Runners return for big race day

Mark Duss was less than two miles away from completing the Pacific Shoreline Marathon when he felt a strain in his right hamstring. But by favoring his right leg, Duss, 44, strained his left leg.

Despite his injuries, Duss of Newport Beach placed 152 out of 959 marathon runners who participated in the 11th annual race held in Huntington Beach. With pain in both legs, he hit the 3:40:00 pace on the nose.

Runners began and ended their respective races in front of the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort on Pacific Coast Highway. They made their way north along the coastal stretch into the city’s Central Park, then looped around to complete their journey.

Nearly 13,000 participants from 47 states and 19 different countries competed Sunday morning. As for local participants, 11 people from Costa Mesa completed the marathon, 153 completed the half-marathon, and 67 completed the 5K. Newport Beach contributed 15 marathoners, 226 half-marathoners and 105 5K runners.

The half-marathon has become the most popular race of the event, this year attracting nearly 7,500 runners. The $11,000 offered by the race organizers to those who broke last year’s record times might have contributed to the increase in entries.

The prize money is split every year between whatever number of runners beat the course record from the previous year.

Silvia Mosqueda, 40, from Los Angeles won the prize money, breaking her 2006 record with a time of 1:14:25, coming in 1st place for the women and 15th overall in the half marathon. Nick Arciniaga, 23, of Fountain Valley; Christian Hesch, 28, of Morro Bay; Sergio Reyes, 25, of Palmdale and Ibraham Limo, 29, of Albuquerque, N.M. all broke the men’s record.

Even though they were forced to split the winnings five ways, both Arciniaga, and Mosqueda — who both broke records in 2006 — were thrilled, considering that last year they shared $10,000 with almost 30 record breakers.

“People just had a hard time passing 1:15 this year,” Mosqueda said.

Along with the surprising last-minute pain, Duss said he felt stymied by sharing a large amount of his run with the half marathoners. Many return participants also noticed the course change, but in a less than positive light.

Cindy Demarco, who ran the half marathon, shared Duss’ impression. The finish seemed choked by the 5K group, almost 3,000 strong, many of whom walked.

“It felt very strange trying to run fast when all you could see was a sea of people,” Demarco said, adding that the masses messed with her kick toward the finish.

Demarco’s sentiments about the new course layout quickly dissolved after she learned that she had placed third in her age group of 40 to 44-year-olds. Equally impressive is the fact that the 42-year-old Newport Beach resident only started running on a regular basis at the age of 36.

“I didn’t get started until my kids were old enough for me to leave them alone,” Demarco said. “Back then I just got tired of hanging out in the gym. I wanted to do something different to lose a few pounds.

“Then it became a sort of social outlet for me.”

Now Demarco belongs to four different running clubs.

“When you have kids you can only get out certain days of the week,” she said. “This way I always have a back-up plan.”

Duss was happy that the marathon race course was a loop, since he parked his bicycle at the start. Hopefully other races will pick up the idea of a loop course, he added. Last month at the O.C. Marathon, which began in Newport Beach, but ended in Irvine, Duss was kind of stuck.

“So logistically for me today was great,” he said. “It was a day at the beach.”

For more race results visit www.psmarathon.com.