A USC medical student was the women’s winner of Sunday’s 28th Surf City USA Marathon in Huntington Beach while the men’s winner received his doctorate in physical therapy from USC.
Teresa Rokos of Altadena completed the 26-mile, 385-yard course in three hours, three minutes and 23 seconds.
“I had a tough week of work at the hospital,” Rokos said. “My legs were a little more tired.”
Logging training runs before her hospital shifts requires “a lot of runs at 4:30, 5 a.m.,” the 27-year-old Rokos said.
Osvaldo Cerda of Montebello was the men’s winner in 2:32:33. Elijah Orr of Huntington Beach was second in 2:33:18.
The race was spared from the major storm that hit later in the day, beginning at 6:30 a.m., 16 minutes before sunrise.
“We got lucky (with the weather),” said the 29-year-old Cerda, who received his doctorate in 2022. “The fog cleared up, you could see the ocean, the bike riders. It was just a fun course.”
The course started on Pacific Coast Highway between the ocean and the Waterfront Beach Resort, then soon passed the Huntington Beach Pier. Miles two through nine went through Huntington Beach’s Central Park and miles 9 through 15 through the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.
Miles 16 through 25 were on a beachfront running path paved over the sand. The final mile took runners along Pacific Coast Highway to the finish line, also near the Waterfront Beach Resort.
The race drew a capacity field of 2,000, according to race publicist Dan Cruz. The half-marathon and 5K had capacity fields of 9,300 and 4,500, Cruz said.
Dorothy Strand maintained her streak of finishing a race in every edition, the only runner to have accomplished the feat. The 84-year-old retired nurse from Orange ran the 5K in 56:15, second among women 80 and old behind Carole Pedriana Spinak of Huntington Beach, whose time was 51:25.
Strand became a runner in her late 40s. Her sons were running cross-country at Orange Lutheran High School when her husband, John, decided to join them in road races.
“I thought, `Heck, I need to join in on this,”’ she said.
Strand has registered for the 2025 race, Cruz said.