Jordon Trof defens his title at Big Sur Marathon

Six days after running a career-best for a marathon in Boston, 21 days after surviving a 150-mile ultra-marathon in the Sahara Desert, Jordan Tropf treated himself to a trip to the California coast.

A mini-vacation with his wife, though, would not be complete without a little competition – or in this case, returning to defend his Big Sur International Marathon title.

“I’m just happy my schedule allowed me to get back out here and feel the energy of this crowd,” said Tropf, an orthopedic surgeon at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center just outside Washington DC.

Still, on an adrenaline rush from clocking a career-best last Monday in Boston, Tropf went out and fed off the crowd down the stretch Sunday to comfortably win the 26-mile, 385-yard Big Sur Marathon in two hours, 26 minutes and 51 seconds.

The time was a record for an individual who ran both Boston and Big Sur one week apart. Tropf ran the Boston Marathon in 2:24.42. The overall meet record for Big Sur was set in 1987 by Brad Hawthorne, who ran 2:16:39.

“I’ll take it,” said the 30-year-old Tropf, who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland and is taking his wife to Yosemite Monday for hiking and sightseeing. “That is so cool.”

Anne Flower made her Big Sur debut memorable, jumping out in front early in capturing the women’s division in 2:49.49 – the only woman to break three hours.

Tropf is building a resume worth nothing, defending his title from 2019 – the last time the Big Sur Marathon was held before the pandemic shut it down the past two years.

Tropf has challenged himself over the past year in his training with 3:30 a.m. runs while becoming a surgeon.

Last year he entered the Guinness Book of World Records after running marathons in Baltimore, Chicago and Boston in three straight days, averaging 2:30 per marathon.

“My fitness is off the charts,” Tropf said. “But with all the miles I’ve logged of late, I was able to keep it together over the final 6 miles.”

The Naval Academy graduate Tropf asserted himself from the start, taking the lead early.

“I tried to keep him close,” said five-time winner Adam Roach of Pacific Grove, who took third. “He was going too fast for my pace in the first mile. I hoped I might be able to reel him in.”

Instead, Tropf set a blistering pace that he maintained over the hilly and at times windy course, averaging 5:36 per mile.

“I just went out early and took the lead,” Tropf said. “I felt good. With how my spring is going, all marathons are different.”

This was Tropf’s seventh marathon of the year, along with his 150-mile, six-stage run through the African desert four weeks ago.

posted Monday April 25th