Running her first marathon, 24-year-old Paige Moore of Rancho Palos Verdes won the 41st annual Long Beach Marathon Sunday — with her time of 2 hours, 55 minutes, 13 seconds placing her 1:10 ahead of runner-up Selena Gallardo Dominguez.
“I never expected this to happen,” she said. “I was never the fastest, but hard work makes anything possible,” added Moore, who ran track at Cal Poly Pomona and graduated in May with a computer science degree.
“My legs were locking up (during the final five miles), but I pushed through,” she said.
The men’s marathon went to Esteban Prado of Huntington Beach in 2:26:32.
“I always wanted to do Long Beach,” Prado said. “The crowd and conditions were perfect.”
Prado was disqualified as the men’s winner of the 2024 OC Marathon for taking water from a family member during the race.
In the men’s half-marathon, Jaquavious Harris, training in Utah under BYU coach Ed Eyestone, won in 1:03:53. Irvine’s Lauren Charlton won the women’s portion in 1:16:37 to edge Huntington Beach native Hannah Chau by 17 seconds.
“It’s such a beautiful course you can’t help but keep going,” Charlton said.
Conditions were ideal for Sunday morning’s race, with cool temperatures and overcast skies. Overall, more than 25,000 participants competed this weekend in the marathon, half-marathon, 5K and bike tour. Among them was Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, who joined his family on the bike ride.
The marathon itself featured a record field of 6,500 runners. The 26-mile, 385-yard marathon race began at 5:30 a.m. on Shoreline Drive. Runners then passed through The Pike at Rainbow Harbor retail and entertainment center, ran on an on-ramp to the Long Beach (710) Freeway, and crossed the Queensway Bridge to the bow of the Queen Mary.
The field looped around the Lighthouse at Rainbow Harbor, headed to Pierpoint Landing, then back through the start/finish area.
Runners from 32 nations entered the weekend races, organizers said.
The Long Beach Marathon was first held in 1982. The race was disbanded in 1996 because of financial problems, then revived in 1999 under new management.