Showers stay away as Oakland festival sprints into 7th year
The skies at the Oakland Running Festival were cloudy but the predicted rain held off for most of the morning while runners from 30 states and 10 countries crossed the finish line.
“Every year it just gets better and better,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said. “This year, the energy, the number of runners, the community organizations benefiting and the participants like Lily Pham make it what it is,” said Schaaf, referring to a 14- year- old cancer survivor who ran the half marathon with her mother, Moon Pham.
The event, now in its seventh year, had more than 10,000 participants, who took off when Schaaf pressed the starting bell.
Organized by Corrigan Sports Enterprises, the festival was nationally recognized in 2013 as a best marathon to run by Competitor Magazine, and this year was named part of the USA Today Sports Active Alliance, one of 14 top independent marathons in the nation to receive the honor.
“It’s a great combination of a serious run and community event,” said Schaaf, who noted that organizations like the Oakland Public Education Fund, Youth Uprising and Asian Health Services have benefited from the $ 1.7 million raised in years past. “Talking to runners crossing the finish line, they were just gushing about how diverse and beautiful the neighborhoods were whether it was the hills of Piedmont, the mariachi bands of Fruitvale or the ring of fire at the Crucible in West Oakland,” she said.
The festival consisted of seven events: a marathon, a half marathon, a team relay, a 5K run, a kids’ fun run, a town challenge ( in which participants run both the half marathon and 5K) and a corporate relay race. The events snaked through the city, starting at Snow Park on 19th Street and Harrison, through downtown, into Piedmont, around Lake Merritt and back to the finish line at Snow Park.
A group of Schaaf staffers ran under the team name Secret Sauce Beast Mode, named for Oakland native and Seattle Seahawks star running back Marshawn Lynch. Schaaf herself did not run. “You may remember the cast I had on my arm at the Warriors’ victory parade,” she joked. “That’s what happened the last time I ran.”
In addition to runners, the area surrounding Snow Park was full of race volunteers and people supporting participants. “We’re here to cheer on our best friends, Natalie di Blassio and Tony Gamboa,” said Hallie Gremlitz, who attended with Kate Pinlewski. The pair held up cutout signs at the finish line of di Blassio’s dog, Atte, and cat, Phoebe Louise.
“Even though we’re not running it with them, we wanted to come out and support them,” Pinlewski said.
Diane Lang, one of the 1,000 volunteers who, Schaaf said, “bring a lot of spirit” to the event’s water stations, was volunteering since she missed the deadline to sign up for the festival a few days before.
“I’m part of Black Girls Run,” said Lang, of Oakland. “We’re a group that encourages African American women all over the Bay Area to get active and get moving. With our community’s higher rates of diabetes, obesity and heart problems, we’ve got to encourage each other and hold ourselves accountable for our health.”
As the first runners crossed the finish line, the clouds looked more ominous, but that didn’t stop exhausted competitors from cooling off on the grass ( wrapped in silver Mylar blankets handed out by volunteers) and dancing to “Watch Me ( Whip/ Nae Nae)” by Silentó as the weather threatened to turn.
Alex Battaglino of El Cerrito placed first in the men’s marathon at a time of 2: 34: 51. Holly McIlvaine of Berkeley was first among women at 2: 58: 25. The marathon winners received $ 500 in prize money and roundtrip tickets to Hawaii from Hawaiian Airlines.
“My quads are really tight from those hills,” McIlvaine said, after walking off the stage, trophy in hand. “This is my 15th or 16th marathon. I won maybe five smaller ones, but this feels very special for all the time I invested in it.”
Battaglino was limping from a bloody heel but no less happy in victory. “I won’t lie,” he said. “Even a little bloody, and even after the pace you have to take downhill, it feels good.”
As the final trophies were handed out, the first drops of rain began to fall, sending tired athletes running, this time for shelter.
“I won’t lie. Even a little bloody, and even after the pace you have to take downhill, it feels good.” Alex Battaglino of El Cerrito, who placed first in the men’s marathon