Chris Gregory always wanted to run the Pier to Peak Half Marathon.
In the year he decided to tackle the race called the “Toughest Half Marathon in the World,” it was an abnormally hot day for Santa Barbara.
“When the heat wave came early in the week, I said, ‘Oh, great. It’s already the hardest half (marathon) in the world — or how they advertise it — and (the hot weather) just made it harder,’” said the Goleta resident.
An experienced road racer, Gregory survived the heat and the climb up Gibraltar Road to win in his Pier to Peak debut on Sunday. He finished the 13.1-mile course from the Dolphin Fountain at Stearns Wharf to La Cumbre Peak in 1 hour, 41 minutes, 28 seconds.
Christina Knapp, a native of Anchorage, Alaska and a graduate student in physics at UCSB, was the women’s champion (19th overall) in 2:07.56.
An avid cross country skier and distance runner, this was her fourth time doing the race.
“It was by far the hottest year,” she said of the conditions. “I always love this race; I like the uphills. But it was much hotter and much harder than before. I’m originally from Alaska, so I’m not well accustomed to the heat.”
Knapp had lots of family support to push her to the title. Three members of her family did the race: cousin Matt Wolpert, of Ogden, Utah, finished third overall (1:45.38), her brother Nathaniel, of Los Alamos, N.M., came in sixth (1:51.05) and her older sister, Elizabeth, of Anchorage, was the 18th woman finisher (2:41.53).
“This was especially fun,” she said.
Emily Kalmbach of Santa Monica was the second woman finisher (2:12.37) and Charlotte Cox of Santa Barbara finished third (2:16.36).
Gregory said running in the heat “was pretty intense. Luckily, I was pretty aggressive and pulled away at mile 5 and got a big gap and kind of held it. It was rough for sure.”
Matt Dubberly of Santa Barbara finished second in 1:44.26. The top five runners finished under 1:50. After Gregory, Wolpert and Dubberly, locals Todd Booth and Stephen Scrafford ran 1:47.00 and 1:47.20, respectively.
Gregory felt for the runners who finished much later.
“It got progressively hotter,” he said.”It was in the high 70s at the start and got up to the 90s. By the time I finished and started back down the hill, it was like 100 degrees. It was progressively rougher for people that were out there longer. I feel like I train a lot and it was hard for someone who runs all the time. I can’t imagine what it was like for someone who said I’ll do it as a challenge.”
Gregory said he felt fine at the end of the race but threw up a couple hours later due to dehydration.
“Even though there aid stations every 2 to 2 1/2 miles apart, I was parched the whole time,” he said.
“This race “has nothing to do with running efficiency. It’s more about strength; a lot of it is mental. Every stride takes an effort, there’s no gliding.”.
While he was happy with the win, Gregory said he was bummed that defending champion Kris Brown didn’t race. Brown won last year in 1:32.07.
“My goal was to beat one of the past winners. I don’t think I’m truly a champion until I beat him,” he said.
Despite the hot, humid weather, 322 entrants finished the race.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.