Running Festival Marathon and Marathon Relay

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Phil March 21, 2016

This year’s 7th Oakland marathon took place on a cloudy morning. It started raining around noon, so most runners just escaped the rain.

A runner (9119) from the Olympic Club male relay team was the first runner through at mile 4, escorted by a few cyclists. They finished in 1st place for the male relay category, with a time of 2:21:44.

This runner (bib 9181) from the SFRC Racing team was the second runner through at mile 4, they finished 2nd in the mixed relay category with a time of 02:41:43.

Carrying the baton for Shabo TC, this runner (9186) helped his male relay team capture 3rd place in their category.

After the first batch of relay runners, we started to see the marathon runners, seen in the lime-colored bibs. This is Alex Battaglino (217) and Patrick Donnelly (924), both of El Cerrito, within footsteps at mile 4. Alex eventually won the race, and increased their separation from a couple of feet to 8 and a half minutes by the end of the race. Alex Battaglino won with a time of 02:34:51, and Patrick Donnelley finished 3rd with a time of 02:43:25.

Ivan Medina of Hayward is a perennial top finisher at the Oakland Marathon. This year, he finished in 2nd place, with a time of 02:41:25. He ran it quite a bit faster in 2015, having finished that race with a time of 02:30:07, which would have been good enough to win this year.

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Here’s a runner from the Habitat for Humanity team, who ran in the mixed relay. They finished with a time of 4:16:37.

Christopher Jackson of Berkeley finished the marathon in 6th place, with a time of 02:55:17.

The #GUforit with the That’s Fine Track Club finished first in the mixed relay. Here’s one of their runners at mile 4.

Rob Nachtwey, of Berkeley, is another perennial contender who is easy to pick out because of his pink hat. He finished 2nd in 2014, and this year finished 4th, with a time of 02:50:55.

This is Patrick Madigan of San Francisco, who finished in 13th place with a time of 03:05:36.

Team Worse Chemistry (9048) from Berkeley finished with a time of 03:24:05, good for 6th place in the Mixed Relay.

Team Soil Joggers, from Oakland, finished 8th in the Male Relay with a time of 03:26:34.

Runner 462 is Spenser Talkington, who ran an amazing 03:05:13 at only 17 years of age! Congrats, Spenser! Fernando de Samaniego Steta of San Francisco (960) finished in 5th place with a time of 02:54:34.

The Strawberry Canyon Track Club Women of Berkeley finished 3rd in the female relay with a time of 02:59:21.

Rohit Mitter (478) from New York finished 18th, with a time of 03:12:12.

Joshua Lerner of San Francisco won the Masters category with a time of 02:49:50.

Eric Obeng (686) of San Francisco finished 11th place with a time of 03:04:13.

Alexander Kramer of Calpella (858) finished 19th with a time of 03:13:06. Nelson Osaky (448) finished 382nd with a time of 04:41:12, and it appears that Holly McIlvaine dropped out of the race or her timing chip didn’t register.

Joshua Bornstein (135) of the Tamalpa Running Club from San Rafael finished 7th with a time of 02:58:35. Erik Donohue finished 26th with a time of 03:18:16.

Andra Enoiu from Richmond finished 63rd overall, but 4th among women, with a time of 03:34:06. She won her age group.

This guy (9212) ran for team StephCurry4Prez. !

Hawaiian Shirt guy! I love seeing runners who do this race nearly every year.

I think this is the same guy who ran with a hemp shoulder back back in 2011? Nice to see him running again.

Oakland Marathon 2015

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Phil March 22, 2015

Jesse Cherry wins the 2015 Oakland Marathon

Congrats, Jesse Cherry from Oakland for winning the 2015 Oakland Marathon!

Congratulations to Jesse Cherry for winning the 2015 Oakland Marathon! Here he is at mile 4. He looks fast even drinking water. Jesse finished in 2:25:14. The weather looked great for it – mildly overcast and pleasantly cool.

Ivan Medina finished 2nd with a time of 2:30:07 and 3rd place was Ryan Neely, who was only 5 seconds behind Ivan. At the 2011 Oakland Marathon, Ivan finished 5th with a time of 2:44:33.

Here’s Ryan Neely:

Devon Yanko won for the women, with a time of 2:56:02. She set the womens’ course record in 2013.

