Just under 200 local racers descended upon Elings Park on Friday morning to kick off the holiday weekend with the annual Semana Nautica 4th of July Trail Race.
The morning featured a 5K Trail Race with 122 competitors and a 2K Trail Race with 51 racers, many of whom were children. The races were hosted by the Santa Barbara Running Association.
The races started and finished atop Elings Park, with the courses running throughout the park’s trails.
In the 5K Trail Run, 27-year-old Christopher St. Jean of Santa Barbara crossed the finish line first with a strong time of 19:02.3 for a 6:08 mile pace.
He was joined on the podium by Carpinteria’s Chris Gregory (38, 19:37.4) and Santa Barbara’s Meso De Jong (36, 20:02.5), respectively.
The first woman to finish the 5K race was 50-year-old Michelle McToldridge of Santa Barbara, who registered a time of 24:20.8.
Dos Pueblos High standout Cate Bishop (17, 25:04.4) was the second woman to cross the finish line, while Katie Karst (32, 25:52.9) placed third.
Meanwhile, 12-year-old Robbie Fitzgibbons came out on top in the 2K Trail Run with his time of 7:54.8, good for a 6:23 mile pace.
Fitzgibbons was followed by Santa Barbara’s T. McToldridge (12. 8:48.4) and Carpinteria’s A. Alcantar (11, 9:05.8). The first female finisher was 12-year-old C. Frierson (12, 10:34.9).*
* – no first name provided