The women elite talent will be the strongest in the event’s history, at the 51st Wharf to Wharf race Sunday morning
The lineup of elite talent will be deep and the storylines numerous when runners of all ages and skill levels line up for the start of the 51st Wharf to Wharf race Sunday morning.
The excitement and anticipation will be palpable. For some, the goal is to complete the annual six-mile race to Capitola. Others will be costumed, poised to update their social media apps with colorful photos, full of smiling faces.
There will also be a more competitive bunch of runners who look to reach the Capitola Wharf in personal-record time, or post a top-100 finish in their gender division to claim elite Wharf to Wharf apparel.
And there will be a select few looking to take first, well ahead of the sea of runners, which has been capped at 15,000.
Among them is defending women’s champion Ednah Kurgat of Colorado Springs, who looks to again secure the Mayor’s Cup and $4,000 prize awarded to the winners.
Repeating as champ won’t be easy. “The women’s field is arguably the strongest in the event’s history,” said Dane Gradone, the event’s elite athlete coordinator. “It’s completely (awesome).”
Kurgat’s solid ’23 season includes a win at the USATF Cross Country Championships in January and a sixth-place finish in the 10,000-meter race at the USATF Outdoor Championships earlier this month.
Everlyn Kemboi, the ’23 NCAA champion in the 10,000 and runner-up in the 5,000, should contend for supremacy. Also entered are Kenyan Mary Munanu, last year’s Wharf to Wharf runner-up, Ethiopian Werkuha Getachew, the runner-up at last year’s World Championships in the steeplechase, and fellow Ethiopians Tigist Ketema and Weynshet Ansa, both multiple-time national champions. Kenyan Sarah Naibei is a world-class runner on the roads, and a 52-minute 10 miler. Annamaria Kostarellis is a freshly minted NCAA All-American.
The local contingent is equally impressive. It includes former Santa Cruz High and Oregon State University standout Mari Friedman, the top female local finisher in ’22.
“I’m super excited,” Friedman said. “It’s one of my favorite races. It’s a holiday for me.”
Friedman’s goal? “To race happy and have fun,” she said, noting her best results come when she follows that plan.
Back in the field for the first time since 2014 is Nike runner Vanessa Fraser, a Scotts Valley High and Stanford University alumna. She’s coming off a 12th place finish in the 10,000 at the USATF Outdoor Championships.
Fraser, who lives in San Francisco, is in the process of transitioning to more road races. She returns to the one that got it all started for her.
“I’m excited to mix it up and see how I can finish and be competitive,” said Fraser, who has qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Feb. 3. “Top 10, that’s a good goal. Anything higher would be great.”
Ashlyn Boothby, an incoming senior who has broken most of Fraser’s records at Scotts Valley, will compete in the race for the first time. She’ has been at camp with the Falcons in Truckee, doing altitude training and bonding with teammates.
“This is super special to be in the same race as Vanessa Fraser,” Boothby said. “She’s my idol. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up with her.”
The men’s field is primed to produce another exhilarating finish.
Salinas’ Diego Estrada, an Alisal High alum and former Olympian in the 10,000, finished second in the ’22 Wharf to Wharf and expects himself to be in title contention again after upping his training. He finished in 27 minutes, 18 seconds last year, two seconds behind champion Emmanuel Bor.
“I’d like to break 27 (minutes),” said Estrada, who is running 90 miles a week. “If I lose and break 27, I’ll be really happy. And if I win and don’t break 27, I’ll be really happy. But there’s so much talent in our area, I don’t know what will happed til we get to the downhill.”
Estrada will be tracked closely by a fair share of challengers and hardened road running veterans.
Fellow Olympian Ben Blankenship, who currently lives and trains in Eugene, Oregon, is also in the field. So is established marathoner Colin Bennie of San Francisco, the top American at the Boston Marathon in 2021. He finished ninth in Capitola last year.
This year’s International contenders include a trio of experienced Kenyans, James Ngandu, Josphat Kipchirchir, and Shadrack Keter, who have all run nearly an hour in the half marathon and racked up numerous racing honors.
Aptos’ Jack Rose is back after finishing as the top local male finisher in ’22, but a handful of young collegians will be gunning to unseat him. Among them are former Scotts Valley star Jeremy Kain, who runs for Duke University; Julian Vargas, a St. Francis alum who runs for Xavier University; Aptos talent Trent Nosky, a recruited walk-on for Colorado State University’s cross country and track programs; and Patrick Goodrich, a former Scotts Valley standout who competes for Cal Poly-SLO’s club team.
Rose, winner of the Ventura Marathon in February in a PR time of 2:21:39, said the quality of his workouts have improved since he finished as top local last year. He excited to hear the bands stationed along the route and hear spectators shout support as he passes them.
Kain is hoping to unseat Rose as top local. He’s increased his miles from 40 a week to 65-70. “I do think I’m in pretty good shape right now,” he said.
Experience is key, and Kain is competing in the race for the first time. “I’m kinda ashamed of myself that it’s my first year,” he said. “It never worked in my training block, but, this year, getting out there and giving it my all is going to be exciting.”
posted Saturday July 22nd
by Jim Seimas