Oakland Running Festival – Marathon 2014

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Phil March 23, 2014

We stepped outside around 8 this morning to catch Oakland marathon runners around mile 5.

Oakland PD motorcycle marshaling the frontrunners:

This guy from the Oakland-based Bay Area Track Club relay team was minutes in front of anyone else at this point. Not surprisingly, they went on to win the relay with a final time of 2:20:54.

These guys did very well too – “That’s Fine Track Club” from San Francisco finished second in the relay results, with a time of 2:24:31.

A small pack of solo-marathoners came next. Here’s Rob Nachtwey from Berkeley in the pink hat, with Chris Mocko close behind, wearing the red headband. Chis had won the marathon in 2012 with a time of 2:28:09, but apparently dropped out of the race and registered a DNF this year. Rob Nachtwey went on to finish second place with a time of 2:41:00 – his second straight second place finish. Well done, Rob. It’s neat that the official race results show splits – Rob appears to have spent the entire race consistently in second place.

This is Eulogio Rodriguez from Whittier, who was only footsteps behind in the pack. He hung out in 3rd for a while, but was up by more than 2 minutes by mile 12, and finished the race 10 minutes and 37 seconds ahead of Rob Nachtwey, with a time of 2:30:22.21.

Boone Ebel from Foster City finished a solid 4th.

Colorful Kindy Tice, bib #728, was a bit behind at this point (maybe 5th or 6th place) but was able to make his way into 3rd by mile 12 and stayed there til the end, finishing with a time of 2:43:13.

This is Robbie Salazar, of Pueblo, Colorado who finished in 6th place.

This guy didn’t have a bib, but made up for it with a black Raiders cape.

This guy blue himself. – Team Reservoir Dogs from Oakland.

The woman on the right is Jen Bakula, who finished 6th among women.

Verity Breen won the half marathon in 2011 and returned this year to finish in 2nd place among women, with a time of 3:22:13. She was in 4th, or maybe even a bit further back at this point, but made her way up to second within a few miles.

And of course, Hawaiian shirt guy was running again.

Photos and commentary: Oakland Marathon 2012

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phil March 25, 2012

I haven’t put as many running (or cycling) miles in this year compared to last, but I was still excited to check out the runners at this year’s Oakland Marathon. My girlfriend and I got up early to head over to College Avenue in Rockridge and see the runners between miles 5 and 6.

The weather forecasts were calling for rain, but as we parked our bikes the sun was starting to shine through the clouds over the Oakland hills. The pavement was wet from last night but it was starting to dry.

We had a few minutes to spare and stood around watching volunteers direct traffic and the TranSports crew set up their water station. A lot of drivers were confused by the road closures and some tried to get onto the course to get to where they were going. Perhaps there should be more signage next year for drivers?

The marathon started with the police motorcycle

~~The results aren’t yet available off of active.com as of 1:16pm (“We are experiencing higher than normal volume and are therefore unable to process your request at this time.” ) today but~~ this was the 1st place runner and eventual winner Chris Mocko from San Francisco at the mile 5 mark. He finished with a time of 2:28:09, setting an event record.

1st place winner Chris was decked out in New Balance gear – as part of the New Balance Silicon Valley team.

Here’s the 2nd place runner, Oaklander Phillip Shaw at mile 5. Most of the runners had serious looks on their faces. I know it’s hard for me to smile when I’m devoting all of my energy to placing one foot in front of the other. This guy broke a smile as we cheered him on. He was dressed in Brooks gear. He finished 2nd with a time of 2:37:13. (I hope he wore some Glide or some Vaseline or something. Or maybe it’s a non chafey-shirt?)

Tony Torres of Cedar Glen finished 4th last year and was in 3rd place at this point. Nike representing here. He went on to finish the race in 3rd place with a time of 2:38:05.

This pair was in 4th and 5th place at this point. Steven Moreno (#773) eventually pulled away to capture 4th place with a time of 2:41:18. Christopher Gurney finished 5th with a time of 2:43:29. Both of the guys are also from Oakland.

The 6th place male runner at mile 5 for this year’s 2012 Oakland Full Marathon. Andrew Willis, of San Jose, finished in 14th place at 3:02:48.

This guy was the first place relay member at mile 5. Their team, “Wild Dogs”, went on to win the relay with a finishing time of 2:29:57.

