A young Korean-American man won his second straight Long Beach Marathon title on Saturday at the 40th annual event.
A 33-year-old Korean American from Los Angeles, Jason Yang, won the men’s race with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 27 seconds, according to the LA Daily News.
Yang won the Long Beach Marathon title for the second year in a row, repeating his victory from last year. Last year, he won with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 04 seconds.
“I struggled throughout the race, but my high-intensity training finally paid off,” Yang said, “and I was able to pick up the pace at the 21-mile mark.” “I quite struggled until the halfway point, but I felt really good after the race,” he said, adding, “Next year I will try for a third straight win.”
Yang’s victory came after 12 weeks of training in Long Beach, during which he battled back and hip injuries, two tooth infections, nerve treatment, and pterygium surgery, a type of eye surgery.
“I missed several important training sessions that I normally do and had to adjust my training plan to accommodate the surgery,” he said on social media. “It was very frustrating and mentally challenging throughout the training period,” he recalled.
“Going into Long Beach, I wasn’t sure where I was going to be, but my mindset was just to go out there and do my best and not worry about anything else,” he said, adding, ”I’m grateful to have made it through everything.”
The race was scheduled to start 30 minutes earlier than usual due to a heat advisory in LA County, but due to a delay in police clearance, the race started at 5:47 a.m. Despite the scorching heat, with midday temperatures reaching 90 degrees, Yang said the cooler-than-expected weather allowed him to complete the marathon without difficulty.
This year’s event attracted participants from 37 countries despite the heat wave forecast, with 4,520 marathon runners, 12,047 half marathon runners, and 1,479 bike tour participants registered. According to the organizer of the event, this year’s registration numbers increased by 27% year-on-year. Registration closed three weeks before the event.
The women’s race was won by 24-year-old Riley Fick of Bakersfield, who won her second straight title after winning last year. Fick, who is the 2023 Big West Conference Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year, won the race in a personal-best time of 2 hours, 54 minutes, 42 seconds.
The Long Beach Marathon was first held in 1982 and is held every fall. It is a popular event for runners because of its beautiful coastal scenery and the opportunity to run through the city.
The Long Beach Marathon course is a 26.2-mile run that begins on Shoreline Drive, crosses the Queensway Bridge, runs along the coast, circles the lighthouse at Rainbow Harbor, and finally returns to the finish line past Ocean Boulevard.
BY SUAH JANG, HOONSIK WOO [jang.suah@koreadaily.com]
