10th annual Santa Rosa Marathon brings thousands to city

The 10th annual Santa Rosa Marathon brought nearly 3,000 runners from 48 states and 14 countries to the city Sunday to compete in the race and earn a spot in the famed Boston Marathon.

Supporters gathered in Old Courthouse Square under overcast skies to ring cowbells, cheer and take selfies with athletes who completed the 26.2-mile full-marathon and the?13.1-mile half-marathon. Among those in the crowd were Mariana Gasteasoro and her 1-year-old daughter, Eva. Gasteasoro came from Veracruz, Mexico, to cheer on her husband, Javier, as he competed for the first time in the half-marathon.

Baby Eva sported a purple shirt custom-?made for the race that read “Runner’s Daughter. Go Daddy, Go.” She smiled widely as she met her father at the finish line after he completed the race in just over an hour and 29 minutes.

“I came because I heard it was beautiful,” said Javier Gasteasoro, 35. “I really liked it a lot. I would definitely recommend it.”

It was also the first time Cheyne Inman, 32, competed in the race, though his journey from Hermosa Beach was shorter than Gasteasoro’s international trek. Inman was the fastest runner to complete the full-marathon, crossing the finish line in two hours, 26 minutes and 46 seconds.

He has run a marathon in 2 hours and 25 minutes before, he said, but he was still pleased with his time Sunday.

“I was really happy with the time. … it was exciting and motivating for me to keep pushing,” said Inman, whose fiance and family greeted him at the finish line.

Inman, like many other racers, called the morning’s low 50-degree temperatures ideal for competing.

“It was great - it was perfect weather,” said Inman, who has run about 15 marathons in the past decade.

Allie Schaich, 25, of Houston, Texas, was the fastest woman to complete the full-marathon with a time of two hours, 50 minutes and 21 seconds.

Arthur Webb, an accomplished runner who co-founded the marathon, stood at the finish line, where he handed out elaborate medals to runners.

He never thought the race would grow to its current size and acclaim when it started a decade ago, Webb said. In 2009, the race only drew about 400 people.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” he said about the marathon. “It’s something I created because I ran it myself, and now people are coming here and qualifying for Boston ... It’s an emotional thing.”

Co-founder and race organizer Orhan Sarabi said the “phenomenal” race went off without a hitch. Past snafus included a wrong turn by a pacer that in 2016 muddled results and deprived some competitors a coveted slot in the Boston Marathon.

“We’ve just gotten better at it,” he said.

“Every year, you learn, you grow from your mistakes. Previous years we’ve done something that didn’t’ work out or the runners didn’t respond to.”

For Rich Flin, who completed the half-marathon in two hours and 39 minutes, Sunday’s race wasn’t about competition or earning prestigious titles. It, instead, was a chance to celebrate his 18th anniversary with his wife, Elaine.

Flin, 60, proposed April 17, 1999, in London’s Hyde Park, the day before the two competed in their first marathon together. The Chino couple has run in the Santa Rosa Marathon together for nine years.

“Elaine is my soulmate and I wouldn’t be here without her. She’s the one who found the Santa Rosa Marathon, and we’re going to come again and again,” said Flin, who wore Mickey Mouse ears to match the mouse ears and veil Elaine donned.

“I come here with my wife and it’s like falling in love all over again,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Hannah Beausang at 707-521-5214 or hannah.beausang@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @hannahbeausang.