Irvine half marathon wrap-up: Organizers pleased with results and look forward to another successful event next year in Woodbridge

Woodbridge athletic booster club president Jay Lyon (right) with vice president Ernie Kwan at the start of the Irvine Half Marathon and 5K race Saturday.

Organizers of the 28th annual Irvine Half Marathon and 5K event expressed satisfaction after the end of the event on Saturday at Woodbridge.

The event, which included about 1,500 runners, was run this year by volunteers from the school and Mascot Sports.

“We’re really excited about the re-branding and we’re really excited about the job that Mascot Sports did for us this year,” said Jay Lyon, president of the Woodbridge Athletic Boosters. “

“We were obviously challenged by the weather a little bit. The start of the race was fantastic and toward the end of the half marathon, it started to pick up in terms of the rain. But the folks have been having a great time. The support from Kona Brewery has been fantastic and we’re excited and looking forward to next year.”

Lyon said the reaction was positive from the runners.

“They loved the re-design of the course,” he said. “It was really a big part of what we were trying to achieve this year. The course ran really nice; there were a couple of mud puddles, but for the most part, we got really positive feedback, so we’re very pleased.”

Every runner who finished the half marathon and 5K course received a medal.

Event organizers had their hands full the night before when heavy rains and winds played havoc with tents that were laid out as part of the expo and festival area following the race.

“There were 40 mile per hour winds and knocked over most of our set-up, but Mascot Sports was out here about 4 a.m. this morning and put it all back together and got us all taken care of for the start of the race,” Lyon said. “The event was great, we’re super pleased for Woodbridge High School and all the partnerships we have with all the vendors.”

Despite the rain near the conclusion of the half marathon, the festival continued after the race at Mike Ward Community Park with a band entertaining guests and the Kona beer garden remained open. The event is one of four major fund-raisers for Woodbridge athletics.

In the half marathon, Blake Fonda of Lodi took first place in a time of 1:11.40 in his first Irvine half marathon (please click here to see the story).

Zane Cox of Anaheim was second in a time of 1:14.15, Caleb Terefa of Irvine was third in a time of 1:14.17, Elliot Biljsma of El Segundo was fourth in a time of 1:15.41 and John Welch of Anaheim was fifth in a time of 1:16.36.

To see the complete results from Mascot Sports, please click here.

OC Sports Zone, represented by Tim Burt, Gabriel Calderon and Fernando M. Donado, was on hand from the start and provided same day coverage. Information was also provided to those in attendance about the OC Sports Zone website, which is an independent, community-oriented site now in its seventh month.

OC Sports Zone is providing free content to readers throughout Orange County through the support of local advertisers To see our story, please click here.

To see pictures of the runners, please click here

To see the background of the event, please click here.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com