26.2 miles of smiles

Newport Beach resident Jane Maxwell ran the first marathon of her life Sunday, earning third place out of 800 women runners. In the midst of her triumph Maxwell seemed less elated than embarrassed when talking about it.

The 26-year-old never intended to finish the race. She initially signed on as a pacer. “I originally planned to drop out after the half,” Maxwell said. “At some point it just became a challenge.” Still, she finished the race with a world-class time of 2:58:23.

In its third year, the 2007 OC Marathon drew nearly 13,000 racers from nine countries and 47 states, almost 1,000 more runners than in the previous year.

Beginning in Newport Beach at 7:30 a.m., the course led runners all the way to the east side of the county, through Tustin and ended at the Spectrum Center in Irvine.

It was “amazing” watching the thousands of runners cross the race line and go over the hill on San Miguel Drive, beginning their 26.2-mile journey in his city, Newport Beach Mayor Steve Rosansky said.

“We’re proud to be a sponsor of the marathon, and see it start in Newport Beach,” Rosansky said. “It would be nice to see it finish here one day too. I am envious of those people that have the physical capability to accomplish that,” he said.

In its first two years, the event brought in more than $800,000 for 11 different children’s charities. The donations from this year are still getting tallied. For race director Bill Sumner, who also coaches track and cross-country at Corona del Mar High School, it was a good day. “The weather behaved for about the first four hours, then things began to heat up,” he said.

Sumner is already working on the 2008 marathon event. “Anytime we do something I am the first one to say ‘how can we do it better,’” Sumner said. Competitors were still crossing the finish line a little before 5 p.m. Sunday. The increasing heat did little to dishearten runners this year, as the first-place winners for men and women both had finishing times that qualified them for the Olympic trials.

Giving the running community a sense of national pride on the finish line, Cristian Hesch, 28, of Morro Bay came in first with a time of 2:21:18 and Mary Akor, 30, of Gardena came in first for the women at 2:46:05.

Hesch was a crowd pleaser, coming in so far ahead of the pack that he cruised the last few yards, offering high-fives to anyone with an outstretched hand to slap on his way to the finish line. After crossing and falling flat onto the ground, Hesch got back up and returned to the course to cheer on his fans and competition.Keeping a 5:24 pace, 5:02 for the first 15 miles, Hesch pushed himself hard for the first 20 miles, he said. “That took its toll, so I started backing off.”

Sumner has two goals for next year’s marathon: make it bigger and make it better.

“One day we will wake up and all these big corporations, who just watch us [now], will step up to he plate and help us out,” Sumner said. “I’m hoping for one of those phone calls soon.”

Maxwell, who moved to California, did not train for the event but usually runsan average of 15 miles a week, with the South Coast and Cal Coast running clubs.

Now that she has another year to train, will she race again next year?

“If I am in the area, definitely,” Maxwell said.

FYI

In its third year, the OC marathon drew 13,000 runners from 47 states and nine countries, and raised nearly $800,000 for numerous children’s charities.

THE OC MARATHON

Total runners: Nearly 13,000 runners from 47 states and nine countries

Local marathon and half-marathon runners: 300 from Newport Beach and 150 from Costa Mesa

Types of races: marathon, half marathon, 5k run/walk and kids one-mile run

Proceeds: Nearly $800,000 has been raised for children’s charities in the previous two years

Race start: 7:30 a.m. at Newport Center/Fashion Island in Newport Beach

Race finish: Spectrum Center in Irvine