The 2nd place relay team at mile 5. Their team, “Three Men and a Kid”, finished 2nd with a time of 2:46:17.

A guy on a hand powered bike with the GoPro hero in front.

This is Anna Bretan, who won the 2011 Oakland Marathon in her first ever marathon. It looks like she won again with a time of 2:57:33. The Oakland Raiders (@RAIDERS) posted a picture of her crossing the finish line here, and as appropriately stated by twitter user @elcush, Anna gave birth 6 weeks ago. Insane. According to SFGate: “She ran 40-mile weeks right until she gave birth, and did an easy five-mile job on the same day her baby, Tatum, was born. Within a week, she was back to heavy training.”

1st place female finisher Anna Bretan and other runner in front of Miam Miam

This is a photo of the 2nd and 3rd place female runners at mile 5. Runner #694, Penny MacPhail of San Anselmo, finished 3rd with a time of 3:12:18. Claudette Augert (#139) of Edmonton, Alberta, finished 6th with a time of 3:20:47.

And the 4th place female runner at mile 5. Monica Zhuang caught up a bit and finished the race in 2nd place with a time of 3:06:17.

Once the super-speedy runners had passed, the race pack thickened up. Here is a group of slightly-less speedy-but-still-fast runners heading up the 3:10 pace group.

I dislike GEICO but I do like the Oakland Marathon Pacers!

Here’s the 3:20 pace group.

And here’s a guy running in his Hawaiian shirt. I think he did the same last year.

The Oakland Marathon was definitely no Bay to Breakers, but there were some people who had interesting outfits. This guy wins for the most color-coordinated. Pink shirt, pink gloves, pink fanny pack, pink socks and pink shoes. And check out all of those Gu/Clif Shot/Powergel packets.

This guy wins for best beard. (This is Sam, co-owner of Brazen Racing. Thanks, Pete!)

This was the first barefoot runner that we saw. Good job, guy!

This woman was rocking her I hella heart Oakland shirt.

This woman was running with a birthday sash and hat and accompanying runner with a sign. Happy 30th, Monica!

“I’m running 30 miles for my 30th birthday” – that is awesome. I wonder if she tacked on the extra 4 before or after the race.

Runner in a tutu.

Relay runner with butterfly wings.

A course high-five. What is especially cool is that this guy ran the marathon in a disposable lab coat.

This guy ran in a feathered hat and bolo tie.

This looks like a father and daughter team.

The 5:00 pace group. Yay pacers!

The Praying Runner. He handed out a rose at each of the 26 miles and was running to support women with breast cancer.

The sign at the College Avenue Presbyterian Church. “WELCOME TO MILE 5.6 OF THE OAKLAND MARATHON”

Oakland Marathon 2011

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phil March 27, 2011

I got out early this morning to check out the 2011 Oakland Marathon. I didn’t have it in me to try to try to run it again this year (especially with all of the cycling training) but it was really exciting to see the runners. I got out to around the 4.5 mile mark on College ave in front of Crossroads Trading and across from Toast and near miam miam (expensive, but probably the best frozen yogurt I’ve had)

This is Tegenu Beru from San Jose. He won the race wish a finishing time of 2:30:08. Damn.

He had a small entourage of cyclists surrounding him and preceding that were some police motorcycles and an official pickup truck.

Ivan Medina from Hayward finished 5th with a time of 2:44:33, but was in 2nd place at this point.

These guys were running together at this point in the race, but eventually Jesus Campos (#1003) pulled off to capture 2nd place with a time of 2:37:31. Tony Torres (#1000) still finished strongly at 4th place with a time of 2:38:45.

Anna Bretan took 1st place for women and 11th place overall with a strong finishing time of 2:53:19. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, this was her first marathon ever and the longest distance she’s run in her life.

Lori Buratto from Washington finished 2nd among women with a finishing time of 3:02:53.

They look happy!

Suet-Fei Li finished 3rd among women with a time of 3:03:25.

This guy was awesome.

By the way, she is ripped

Hawaiian shirt

This guy ran the marathon with a hemp shoulder bag.

Hard to see from the photo since I had switched out to a wide-angle lens, but this guy is “Endorphin Dude” and ran with a cape. Pretty sweet. Check out his website.

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