The 25th running of the Rock ‘n’ Roll® Running Series San Diego hosted 27,000 registered runners from all 50 states and 42 countries, regions, and territories for the largest marathon and half marathon weekend on the West Coast of the United States. Participants joined in the “25 Years Running” celebration as they took on a running tour of America’s Finest City through 5K, Half Marathon, and Marathon distances.
Saturday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series San Diego marathon also saw elite runners take to the course. It was Chris Frias (Ventura, Calif.) with a time of 2:29:23 was the winner for the men’s marathon, while Bonnie Keating (San Diego, Calif.) returned to defend her title with a winning time of 2:45:47.
“I have been wanting to do a marathon for a while, I got injured mid-way through the winter, so this is the perfect timing for it and my goal was to try to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trails in Orlando, Florida. The temperature was perfect, the course was great up to mile 23 that really hurt, I need to work on that part of my training. The energy really keeps me going, gave me that surge and rush of feeling good – that definitely helped,” said Chris Frias.
“The weather is perfect so no complaints on that. I got a rough start, I started back in corral 3 so the first couple of miles I started weaving in but no complaints, there was really good course support,” said Bonnie Keating. “This is a really good course to prep for something else. I am happy with this.”
Kibrom Elias (San Diego, Calif.) with a time of 1:05:07 and Zoe Baker (Golden, Colo.) finishing in1:15:59 were the male and female overall winners of the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon.
“It was fun to be out on the course; I ran it last year and it’s great to be back again at home,” said San Diego native Kibrom Elias. Elias who recently moved to Flagstaff, Ariz.to train but was in town to visit family and decided to race Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego again this year. Elias added, “To be honest, every runner’s dream is to win, if you are going to be stepping up to the line, your goal is to win it, but I wasn’t really expecting to win it but my goal was to be in the top-3 for sure. There was a lot of good support out on the course and the people volunteering at the water stations, it was just good atmosphere to run in San Diego.”
Zoe Baker who ran her first ever half marathon came home victorious, she shared, “I am coming off college track season and I decided to go with the first girl I saw and see what happened.” Baker is a grad student at Colorado School of Mines where she is studying Computer Science. “I am going to try to marathon train for the fall, but this is my first try at the half marathon distance and I really liked it. I was looking for a fast marathon in a pretty city and I had a couple of friends here and so this sounded perfect. I love the city so far, it’s so beautiful. The energy on course was amazing, every single corner I had people cheering for me, I was smiling the entire time, yelling support for me, it was a really special experience.”
In a ceremony at the start line before the thousands of participants made their way through the San Diego streets, Mayor of San Diego, Mayor Todd Gloria made the proclamation that Sunday, June 4, 2023 would be known as Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Day. Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series officials were awarded a certificate to recognize this honor.
Race day of course brought more than just fast times as several local bands, including Bobby Tunes, The Surf Birdz, Naruwan Taiko’s Japanese drums, and many more, performed live on band stages along the route interspersed with cheerleaders and crowd support. Runners also enjoy on-course entertainment by local Drag Queens as well as Anchorman and Top Gun impersonators. Saved by the 90s and Red Not Chili Peppers took the stage at Waterfront Park as the Encore Entertainment concert.
