OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – It has been more than two years since the last in-person Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.
On Sunday, thousands of runners headed to downtown Oklahoma City to take part in the iconic event.
Although we are back in-person this year, organizers say they still needed to make a few changes in order to protect participants in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Organizers planned a staggered start for the 12,000 runners to help them maintain space between one another.
Jose Pablo Salazar Ezquerra won the men’s marathon after coming from behind race front-runner Koki Ozawa.
There was excitement in the women’s marathon too!
Layne Hammer came from the third spot to quickly overtake Catherine Lisle and Ewa Zaborowska in the lead for the women’s race.
Hammer graduated from Oklahoma Christian University and has even set several running records at the university.
In the women’s race, it is a close race between Ewa Zaborowska and Catherine Lisle. Catherine Lisle has won this race four times in the past, but Ewa Zaborowska is running her first marathon. She was set to complete her first marathon earlier this year, but it was canceled. She says she hopes to complete the course in about three hours, which is close to Lisle’s time.
Koki Ozawa is still going strong with a 5:24 minute mile and has about a minute and a half lead over the next closest runner. He worked as a cross country trainer at OSU in Stillwater, but is now working at the University of Colorado. This is his first time running the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.
Catherine Lisle and Ewa Zaborowska are in a tight race at the six-and-a-half mile mark. Lisle has already won the race in the past. At this point, her husband is running beside her and plans to keep up with her as long as he can.
For the first time, the marathon route goes through the Lincoln Terrace area in northeast Oklahoma City. As the runners made their way through the area, they were met by ‘Pete the Pelican.’
He says that his daughter is running the marathon, so he decided to go all out to cheer her on!
The party is already getting started at Gorilla Hill!
Koki Ozawa, the men’s leader, is already running through Edgemere Park and is at the six mile mark.
Catherine Lisle is leading the women’s full marathon with a 6:37 minute mile. So far, she has surpassed the five-mile mark in the race.
Team Hoyt Oklahoma is a group of volunteers who push disabled athletes in wheelchairs in races across the state. The team was created in 2019.
Erik Heine says he has been running with his son since 2014. When his son, Steven, is in school, Erik says he will load the wheelchair with weights and begin running. He says he loves running with his son and can’t run by himself anymore.
Koki Ozawa is currently leading the men’s marathon runners. He is on pace for a 5:23 minute mile.
According to RTRT, the top racers in the men’s and women’s full marathon have already surpassed 3 miles on the course.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in-person marathons have been severely impacted. The Boston Marathon is just a little more than a week away, so some of the participants in today’s race will be heading to Boston to compete in that race as well. However, Mark Bravo says that the runners will have to choose one or the other to focus on, so some are opting for the half-marathon in Oklahoma City.
The race has begun!
The marathon has been capped at 12,000 participants, which is half of the normal number of participants.
We’re just a few minutes from the start of the full marathon, but the wheelchair participants have just crossed the starting line.
