Former UC Santa Cruz slug Daniel Tapia wins California International Marathon

Daniel Tapia (24) runs in the pack at the 10-mile mark of the California International Marathon on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012, in Fair Oaks, Calif. Tapia, a member of the Sacramento Running Association’s elite team went on to win the 30th California International Marathon. (AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Paul Kitagaki Jr.)

Castroville resident Daniel Tapia, a UC Santa Cruz alum, won the California International Marathon over the weekend, according to preliminary results.

Tapia crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 16 minutes, 29 seconds — with a 37-second lead over second-place finisher Tesfaye Alemayehu [Antioch]. Christopher Kipyego [Kenya] was third in 2:17:58.

Alisha Williams of Colorado Springs, Colo., won the women’s race in 2:34:57. Clara Peterson of San Anselmo took second [2:35:36] and Natalia Sergeeva [New York] took third [2:38:20].

LaSelva Beach’s Peter Stanger, 60, was the sole person from Santa Cruz County to place in the top 10 of an age division. He was seventh in the men’s 60-64 age group, finishing in 3:37:32.

Results included in this report are from runsra.com. Results at the time of this post were still considered preliminary.

Santa Cruz’s Erik Edmonds, a paraplegic, takes 23rd in the Santa Barbara International Marathon

Erik Edmonds competes in the Santa Barbara International Marathon on Nov. 10, 2012. Edmonds races in a “running” wheelchair. (Photo contributed by Erik Edmonds)

With just a couple weeks to prepare following surgeries that kept him on the couch for months over the summer, Santa Cruz resident Erik Edmonds — a paraplegic who competes in a special “running” wheelchair — finished the Santa Barbara International Marathon in 23rd place overall on Saturday.

Edmonds won the wheelchair division as the only entrant for the second straight year. He crossed the finish line after 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 57 minutes, 40.7 seconds — just a few minutes off his 2011 time of 2:53:21.5.

Edmonds, 32, lost the ability to walk when his spinal cord was damaged in a single-car accident in 2001 and is paralyzed from his upper-middle back down. He continues to suffer from neuropathic pain, which worsens when he is sedentary and makes him feel as though the left side of his body from his hip down is on fire.

In part in an effort to combat that pain and in part because of his competitive nature and drive, Edmonds has been competing in marathon and triathlon the past couple years and is itching to get back in the water for triathlon.

“I had 2 more ankle surgeries starting in June that kept me on my couch for almost 4 months.  It really sucked,” Edmonds wrote in an email.  “It looks like the surgeries went OK but I am still unable to go in the water.  So in the mean time I am cycling and running, waiting for the green light to get back in the ocean.”

Abraham Kogo of Kenya won the marathon in 2:23:09.7.

Santa Cruz’s Catherine Philipovitch, Scotts Valley’s Steve Croft are the top Santa Cruz County runners in Morgan Hill Marathon

Santa Cruz resident Catherine Philipovich placed in the top 20 among women and Scotts Valley’s Steve Croft placed in the top 30 overall in the Morgan Hill Marathon last weekend.

Philipovitch finished the marathon in 3 hours, 53 minutes, 44 seconds to be the top female runner from Santa Cruz County. She was 17th among women and 79th overall.

Croft crossed the finish line in 3:28:38 for 28th place overall and 23rd among men.

Also with top 30 finishes, Capitola resident Kelly O’Rourke placed 23rd among women and 292 overall in the Morgan Hill Half Marathon — which was run in conjunction with the full marathon — finishing in 1:49:15, and Aptos resident David Delucchi placed 26th among men and 26th overall in 1:31:42.

Results included in this report are from the Morgan Hill Marathon results page.

Monterey’s Christopher Calzetta, Carmella Cuva win Nisene Marks Marathon

Monterey residents Christopher Calzetta and Carmella Cuva were the men’s and women’s winners, respectively, of the Forest of Nisene Marks Marathon in Aptos on Saturday.

Calzetta completed the hilly state parks course in 2 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds. Benjamin Walker of Santa Margarita finished runner-up in 3:10:17 and Salinas’ Sean Curry was third in 3:24:38.

The top male finisher from Santa Cruz County was Santa Cruz’s own Joey Cassidy, who crossed the finish line in 3:27:50.

Cuva, who was 14th overall, upset defending women’s champ Judy Shanley of Monterey. Cuva crossed the finish line in 4:02:08, while Shanley followed in 4:04:51. San Jose’s Katharine Flexer placed third [4:21:30].

Danielle Glagola was the only female runner from Santa Cruz County. She finished 47th overall and seventh among women [5:14:15].

Watsonville’s Michael Young won the 5-kilometer race run in conjunction with the marathon. He finished in 17:06, ahead of runner-up Eric Yepez of Watsonville [18:13] and third-place finisher Greg Hales of Santa Cruz [18:38]. Watsonville’s Margaret Fahl was the fastest woman, crossing the finish line in 20:46, and Prunedale’s Kathy Nitayangkul was second [22:19] while Aptos’ Rachel Lewis was third [23:12].

Santa Cruz’s Stefano Profumo won the half marathon in 1:25:27. Christopher Ratliff, also of Santa Cruz, placed second in 1:26:09 and Barry Farrara placed third in 1:27:34. Arroyo Grande’s Jessica Dahlberg was the top finisher among women and seventh overall [1:33:50]. Capitola’s Katharine Garkey was second [1:35:12] and San Luis Obispo’s Carin Serba was third [1:36:09] among women.

Proceeds from the races benefit the Santa Cruz Host Lions, an organization which helps the seeing-impaired in the community.

Earlier results posted on this blog, regretfully, were incorrect and have been removed.

This post includes results posted on the Santa Cruz Track Club’s website.

— Christina Gullickson on Twitter @CGullTweets

Capitola’s Aracelly Clouse takes 3rd in Wildcat Half Marathon

Capitola resident Aracelly Clouse broke into the top 20 of the Wildcat Half Marathon, placing 16th overall and third among women at Wildcat Canyon Regional Park in El Sobrante on Saturday.

Clouse finished in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 57 seconds, just under six minutes behind female winner Julie Neumann [1:53:13], according to results posted on the Buzzworld Productions website.

Kensington’s Lon Freeman won the overall in 1:36:42.

— Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Santa Cruz’s Chris Wehan places 4th in 17th annual Miwok 100k

Soquel’s Jon Beard suffers broken hand, pushes to 50-mile mark before going to hospital

Santa Cruz resident Chris Wehan placed fourth in the 17th annual running of the Miwok 100-kilometer race in the Marin Headlands on Saturday.

He crossed the finish line at Stinson Beach in 9 hours, 44 minutes, 58 seconds, about a half hour behind winner Dave Mackey of Boulder, Colo. [9:14:06], according to results on UltraSignup.com.

The race — which saw only about 260 of 350 people finish according to runner Melanie Michalak out of Santa Cruz — had 13,000 feet of net ascent over difficult terrain.

Soquel’s Jon Beard reportedly fell on one of the decents.

“…He continued running to the 50-mile mark with one broken hand and one hand in desperate need of stitches,” Michalak wrote in an email. “Although he made the cutoff time at the 50-mile mark, he headed to the emergency room to set his hand and get a cast.

“This truly embodies the ultrarunner spirit- enduring the pain as long as possible!”

Michalak finished the race 37th among women, 173 overall, in 15:11:09. Other Santa Cruz County-area runners who finished were as follows: Sean Lang [Santa Cruz] was 45th overall in 11:54:52, Mike Wright [Corralitos] was 94th overall in 11:54:52, and Rohanna McCord [Santa Cruz] was 42nd among women and 180th overall in 15:15:47.

— Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets