Marathon

Police advised residents to avoid Newport-Mesa areas that will be affected by the O.C. Marathon between 5 a.m. and about noon Sunday. Areas that are expected to be heavily impacted in Newport Beach include Corona del Mar, Promontory Point and Balboa, Linda and Harbor islands, which will be affected from about 5 to 8 a.m., according to the Newport Beach Police Department. The Balboa Island Bridge will be closed from 5 to 7:45 a.m., and residents are encouraged to use the Balboa Island Ferry during that time, Newport Beach police said.

Brian MacKenzie and Robert Baird knew what they were getting themselves into when they applied for the 33rd Western States Endurance Run ? or at least they thought they did. Neither MacKenzie, a 31-year-old Costa Mesa resident, nor Balboa Island resident Baird, 45, is a novice to ultra-marathon races, defined as any marathon longer than the traditional 26.2 miles. Although neither had run the Western States before, both runners knew that running for 100 straight miles ? unthinkable to most ?

A Costa Mesa father ended a 24-hour treadmill marathon Sunday to raise money to assist children with physical disabilities. Doug Hansen, despite having mono, ran about 91 miles and raised over $10,000 for Angels Charity, founded by Hansen and his wife Jennifer in 2003. The organization, named after their daughter, seeks to help children receive physical therapy. The money will go toward Angel's Playground to be built at TeWinkle Park in Costa Mesa and physical therapy equipment for children, Hansen said.

Richard Dunn NEWPORT BEACH - Corona del Mar High cross country and track and field coach Bill Sumner, who also operates Cal Coast Track Club, will take his top two female athletes Saturday to Columbia, S.C., for the U.S. Olympic Trials, where the nation's best female marathon runners will meet to determine U.S. Olympic representatives. Only runners who have qualified are invited to the Trials. Runners must have run a marathon faster than two hours 50 minutes in the last 12 months in order to qualify.

BOSTON — Zoila Gomez, a former Orange Coast College and Costa Mesa High standout runner, is an Olympic alternate after edging Tera Moody for fourth place in the U.S. Olympic team trials for the women’s marathon. Gomez finished in 2 hours, 33 minutes, 53 seconds in the 26.2-mile race, just ahead of Moody (2:33.54) on Sunday. Deena Kastor won the marathon in 2:29.35. Gomez, a member of Costa Mesa’s 1997 state cross country championship team, was an 11-time All-American, at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo.

Jack Shimko, a Newport Beach native, begins his 10-day, 150-mile open ocean paddle-board journey to raise money for cancer research today in Santa Barbara. The water marathon is called, "PADDLE2LIVE," which will raise $500,000 for UCLA Jonsson Cancer Foundation and Livestrong. From Santa Barbara, Shimko will go through the Channel Islands and end in Newport Beach, at the Newport Aquatic Center Oct. 2. Shimko begins today at 4:30 a.m. There will be a paddle-out ceremony at 5 a.m. in Santa Barbara.

With his birthday around the corner, Erik Flowers would normally be preparing for a quiet afternoon at his Costa Mesa home with his wife and 6-year-old daughter. But this year, he will commemorate his 48th year by working up a sweat on an elliptical machine. Flowers, who co-owns Body Builders Gym in Los Angeles, has committed to a 24-hour elliptical marathon in conjunction with the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, which begins Sunday, Flowers’ birthday. The idea came when Flowers purchased some new elliptical trainers for his gym from Octane Fitness in January.

It's always wonderful when people go out of their way to help others, especially those who have difficulty without that help. Grace Castro, the supervisor at AbilityFirst's Newport-Mesa After-School Center, completed the L.A. Marathon last week. But she wasn't alone. She pushed Kendall Milteer, an 11-year-old Costa Mesa resident who suffers from tuberous sclerosis, throughout the 26.2 miles. It doesn't even matter that she finished the marathon. After all, it was a team effort.

Former Olympian and accomplished American marathoner Steve Scott paid a visit to Eastbluff Elementary School Tuesday morning. Scott was on hand to congratulate some future runners at Eastbluff who successfully completed the Orange County Kids’ Marathon Jan. 6. Last week, more than 120 students from kindergarten through fifth grade ran the last leg of their 26.2-mile marathon that began in October. Eastbluff parent and avid runner Diane Daruty coached the kids and kept meticulous records on how far they ran every week, to make sure they earned their marathon medals.

Costa Mesa resident Charles Bauknecht ended his journey for cystic fibrosis Sunday morning. Bauknecht, a 34-year-old personal trainer, attempted to run three consecutive marathons in an attempt to raise $30,000 for cystic fibrosis. He started running Saturday night around 10, and joined competitors in the Surf City Marathon Sunday morning. Before he started running, Bauknecht estimated he?d raised about $20,000 for his cause. Cystic fibrosis is a chronic genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system.

