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Some 20,000 Participate in Rock 'N' Roll Marathon, Half-Marathon

SAN DIEGO - Following a two-year hiatus, the 23rd running of the Heineken Rock 'n' Roll marathon and half-marathon returned today with about

20,000 participants from the ages of 12 to 86, organizers said.

In the birthplace of the Rock 'n' Roll running series, participants took to a course lined with cheer squads, local bands and entertainment, said marathon representative Emily Gibbs.

Maj. Jason Brosseau of Colorado Springs, Colo., won the men's marathon with a time of 2:46:36. Yong Xu of San Diego was second with a time of

2:48:34 and Jeff Devlin of Seattle was third, finishing in 2:49:07.

Sammi Groce of San Diego was the women's marathon winner with a time of 2:56:44. Hannah Mcinturff of Salt Lake City finished second with a time of 3:03:40 and Rochelle Yang of San Diego was third with a time of 3:05:12.

In the half-marathon, Spencer Johnson of San Diego won for the men with a time of 1:06:06. Dante Capone of San Diego was second with a time of

1:07:23 and Roosevelt Cook of Hesperia was third with a time of 1:07:31.

Sylvia Bedford of South Jordan, Utah, was the women's half-marathon winner with a time of 1:16:43. Kara Roper of Grand Junction, Colo., finished

second with a time of 1:20:24 and Elizabeth Ben-Isha of Pasadena placed third with a time of 1:21:17.

``I ran here two years ago and placed third,'' Groce said. ``It's a really tough marathon course, so I wanted to come back and get revenge on it.

It was still hard today but I feel stronger than I was two years ago since I started lifting weights during the pandemic.''

More than 1,000 health care workers started at the front corral as a thanks to front-line workers during the pandemic.

Sunday's events took off from the historic start line at Balboa Park and traveled through Hillcrest, North Park and Normal Heights before the marathon broke off from the half-marathon past mile 8. The marathon route also ran through Mission Hills and Old Town before both distances finished downtown

at Waterfront Park.

Several local bands, including Bobby Tunes, Come Back Buddy, Miss Demeanor, Sonic Tonic, The Surf Birdz and Naruwan Taiko's Japanese drums performed on stages along the route interspersed with cheerleaders and crowd support.

Copyright 2021, City News Service, Inc.

 

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