Results From the 6th Annual Santa Barbara Veterans Day Marathon

The 6th Annual Santa Barbara Veterans Day Marathon and Half Marathon took place last Sunday, November 8th. 

The top 5 male finishers were Sammy Cheruiyot Mutai (sounds Kenyan to me) in 2:31:40, followed by Damon Valenzona (2:34:29), Van McCarty (2:36:33 - also top Master's runner), Jonathan Corley (2:41:17) and Jason Smith (2:46:09).

The top 5 females were Paige Burgin (10th overall) in 3:06:38, followed by Jennifer Marquardt (12th overall) in 3:10:07, Jill Christ (3:14:58), Deanna Odell (3:19:41 - also top Master's runner) and Hillary Shaw (3:19:50).

There were 8 sub-3 hour finishers out of 856 who finished the 26.2 mile distance, which to me is a bit on the low side.

In fact, my 3:16 time in the inaugural race in 2009 barely landed me into the top 100 runners, whereas that time in the 2014 edition would have placed me in the top 20. My how times change (both literally and figuratively).

Next year's event is planned for Sunday, November 7, 2015. Register at sbmarathon.com.