This report filed by Weekly proofreader/velocity junkie Jack Grimshaw:
Two questions remain from Monday's L.A. Marathon: Where
did all these hotshot OC wheelchair racers suddenly come from, and what the hell
is in the water in Katherine Jobe's home area of Los Angeles?
Of the top 15 finishers in the wheelchair crank section
of the race, four are from our gracious neck of the woods: Michael Trujillo,
Huntington Beach, who placed ninth in 1:42:00; Johnny Pedroza, Irvine (11,
1:46:03); Mike Otteson, Fullerton (12, 1:47:15); Rocco Paniccia, Yorba Linda
(15, 1:50:39). Must be some under-the-radar bionic training program we're
not yet privy to.
(Other OC racers placed notably – Wilians Nava, of Tustin, finished 23rd overall in the men's road race section, in 2:41:38; Leng Klukken, of Huntington Beach, who won her hometown Surf City Marathon in February, placed 11th overall in the women's race and second in her 35-39 age group in 3:00:16, with Carista Strickland, of Aliso Viejo, 18th overall and winning her 40-49 age group in an impressive 3:14:07. Winner of the men's 55-59 age group was Jose Abel Cervantes, of Santa Ana, in 3:00:54; third among women 50-54 was Kat Wallace, of Anaheim (3:52:39); winner of the women's 65-69 section was Hiroko Spradlin, of Buena Park in 5:27:13.)
Which brings us to Katherine Jobe. She won the
women's 90-98 age group… yeah, you read that right. At an age
where most us will be happy just to be breathing and not drooling too much down
our shirt, she was pounding out 26.2 miles in an astounding 4:56:08. I ran the
Long Beach Half-Marathon back in 1989 at less than half her age and
haven't yet recovered.
