Thousands Participate in Santa Barbara Veterans Day Marathon and Half-Marathon

Thousands of athletes participated in the sixth annual Santa Barbara Veterans Day Marathon and Half-Marathon Saturday.

Nearly 4,500 runners made their way along the scenic course through Santa Barbara and Goleta to the finish line at Leadbetter Beach.

The marathon started at Dos Pueblos High School.

The half-marathon began at the Page Youth Center.

Before the race got underway, runners watched a fly-over of vintage World War II aircraft sponsored by the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Museum.

Kenya’s Sammy Mutai won the marathon with a time of 2:31.40.

Paige Burgin, who trains part time in Santa Barbara, was the winner of the women’s marathon with a time of 3:06.39.

Santa Barbara’s Jason Smith finished in fifth place.

The last mile of the race is called the Veterans Mile, and pays homage to our military men and women on the weekend before Labor Day.

Seventy-one active military personnel and 155 veterans participated in the race.

For race results and more information click here