Thousands brave chilly morning, traffic issues for Two Cities Marathon in Clovis and Fresno

Thousands of people braved bumper-to-bumper traffic and a chilly — if not down right cold — Sunday morning to take part in the Two Cities Marathon.

Runners crowded the start line at Clovis Community College at 6:30 a.m., doing stretches and quick jumps or just shivering in workout gear and running shoes. Spectators, some carrying signs of encouragement, lined the course in hoodies and blankets to cheer for runners in the marathon, half-marathon, and 10K and 5K races.

It was a full morning, with an impromptu pre-start dance party, an after-run marriage proposal and a photo finish for the marathon winner.

The Two Cities Marathon has traditionally been held at Woodward Park, but was moved to Clovis Community College this year. It allowed more space for competitors and spectators, plus a new, flatter, faster course, race organizer Mike Herman said.

That in turn, allowed the race — a qualifier for the Boston Marathon — to market itself nationally.

Which it did, Herman says.

The combined races capped out at 3,500 runners; a sellout, for the first time since 2010.

There were runners from 451 cities across 25 states and one from Japan.

Justin Burroughs came from Kerman to run the 5K with his fiance and two sons, one of which he pushed in a stroller. It was the boys’ first 5K and 8-year old Wyatt ran an 11-minute pace for the 3.1 miles, which Burroughs said was great.

Wyatt, in 8-year-old fashion, seemed to expect better and said it was “terrible.”

Samuel Mueller’s family came in from Birmingham, Alabama, to see the race, though they weren’t necessarily there to cheer on his run. They wanted to be at the finish line to see him propose to his girlfriend, Monique Bienvenue.

The couple met through running three years ago and had trained together for the half-marathon.

Bienvenue was looking to set a personal best, which she did by several minutes. She finished first in her age group and was the second overall female with a time just over 1 hour, 30 minutes.

She said yes to the proposal, to cheers from the crowd.

Marathon results

The marathon itself came down to just 1 second, with the first- and second-place finishers — Edgar Bolanos and Oscar Perez — literally sprinting to the finish line. Both runners kept a 5:49 pace for the full 26.2 miles, but 29-year old Bolanos crossed first at 2:32:24.7.

Perez finished 1.2 seconds later at 2:32:25.9.

The pair, both from Fresno, had trained for the race together by running weekends at Kings Canyon National Park. They hadn’t agreed to keep pace with each other, Bolanos said.

“At the end, we just gave it our all.”

Bolanos hadn’t run a marathon in 10 years. This was the first marathon for Perez.

Abby Tempelsman of San Francisco was the first female marathoner across the finish line with a time of 3:04:19.7.

Traffic slowed for the morning

The new course removed any hills for the runners and kept to street surfaces instead of using the nearby trails. This meant it snaked through four miles of neighborhoods in the area.

That allowed for better traffic control into and out of the race, Herman said.

The traffic blockages on Friant Avenue were cleared about 11:30 a.m. Traditionally, the road would be blocked until 2 p.m., he said.

Traffic within individual neighborhoods opened up within 45 minutes of the last start time.

Still, the flow of cars was moving bumper to bumper along the northern stretch of Willow Avenue at 6 a.m. and at spots along Friant Avenues through the morning as the race continued.

Clovis Police tweeted a warning to driver’s to expect delays until the afternoon.

This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 1:12 PM.