California International Marathon 2025 one for the history books

This year's California International Marathon will no doubt go down in history as one of the best days the world of marathon racing has ver seen, with an epic number of competitors achieving fast finish times. The 26.2-mile race began Sunday on Folsom-Auburn Road near Folsom Dam Road and made its way to the State Capitol. About 11,000 runners were expected to toe the line, each filled with unique aspirations and goals, from elite runners vying for the $20,000 top prize, middle-of-the-packers chasing personal bests and still others just wanting to cover the distance. A slew of volunteers and community groups were up long before the sun Sunday morning preparing aid stations, preparing the roads, picking up trash and a host of other pivotal jobs that ensure runners have the best experience and the event runs smoothly. A steady stream of shuttle buses brought runners from all over the region to the start line area, while various roads were temporarily closed. This year's CIM (and next year's) was chosen to be the US Marathon Championships, which attracted several top American distance runners vying for a deep prize purse and the title of national champion. CIM has also traditionally attracted top runners due to its potential to bring fast times with its fast course and often ideal marathon running weather. Sunday was chilly for spectators but ideal for distance runners, with cloud cover, temperatures in the 40s and a key factor: no wind to slow runners down. The first part of the course has occasional up and downhills, but the final 10k is flat with minimal turns, which is often a recipe for fast finish times if one controls themselves on the early downhills of the course. Futsum Zienasellassie of Flagstaff, Arizona, was the favorite to win the men's race and he delivered on that prediction. Zienasellassie overtook Joseph Whelan in the final mile after Whelan led most of the race. Zienasellassie finished with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 29 seconds, an average mile pace of 4:57. Whelan held on for second place, finishing 12 seconds after, and Christian Allen placed third. All three runners broke 2:10, a significant barrier in marathon running. This was a repeat performance for Zienasellassie, who won CIM and national championship in 2022. On the women's side, first-time marathoner Molly Born of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, set a CIM course record of 2:24:09, an average mile pace of 5:30. Born overtook American distance legend Sara Hall around mile 19; Hall was favored to win the race but held on for second in 2:24:36. Hall's time also set an American Masters (over 40 years old) record for the distance. Megan Saioor finished third, with all three finishing under 2:25:00, which is also a significant time barrier. The non-binary athlete winner was David Elk in 2:26:12, followed by Winter Parts and Jonah Grant. Hundreds of runners also toed the line at CIM trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, with a standard of 2:16:00 for men and 2:37:00 for women. In what was an epic result, 52 men and 55 women achieved qualifying times. Scott Abbott, executive director of the Sacramento Running Association, which organizes CIM, said this year's race also had the highest percentage of marathoners under 3 hours of any marathon in the world this year at 18 percent. While uncontrollable factors, such as ideal weather, certainly played a role in the great performances, Abbott said over the years, event organizers have built on the idea that CIM is a highly attractive marathon for performance-focused runners, and honed in on factors they can control. "Knowing that performance is our differentiator, we have really embraced that aspect of our event in terms of services offered, marketing and how we have recruited and facilitated elite athletes," explained Abbott. "But all the way through the field behind the elites, you see packs of performance chasers who come to Sacramento to race, not just run a marathon. It has become a watering hole event for (runners) across the world." Longtime Sacramento region running coach George Parrott remarked on social media that this year's CIM is truly for the history books, saying, "I challenge you to check the results for NYC, Chicago, London, Valencia even Berlin to see if you can find deeper qualify of field performances in all of marathon history."