Runners flock to Bizz Johnson Marathon

October 18, 2017October 24, 2017 Ashley Grogan, Sports Editor

Travis Szostak is the fourth finisher of the Bizz Johnson Marathon with an astounding pace of 7:49 per mile. Photo by Ashley Grogan

The 14th annual Bizz Johnson Marathon was held Sunday, Oct. 8. A total of two local athletes participated in the race with 67 visitors sharing the route.

In addition to the marathon, the weekend event also included an express half marathon on Saturday, Oct. 7 and a 50K, half marathon and a 10K on Oct. 8.

Overall, there were 292 athletes running on the Bizz Johnson Trail between the two race days. Of those, 71 were Lassen County residents.

The first place finisher for the Bizz Johnson Marathon was Brandon Crowell, from Santa Rosa, California, with a time of 3:05:28.

Local marathon runner Travis Szostak, of Janesville, finished fourth overall and third of the male 40-44 years division. Szostak finished with a time of 3:24:59 and thus kept an average pace of 7:49 per mile.

Ceci Dale-Cesmat, of Susanville, finished 37th overall and second of the female 55-59 years division. She finished the marathon with a time of 4:35:04 and had an average pace of 10:30 per mile throughout the race.

For the express half marathon held Oct. 7, there were a total of 142 runners, 20 of which were local.

The first-place finisher of the race was David Johnson from Riverview, Florida. His final time was 1:18:13.

Local runner Jake Nash was the first Lassen County resident to finish the express half marathon with a time of 1:26:54. Nash, of Susanville, was the first finisher of the male 20-24 years division. His pace was 6:38 per mile.

Dan Ryan was the 15th overall finisher with a time of 1:40:56. Ryan, of Janesville, was the third to finish of the male 30-34 year division. He had an average pace of 7:42 per mile.

Adam Butler finished 18th overall and first of the male 40-44 years division with a time of 1:43:24. Butler, of Susanville, had average pace was 7:54 per mile.

Jake Hernandez, of Susanville, finished 19th overall and second of the male 20-24 years division with a time of 1:44:03. His pace was 7:57 per mile.

Brook Jones and Michael Jones, both of Susanville, were the 26th and 27th overall finishers of the express half marathon. Both runners finished with 1:52:10 on the clock, and thus both had an average pace of 8:34 per mile. Brook Jones was the second finisher of the female 20-24 years division. Michael Jones was the third to finish of the male 20-24 years division.

Michael Blaschak, of Susanville, finished 30th overall and fifth of the male 30-34 years division with a time of 1:55:18. His average pace was 8:48 per mile.

Silas Rojas, of Susanville, finished 33rd overall and sixth of the male 30-34 years division. His final time was 1:57:25, and his pace was 8:58 per mile.

Tiffany Russell, of Susanville, was the 35th overall finisher and the first finisher of the female 30-34 years division with a final time of 1:58:26. Her average pace was 9:02 per mile.

Emily Ryan, of Janesville, finished 42nd overall and second of the female 30-34 years division. Her pace of 9:19 per mile allowed her to finish the express half marathon with a time of 2:02:07.

Lassen County athlete Linda Powell is the 45th to finish the express half marathon; she finishes first for her division. Photo by Ashley Grogan

Linda Powell, of Susanville, finished 45th overall and first of the female 50-54 years division with a pace of 9:28 per mile and a final time of 2:04:05.

Tyanna Blaschak, of Susanville, finished 46th overall and third of the female 30-34 years division with a time of 2:04:16 and a pace of 9:29 per mile.

Lisa Marie Urquizu, of Susanville, finished 48th overall and second of the female 40-44 years division with a time of 2:04:27 and a pace of 9:30 per mile.

Heather Mangos, of Susanville, finished 54th overall and fourth of the female 40-44 years division with a time of 2:08:10 and a pace of 9:47 per mile.

Ryan Hilburn, of Susanville, was 60th to finish overall and third to finish of the male 40-44 years division with a time of 2:12:30 and a pace of 10:07 per mile.

Nicholas Dominguez, of Susanville, finished 74th overall and fourth of the male 25-29 years category with a time of 2:21:14 and an average pace of 10:47 per mile.

Christie Whitcome, of Susanville, finished 84th overall and third of the female 60-64 years division with a final time of 2:26:40 and a pace of 11:12 per mile.

Jennifer Peterson, of Susanville was the 111th overall finisher and the sixth finisher of the female 45-49 years division with a time of 2:44:45 and a pace of 12:35 per mile.

Right behind Jennifer Peterson was Luke Peterson, also from Susanville, who finished 112th overall and fifth of the male 20-24 years division. His final tie was 2:44:46 and his average pace was 12:35 per mile.

Kimberly Michel, of Janesville, was the 131st finisher of the express half marathon and the 10th finisher of the female 50-54 years division. Her final time was 3:08:54 and her average pace throughout the race was 14:25 per mile.

The 50K race held on Oct. 8 did not see any local runners compete this year. In total, the 50K had 26 runners.

The first-place 50K runner was Robert Ressi-Moyer from Sacramento. His final time was 3:33:57.

The half marathon held Oct. 8 had a total of 25 participants with only one local runner.

The first-place finisher was Megan Deherrera from Truckee, California. Deherrera finished with a time of 1:47:54.

Susanville resident, Autumn Paine finished the half marathon 25th overall and fifth of the female 40-49 years division with a time of 2:45:20 and an average pace of 12:37 per mile.

Regarding the 10K, there were a total of 30 runners participating in the race; three of which were Lassen County residents.

Erik King, of Chico, was the first to finish the 10K with a time of 44:26.

Bradley Woods, of Susanville, was the first local runner to finish the race. Woods finished third overall and first of the male 1-19 years division with a time of 53:43 and an average pace of 8:40 per mile.

Al Garcia, of Susanville, was the 15th finisher overall and the first finisher of the male 60-69 years division with a final time of 1:04:48 and an average pace of 10:27 per mile.

Ashley Lewis finished 19th overall and sixth of the female 30-39 years division with a time of 1:08:39 and a pace of 11:04 per mile.