As 16,000 runners milled in pre-race corrals and the Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” blared from the public address system, Gary Love 74, of Modesto, wandered past Kenyan runners stretching near the starting line. Sunday morning marked his 39th consecutive Wharf to Wharf race.
“I just had two 30-centimeter stents put in my heart last November,” he said. “But I’ve got my doctor’s permission to keep the streak alive.”
As her male counterparts loosened up with a run, Risper Gesabwa of Kenya, 26, gazed at the clown-colored Boardwalk marquees with her hands on her hips.
“I feel good,” she said.
When asked if she is going to win, she looked embarrassed and shook her head, “I don’t know.”
Clutching a megaphone, Ken Thomas of Aptos, 73, watched the elite runners gather at the starting line. Behind them, a sea of bibbed runners packed the street all the way to Cowell Beach and beyond.
Thomas has been the official starter of the Wharf to Wharf race since its inception in 1973. Other than the growing crowds, he said the biggest difference he has witnessed is demographic.
“Twenty years ago, two-thirds of the runners were male and now two-thirds are female,” he said.
At the sound of the gun, the massive pack of runners heaved forward down Beach Street. As they wound further east through Santa Cruz, the crowd of spectators, musicians and revelers thickened. Bagpipers serenaded the racers mournfully from the levee, a Taiko drum corps pounded out rhythms at 26th Avenue and the BentPeter band rocked the finish line. In the miles between, it seemed every garage band in the county was cranked up and representing.
Despite strong efforts from Americans Brett Gocher of La Selva Beach, 30, Scott Smith of Tulsa, Oklahoma, 29, and Parker Stinson of Eugene, Oregon, 23, a quartet of Kenyans separated themselves from the pack after the four-mile mark.
About a mile later, Sam Chelanga broke away from three-time champion Shadrack Kosgei to win in 27 minutes, 28 seconds. By taking fifth in 27:32, Gotcher won the titles of Top American and Top Local.
According to race director Scott McConville, 2015 was one of the deepest fields the Wharf to Wharf has ever drawn.
“The pack of elite runners stuck together a lot longer than usual, which made for an exciting race,” he said.
Despite her uncertainty at the starting line, Gesabwa was the fastest female with a time of 31:19. Alycia Cridenbring of Sacramento, 23, was the Top American at 32:23 and Santa Cruz High School senior Cate Ratliff, 17, was the Top Local at 33:55.
As the crowd of runners filtered away from downtown Capitola, Santa Cruz local Sean Davis, 46, took a photo of his daughter Alexandria, 17, and his stepfather Alan Schlenger, 78. Davis ran the race for the first time n 1987; Schlenger in 1994. This year marked Alexandria’s first Wharf to Wharf.
“I feel like I’m kind of dying,” Alexandria, a Santa Cruz High School student, said. “I might do it again if my hips ever work again.”