Elisha Barno, 30, of Kenya ran 1:03:04 to win the Big Sur Half-Marathon in Big Sur, Calif., Sun., Nov. 8, with Kara Goucher, 37, of Boulder, Colo., winning the women’s race in 1:11:13.

Macdonald Ondara, 30, also of Kenya, was the runner-up in the men’s race with a time of 1:03:31. Karim Elmabchour, 33, of Morocco finished third in 1:03:54.

The first American finisher in the race was Scott Bauhs, 29, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., who clocked 1:03:56 to place fourth.

Thus the first four in the race all ran under 1:04, and the first eight broke 1:05.

Kara Goucher had a bigger margin of victory in the women’s race as her 1:11:13 placed her one minute, 34 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Simegn Abnet Yeshanbel, 29, of Ethiopia, who ran 1:12:47.

Kristen Zaitz, 34, of Bloomfield, Conn., finished third in 1:13:02.

At age 60, Christine Kennedy of Los Gatos, Calif., turned in a stellar performance as she placed eighth in 1:27:26.

The women’s 60-and-over world record in the half-marathon is 1:24:56, set by Bernardine Portenski of New Zealand in 2010. However, Kennedy, winner of the Double Victory Cup countless times for best age-graded performance in the Double 15K, is still working her way back to full fitness after a horrendous accident several months ago left her unconscious for an hour with a broken skull. Frankly, it’s amazing Kennedy has come back as fast and as far as she has!

Bernardine Portenski also holds the women’s 60-and-over world record for the marathon, 3:01:30, also set back in 2010.

Christine Kennedy seemed like a sure bet to break all of the women’s 60-and-over records this year at the longer distances – until her unfortunate mishap. But like the champion she is, she's obviously working her way back to at least a semblance of her previous form. 

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