The 25th Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon weekend concluded Sunday with two Southern California runners, one from San Diego, winning the marquee event.
Chris Frias, of Ventura, came out on top in the men’s marathon in a time of 2:29:23, while Bonnie Keating, of San Diego, won the women’s event in 2:45:47.
On the men’s side, Sean O’Reilly of Chicago followed Frias in 2:35:19, with Oscar Orozco of Valencia coming in third in 02:37:30.
For the women, Dakota Bliler of Scottsdale finished second with a time of 2:57:11, and Ali Tebbs of Coronado came in third in 2:58.
In the half marathon, Kibrom Elias of San Diego led all men with a time of 1:05:07, while Zoe Baker of Golden finished first on the women’s side in 1:15:59.
For the men, A. Ribeiro of Reno came in second in 1:06:49, with Spencer Johnson of San Diego hot on his heels, finishing just seven seconds later.
On the women’s side, Ashley Litoff of Louisville followed Baker in 1:17:18, with Hilary Heskett of Tucson coming in third with a time of 1:17:31.
The marathon and half marathon began at 6:15 a.m. Sunday with the starting line at Sixth Avenue and Quince Street at Balboa Park with a Finish Line Festival at Waterfront Park.
More than 20,000 runners and 100,000 spectators were expected to turn out this weekend for the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon and festivities.
The annual running series launched in San Diego in 1998, the first of a now national series. Proceeds from the races benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
The course record of 2:08:33 was set in 1999 by Kenya’s Philip Tarus. In 2015, Harriette Thompson of Charlotte, North Carolina, completed the marathon at the age of 92 years, 65 days, becoming the oldest woman to complete a marathon.
City News Service contributed to this article.
Updated 5:30 p.m. June 4, 2023