San Diego streets were unusually congested on Sunday morning June 6th, even though there was not a vehicle in sight. 6th Ave, University Ave, Park Blvd, Hwy 163 South bound, Friars Rd, and Sea World Drive, to name a few, were closed to vehicular traffic, but open to runners of the 2010 San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. The marathon, 26.2 miles in length, and the inaugural half-marathon, 13.1 miles, attracted over 30,000 runners from all over the world. Most runners came to test themselves to find out what they were made of. Some ran to scratch one more adventure off of their to-do list. A few ran to win.
The first male to cross the finish line was Richard Limo of Kenya in a time of 2 hours 9 minutes and 56 seconds, averaging an aggressive 4:56 per mile pace over the course of the race. This was Limo's first marathon win. Yulia Gromova of Russia broke the tape for the women in 2:27:42, her third victory in a row at this race. In the half-marathon, local Oceanside runner Sergio Gonzalez earned the gold in a time of 1:07:18 while Jacquelyne Gallegos of New Mexico took the women's race in 1:21:04. The top three male and female finishers of the half-marathon race were all Americans, proving that American distance running is making a comeback.
The San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon is organized by The Competitor Group based out of San Diego and benefits The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The largest sponsor of this year's event was Brooks Running, a running shoe company based out of Washington state.
