race results<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Ryan]()
<\/p>\n
Ryan Lester cheers for runners in Sunday\u2019s Oakland Marathon.<\/p>\n
Bront\u00eb Wittpenn\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
The energy was high at the finish line festival in the parking lot behind the Henry\u00a0J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, where runners in shorts and sweat-soaked tops gulped water, gobbled down snacks and danced to lively music blasting from a DJ. Others sprawled on the grass, stretching sore muscles and catching their breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Viji Doraiswany and her 10-year-old daughter munched on free snacks after wrapping up the half-marathon and the 5K, respectively. For the South Bay family, the Oakland race is a chance to soak up the Bay Area\u2019s community spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe all love to do this together,\u201d Doraiswany said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we keep coming back to this \u2014 the people \u2014 everybody\u2019s out supporting you, from kids to really older people, they\u2019re all there in the streets.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A host of creative signs decorated the course, including large cutouts of runners\u2019 heads, and one from an onlooker that read, \u201cAw! I missed it!\u201d Fans shouted names, clanged bells and coaxed tired runners toward the end.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got it, you got it, you can do it,\u201d said the emcee, who called out the names of each runner as they finished the race.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Beza]()
<\/p>\n
Beza Sileshi, who ran a half-marathon for her birthday, embraces Andy Ostaviano after he ran the same race Sunday in Oakland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bront\u00eb Wittpenn\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
The heat wave that gripped the Bay Area for roughly a week and pushed Oakland to a record-shattering 91 degrees Friday broke just in time to deliver slightly cooler race-day temperatures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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But the weather was still warmer than usual for March, with few clouds in the sky as the sun beat down on sweaty, red-faced runners tackling the course. The temperature had climbed toward 70 degrees by the time 50-year-old Sam Zollakota crossed the finish line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHeatwise, this was the worst one,\u201d he said, a blue hat shading his face. \u201cNormally it\u2019s not that hot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sunday was his ninth time running the Oakland Marathon, said Zollakota, who has been a marathoner for nearly two decades as a way to challenge himself and stay fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t compete with anybody, I compete with me,\u201d he said. \u201cMy goal is keeping my good shape as long as I can. \u2026 Let\u2019s see how long it will go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Supporters]()
<\/p>\n
Supporters cheer for thousands of runners in Sunday\u2019s Oakland Marathon.<\/p>\n
Bront\u00eb Wittpenn\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Molly Mills and Alexis\u00a0Maron ran the half-marathon together in matching gear: blue Hoka running shoes, dark green shorts and shirts, and hats with the slogan, \u201cI\u2019m single.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Last year, when the friends completed the 10K during Oakland Marathon weekend, they set their sights on the 13.1-mile race in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we did it,\u201d Mills said, noting that it went better than expected. \u201cWe\u2019re alive \u2014 we\u2019re not crying or anything like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Next up is the full-distance marathon, which the pair said they hope to complete in five years when Mills turns 70.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI always kind of wanted to do a marathon, but I knew I couldn\u2019t. But now I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, we could do this twice,\u2019\u201d Mills said after finishing the half.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m along for the ride,\u201d Maron said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andria Eguia of the Oakland Beer Runners runs the half-marathon Sunday during the Oakland Marathon, a competition that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[184,7,332,143,145,144,1727,2422],"class_list":["post-231797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-east-bay","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-outdoors","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}