VAN NUYS - The Sage Hill School baseball team took it to Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs Thursday. But Sean Adler came through for the Trailblazers to end the game in 10 innings as the Lightning's season ended with a 2-1 loss. Adler, who pitched all 10 innings, delivered a double to the gap in left-center field, providing the walk-off hit for Sierra Canyon at Birmingham Community Charter High in Van Nuys. "It was a battle today," Sage Hill Coach Danny Gonzales said in a phone interview.

As he turned the corner and ran toward the finish-line tape, Peter Omae Ayieni knew he would become the men's champion of the eighth annual OC Marathon. Ayieni, a 34-year-old from Kenya, believed he could win the race since the sixth-mile mark, when he said he felt comfortable. He went on to win his second straight men's overall title in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 18 seconds Sunday morning. He finished more than three minutes ahead of runner-up Nate Clayson, a 26-year-old from Murray, Utah, who came across in 2:34:50.

There was no way to keep Jennifer Lambert away from the OC Marathon this weekend. Lambert will work at a water station in Sunday's race, which includes a full and half-marathon, passing out water and no doubt encouraging everyone along the way. On Saturday, she and her fellow coach Julie Siff guided their 300 or so students from Irvine's Woodbury Elementary School in the Kids Run the OC 1-mile race. Lambert loves running, and has run several half-marathons over the years, including the last two at the OC Marathon.

Now in its ninth year, the OC Marathon has continued to grow. More than 18,000 runners will participate in the marathon, half-marathon, 5K and Kids Run the OC one-mile event during this weekend. Residents in Newport Beach, Irvine, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa can see the race that starts in the early morning on Sunday. The marathon starts at 5:30 a.m. and the half marathon begins at 6:15 a.m. Both races begin at Fashion Island, near the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa. Both races end at the OC Fair and Events Center.

Police advised residents to avoid Newport-Mesa areas that will be affected by the O.C. Marathon between 5 a.m. and about noon Sunday. Areas that are expected to be heavily impacted in Newport Beach include Corona del Mar, Promontory Point and Balboa, Linda and Harbor islands, which will be affected from about 5 to 8 a.m., according to the Newport Beach Police Department. The Balboa Island Bridge will be closed from 5 to 7:45 a.m., and residents are encouraged to use the Balboa Island Ferry during that time, Newport Beach police said.

For Newport Beach resident Joe Taricani, life is one big marathon. Seriously. The 53-year-old is encouraging participants at the Oasis Senior Center, part of the Newport Beach Recreation & Senior Services Department, to get out and move by web streaming his first treadmill marathon at 7 a.m. Tuesday at the Oasis Fitness Center, 801 Narcissus Ave., in Corona del Mar. "They said they wanted to promote fitness, and I said, 'I'll bring my...

COSTA MESA — Newport Beach resident Carsten Ball and partner Andre Begermann were outlasted in a marathon doubles championship match at the Costa Mesa Pro Classic tennis tournament Saturday. Nicholas Meister and John Peers outlasted Ball and Begermann, 6-3, 6-7(1), and 17-15 in a tie-breaker. Meister and Peers battled back from a 5-1 deficit in the tie-breaker to deny Ball, the former Corona del Mar High standout. Ball and Begemann earned $472.50 and 15 ATP points each for the runner-up showing.

If a suspect were to take off on foot in a 26.2-mile pursuit, Paul Sarris would likely be able to catch him. The 34-year-old patrol officer for the Newport Beach Police Department won the Surf City USA Marathon in Huntington Beach, beating last year's winner by nearly five minutes at  2:30:09 in his first-ever marathon-length race. Update: This adds Paul Sarris' time. Sarris, an Aliso Viejo resident and nine-year veteran of the Newport force, competed for the University of Iowa.

Six years ago, Sarah Reyna was preparing to run the Long Beach International City Marathon as part of celebrating her 40th birthday. While crossing Pacific Coast Highway on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach, one swift accident spoiled those plans and made life excruciatingly tough for the next several years. "I was training on PCH," said Reyna, a Corona del Mar resident. "There was a car approaching the intersection. The guy who had a red light was turning right, and he floored it. I swear he looked right at me, but he later said he didn't see me. He ran right into me, I rolled onto the hood.

COSTA MESA — Two hours more of memorandums of understanding, two hours more of request for proposals, two hours more of public governance. When averaging Costa Mesa's regularly scheduled biweekly City Council meetings with the current council, meetings now last an average of 4.5 hours — more than two hours longer than under the previous council. "Everybody gets to be heard on every issue," said Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer, who was elected into office last November. "You know if you go to a Costa Mesa council meeting you'll get to air out your issue.