Long Beach Marathon : Cold Weather Doesn’t Deter 3,700; San Diego Runner Wins in 2:14:54

It was along Appian Way that Tim Varley began pulling away from Chris Schallert at the 20-mile mark of Sunday’s Long Beach Marathon. That was also the point where the LaVerne Street Marathon Booster Club kicked into action.

As Varley--who lengthened his lead and won in a course-record 2 hours 14 minutes 54 seconds--ran past the club, the half-dozen rowdy boosters put down their doughnuts and coffee and cheered. Then they sat back down under their banner and reloaded the Mr. Coffee. “We’ve been in training for this for a week,” said one member.

It’s like that when they run marathons in Long Beach at 7:30 in the morning. It’s people in lawn chairs on the sidewalks. It’s people in their driveway picking up the paper while in their bathrobes, glancing up as 3,700 runners pound past their mailbox.

With the Long Beach Marathon being the largest Southern California marathon (for the moment), runners who prefer the 26-mile distance flock to it; local runners, regional runners, but not world-class runners. The relatively flat, fast course could produce better times. In Sunday’s race, course records were set in the men’s and women’s open and wheelchair divisions.

Varley, of San Diego, has run considerably faster, but Sunday there wasn’t a fast pace to pull him. Martti Kilhoma of Finland was second in 2:19:32 and Schallert, of North Hollywood, was third in 2:20:48. Rosario Avalos of Mexico, running in only her second marathon ever, was the top female finisher in 2:44:59. Sherry Simmons, of Lomita, was second in 2:51:00 and Julie Moss of Encinitas was third in 2:54:02.

Varley and the rest of the pack let Ron Cornell of San Pedro do most of the early work. Cornell, last year’s winner, took off with Kilhoma from the start and opened a 50-meter lead over Varley and Schallert.

“Ron went out really hard,” Varley said. “I expected that and sat back. But I didn’t want to let him get more than a minute ahead of me.”

Four miles into the race Cornell was running with ease, well ahead of the next pack of four runners. He cruised through the first-aid station without taking any fluids; aid-station volunteers were bopping to Marvin Gaye’s “Heard it Through the Grapevine” as the first runners passed.

Cornell had a 16-second lead at five miles and gave no signs of slowing. As he eased behind a press van with early-morning temperatures near 40 degrees, Cornell yelled at reporters, “Is it warmer in there?”

It was warmer, but not by much. Cornell warmed as the sun rose, but expended so much energy in the early stages of the race that the pack was able to reel him in.

“I passed Ron at 12 miles,” Varley said. He still had Schallert and Kilhoma to deal with.

“I spotted a weakness at 19 miles and decided to take advantage of it,” he said. “I didn’t surge. I just upped the pace. I let Chris (Schallert) take the lead and I sat right up behind him. I kind of used him. At 19.8 miles I went by. He felt weak and I took off.”

Varley, 25, has an MBA and is a financial consultant in San Diego. He says he puts in a 10-hour day at the office and then meets friends at the track. That’s is hardly a typical schedule for an elite runner.

Not typical, too, was the women’s race. Avalos entered the race at the last minute in order to qualify for the Mexican national team that will go to the World Marathon Championships in Japan in April. Avalos, 25, had run a 3:07 in her first marathon at altitude in Mexico City. She was required to run a 2:50 here to qualify.

“I was trying to run a 6:20 (mile) pace,” Avalos said through an interpreter. “I wanted to start slowly and pick up my pace. In the last marathon I went out too fast.”

Avalos is a chemical engineer working for the Secretary of Mines in Mexico City. She said she began jogging four years ago and began running 10K races. Like Varley, she must juggle her job with training demands. Still, while in the area, she said she’s looking forward to visiting Disneyland.