Course record to be challenged by seven male athletes posting times under 1:03
MONTEREY, Calif. – Thirty-five of the nation’s top half marathon runners comprise the fastest-ever field to compete in the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay, set for Sunday morning, November 17. Seven of the male athletes posting times under 1 hour, 3 minutes are poised to set a new course record in this year’s 11th presentation.
In total, 18 male elite runners and 17 female elites will vie for a prize purse of $17,850 with an additional $1,000 offered for breaking the course record. The prize money purse, the largest offered for a half-marathon in the western United States, and the fast, scenic course continues to draw top runners from throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as international athletes who live and train in the States.
The course record of 1:02:33 for the 13.1-mile distance, set by Ian Dobson in 2006, will be challenged by the seven runners with personal records (PRs) below 1:03. They include Nelson Oyugi, who won San Diego’s America’s Finest City Half Marathon last August in a course-record 1:01:59; Moroccan’s Aissa Dghoughi (PR 1:01:27) and Mohamed Fadil (1:01:07); Ian Burrell (1:02:51) third in 2011; Fernando Cabada (1:02:51), second in the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon last month; and Kenyans Lamech Mosoti (1:02:53) and Geofrey Terer (1:02:35).
Other top male contenders are defending champion, Ben Bruce (winning time 1:04:46); 2011 second-place finisher Benson Cheriuyot (1:03:07); Sergio Reyes (1:03:30), third in 2009; and Mario Macias (1:04:30), fourth place in both 2010 and 2011. Two-time Big Sur Marathon winner Adam Roach (1:08:42); and 2011 Big Sur Marathon champion Jesus Campos (1:07:32) will be local favorites near the front.
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