Marathon draws thousands

Jenny Marder

More than 5,500 athletes braved the blazing heat on Sunday morning

for the seventh annual Pacific Shoreline Marathon.

First-time runner Glen Weissman, a computer programmer from

Bellevue, Wash. placed first at 2:41.30.

Erika Aklufi, 26, of Santa Monica, topped the female race at

3:50.29.

Weissman, 33, ran at a pace of six minutes and nine seconds per

mile.

The record turn-out and the distance competitors traveled for the

pre-Super Bowl race demonstrate just how far this race has come since

it began in 1996.

Weissman just barely defeated 2001 champion Robert Leonardo, 40,

who finished a close second at 2:41.54. Leonardo, a warehouse worker

from Van Nuys won the Pacific Shoreline marathon in 2001 and came in

second to three-time champion Gilbert Salazer last year.

Weissman was behind Leonardo for almost the entire race, but

passed him in a burst of energy at the final stretch.

“I didn’t see [Weissman] until I got to the 25th mile, and then I

thought he was running the half marathon,” Leonardo said.

In addition to the marathon, the event featured a half marathon, a

5K run and a Surf Kids Mile race for the youngsters.

The race began at 7 a.m. at the Huntington Beach Pier Plaza. The

course traveled back and forth along Pacific Coast Highway, up

through Central Park via Seapoint Avenue and back down Seapoint and

Pacific Coast Highway to finish at the coast.

“The course is beautiful,” said Tom Pontac, longtime marathon

runner and member of the Leisure Leggers, a senior citizens fitness

group. “It’s right by the ocean. You can see the beach almost all the

time. It couldn’t be nicer.”

Pontac was one of 17 Leisure Leggers runners in the race. Six ran

the half marathon and 11 ran the 5K.

The group consists of about three dozen members from Leisure

World, an adult retirement community in Seal Beach. The average age

of the Leisure Leggers is in the 70s. Dues are 99 cents per year, and

activities include running, walking and biking. The members also run

the Long Beach marathon each year.

“The local people that run the marathon are very respectful of

senior runners,” Pontac said. “The support was great, and there was

lots of enthusiasm for us.”

Pontac, 66, has run 160 marathons, including a 100-mile run that

took 31 1/2 hours.

Everyone who completed the race received a free T-shirt and a

Pacific Shoreline Marathon medal in the shape of a surfboard. More

than 1,000 staff and volunteers showed up to assist.

“We tell everybody that after this, they get one week’s worth of

bragging rights,” Pontac said.