Santa Barbara International Marathon Winners
updated: Dec 06, 2009, 6:10 PM

by the dedicated staff

Carlos Handler of Pomona was the men's winner of the Santa Barbara International Marathon Sunday morning. Despite a delayed start at 7 a.m. due to a traffic accident on Highway 101, Handler, 27, of Pomona, and Andrea McLarty, 32, put together strong performances to win the inaugural event.

Handler was aiming for an Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:19 but fell short with his 2 hour, 24 minutes, 48 second time. He broke away from third-place finisher Robby Cherry at the 17 mile mark, but said after the race that he cramped up after climbing the race’s largest hill, between mile 23 and 24.

“I wanted to push there, but I just had to maintain,” he said. The course finished with a nearly 2-mile downhill stretch that had ocean views.

An assistant coach of the Chino Hills Flash youth track club, Handler was cheered on by several of the athletes he advises. He is a graduate of Concordia College, where he was an NCAA Div. III All American, and also competed collegiately for UC Riverside.

Andrea McLarty, 32, of Santa Barbara ran a 2:52:23, solo, to win the women's race. She trained with race organizer Rusty Snow and said she ran "her perfect race." The time was a personal best, conditions were ideal and she had a huge smile on her face at the finish.

“It was my perfect race, as close to as good as it gets as it could be,” she said. McLarty ran without competition from other top women the entire way, and said she took pleasure in "running down" some of the men finishing near her at the end.

Find the full race results here. The second running of the race is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010.

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