A runner dives into the first mud pit during the Big Sur Mud Run on Fort Ord in Seaside, Calif. on Saturday March 24, 2012. (AP Photo/ Monterey County Herald, David Royal)
A competitor struggles through of the final mud pit during the Big Sur Mud Run on Fort Ord in Seaside, Calif. on Saturday March 24, 2012. (AP Photo/ Monterey County Herald, David Royal)
A team of runners clothed in business attire emerge from the second mud pit during the Big Sur Mud Run on Fort Ord in Seaside, Calif. on Saturday March 24, 2012. (AP Photo/ Monterey County Herald, David Royal)
Marina’s Palmer is the real winner; Watsonville’s Rodriguez places second overall
While several events were canceled this weekend due to rain, there was one that wasn’t stopped by the weather — and, for a brief moment, it appeared as though Aptos’ Chris David had taken it by storm.
In Big Sur Mud Run results up early Sunday morning, it looked like David crossed the finish line almost twice as fast as runner-up Eric Palmer on Saturday. With a chip time of 17 minutes, 12 seconds, the 44-year-old appeared to have bested Palmer of Marina by 17:12 with a 3:18-per mile pace.
In actuality, though, David is not related to Superman. Palmer won the event, and by mid-morning organizers had discovered the error and reset the results, giving David a DNF.
“It looks as though [David] started his race at 8:00am and then went back to the start line after the race to get his belongings and tripped the mat again,” Buzz Ayola with Buzz Word Productions said in an email. ” The software thinks that he started an hour later.”
This was the seventh running of the Big Sur Mud Run, a 5-mile obstacle race on the CSU-Monterey Bay campus/Fort Ord, in Seaside. The event is a popular one, regularly drawing about 1,500 individual racers in addition to relay teams.
Palmer won in 34:41. Watsonville’s Ivan Rodriguez placed second [37:22] and Salinas’ Raymundo Morales was third [39:47]. Santa Cruz’s Brendon Drobny was the only other Santa Cruz County runner to make the top 10. He finished in 41:02 for seventh place overall.
The women’s winner was Piper Delaney of Marina, who was 10th overall and finished in 41:52. Meanwhile, Harvard alumna Kelli Okuji was the top female runner from Santa Cruz County. The Aptos resident finished in 47:58 for 12th among women and 85th overall.
Santa Cruz County age group winners were as follows: Santa Cruz’s Jose Ogarrio in 43:29 [men’s 50-59] and Soquel’s Joe Alvarez as the only entrant in 1:11:09 [men’s 70-79]. For more coverage of the event, the Monterey County Herald was there.
— Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets
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