Cheering crowds, record-setting times mark a memorable California International Marathon

Paige Stoner clinched her national USA Track & Field marathon championship in dramatic style, capturing the 39th annual California International Marathon in a women’s course record 2:26:01.

Showered in cheers and draped in the Stars and Stripes at the finish, Stoner, running for Reebok, shared a hug and took a moment to soak in the victory.

Futsum Zienasellassie clocked in at 2 hours, 11 minutes, 1 second to earn the men’s CIM title and 2022 USATF men’s marathon crown.

The six-time All-American and two-time Olympic qualifier beat back 2021 champion and Sacramento-area runner Brendan Gregg’s bid for a CIM repeat.

National titles, prize money and more were on the line as the California International Marathon kicked off from Folsom on Sunday morning with a combined $90,000 purse waiting 26.2 miles away at the state Capitol.

The runners — more than 9,000 in this year’s incarnation — wound their way through Citrus Heights, Orangevale and Fair Oaks before ultimately streaming into downtown Sacramento.

Gregg ran a personal best on his way to last year’s victory, clocking a time of 2:11:21 — third-fastest ever logged on the CIM course. Gregg opened with an aggressive start before ultimately giving way to Zienasellassie.

“Returning to defend my win from last year will be all the more exciting with the chance to compete alongside them with a national title on the line,” Gregg said in a statement before Sunday’s race.

In Fair Oaks, Nikki Bunch and Danielle Pastana were ready nearly an hour before the 7 a.m. starter’s gun fired at Folsom Dam.

Bunch and Pastana, 51, were their own tailgate party. Van, plug-in heater, tongue-in-cheek handmade signs (“This seems like a lot of work for a free banana,” read one of Pastana’s works) were at the ready as they joined the throng outside Loehmann’s Plaza on Fair Oaks Boulevard in Sacramento. There they cheered on the group of close friends Bunch calls her “family.”

Bunch, 48, of Sacramento, ran half-marathons in Anaheim, but in Fair Oaks was content to cheer from the sidelines.

“I’m glad they are doing it and I’m not,” she said with a laugh. Two of the friends running the route Sunday were using Sacramento as a tuneup for an upcoming marathon in Honolulu, she said.

Sunday was Pastana’s first experience with the California International Marathon. She joked as she talked about her friend’s group running this morning: “We’re crazy enough to like friends who are a part of this running cult.”

The cult of the annual marathon, four decades and going strong, attracts the nation’s top runners each year to the Capital City and is a key stop on the marathon circuit.

The Marathon Championships are the final event on the annual USA Track & Field Road Racing Circuit and feature 180 of the top marathoners from around the country.

“Every year, CIM delivers an amazing experience for runners throughout the pack, providing one of the best events anywhere in the world for running a personal best. I can’t think of a more fitting venue to host the USATF Marathon Championships this year,” Gregg said in a statement before the race.

The annual marathon organized by the nonprofit Sacramento Running Association is a qualifier for April’s Boston Marathon and a qualifying event for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

The world’s running elite gather in Sacramento each year for the chance to run one of the nation’s fastest courses, but the event also endures in scenes like Michael White’s.

White of Vacaville, 47, posted near downtown Sacramento. He was cheering on younger brother Seth White, who at 41, is a veteran of several distance events but was running in his first marathon Sunday.

The elder White said he looked forward to climbing in his car to meet Seth at the finish line.

For others, the reward is in the doing, competing for a personal best against the world’s best, supporters cheering on, followed by a hard-earned post-race beverage with family and friends.

Ramon Valle, 37, of San Leandro, is part of a running club based in Oakland.

Valle supported a group of friends from the club running the marathon Sunday. Valle’s a veteran of the annual race, but was one of the ones hoisting signs this year.

Valle says he has previously participated in the CIM but he opted for the signs this year.

“We saw them (the friends) at 3.5 miles and then met them again at half,” Valle said.

After the marathon concludes, he says he looked forward to sharing drinks and beer with his friends.

“We earned it holding the signs all day,” Valle said. “We will probably go to a brewery and probably watch some 49ers.”

But the 26.2-mile endurance test wasn’t without incident. A race participant was treated and taken to Sutter Medical Center after collapsing about 9:45 a.m. near 10th and L streets with an undisclosed medical emergency, Scott Abbott, a Sacramento Running Association spokesman said.

Abbott did not disclose whether the race participant was a man or woman. The participant’s condition was unknown, but Abbott said CIM organizers and medical staff have been in communication with the athlete’s family and Sutter Medical Center officials.