BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 More than 5,000 runners from across the country took part in the 9th Annual Bakersfield Marathon. The race started and ended at the Kern County Museum.<\/p>\n
Bethelwel Wilson drove from Los Angeles to participate in his fifth Bakersfield Marathon. He said he loves how the event continues to grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s growing in popularity every year that I’ve run it, more and important people sign up. So I think it’s a good race to come to because it’s a little bit smaller than, let’s say, like your LA Marathon or your Chicago marathon,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n
Wilson said every race has its challenges, but hearing cheers from the crowd keeps him going.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday it started off a little bit cool. The first few miles of the course are uphill, so it’s a little bit of a challenge, so we’ve got to have to pace yourself, not go too fast,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of course support out there, you know, people from the community cheering. And so that was highly motivational having people cheer me on,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n
Julia Pinal ran the marathon for the second time. She said it is one of her favorite runs because of the atmosphere.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really fun. I feel like every year, more people come out to support, and every time there’s a group pushing you, it makes me run, like, a few seconds faster,\u201d Pinal said.<\/p>\n
Pinal said reaching the finish line is usually the toughest part of the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s that little bit towards the end where I really want to stop, but I know if I stop and I look at my time after, I’ll be like, so disappointed that I stopped or I slowed down, so I really just try to push it all, give it my all, and cross the finish line,\u201d Pinal said.<\/p>\n
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n
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