Cal Poly runners win men's and women's divisions at SLO Marathon

Landon Woollard and Nate LeTavec, two Cal Poly seniors, wanted to finish off their college experience with a bang.

The did exactly that Sunday at the San Luis Obispo Marathon.

Woollard and LeTavec, finished in first and second place, respectively, overall on a warm and windy Sunday morning in the race's 7th annual edition.

Woollard crossed the finish line in front of the Madonna Inn at 2:40:40, while LeTavec finished in 2:42:12. About 3,000 runners competed in the marathon, half marathon and 5K races.

“I didn’t expect to win, but about halfway through I thought it might be a possibility. And I was feeling pretty good, so I kept rolling,” said Woollard, a Redding native.

It was the first marathon for both runners, but they do have experience running in longer trail races. The Cal Poly Distance Club members, both 22 years old, trained for the race together.

“It’s pretty special,” said LeTavec, who is from Bellingham, Washington. “We have been running together for four years, and to come out here and go 1-2 is pretty cool.”

Women’s Division

Lindsey Arrillaga, a 20-year-old Cal Poly junior, won the women’s division with a time of 3:14:09 and finished in 13th overall.

Diona Fulton, 38, of Santa Barbara was runner-up with a time of 3:16:45, and 40-year-old Ashlee Mayfield of Santa Barbara finished in 3:22:16.

Milestone for SLO bus driver

San Luis Obispo bus driver James Lacher completed his first-ever marathon Sunday just four years after weighing more than 400 pounds.

Lacher navigated the course in 5:24:19, but he was never worried about his time, it was all about the journey.

“I did it! I feel better than I thought I would,” Lacher said shortly after crossing the finish line. “Luckily, none of the worst-case scenarios happened out there.”

Lacher, 46, was greeted at the finish line by his friends and girlfriend. Most were wearing “Team James” T-shirts to support their friend, who shared his story with The Tribune this week.

“I feel like Sally Field when she won the Oscar. You like me, you really like me!” Lacher said.

Fast 14 year old

Trey Melzer, a 14 year old from Camarillo, was the youngest runner in the men’s division and finished in 17th place with a time of 3:17:04.

For full race results visit SLOMarathon.com.

Robyn Schmidt inducted into Hall of Fame

Atascadero's Robyn Schmidt, a former All-American and national champion at Cal Poly, was inducted into the SLO Marathon Hall of Fame on Sunday during the post-race awards ceremony.

Schmidt started a youth cross country program in Atascadero in 2009 and grew it into an official Atascadero Junior High School running program with 50 participants. She currently serves as an assistant coach for distance running and track at Atascadero High School. Schmidt also serves as the Race Director of the locally famous All-Comers Track Meet, which has attracted Olympics hopefuls as well as local standouts and kids running their first race.

Schmidt was part of a four-woman marathon relay team — along with Clare Corbin, Maddie Toste and Sav Lindsey — that placed first overall with a time of 3:47:37 in Sunday's Marathon Relay division.

Robyn will join the SLO Marathon Hall of Fame inductees Joe Rubio (2017), Sean Ricketts and Dr. Paul Spangler (2016), Stan Rosenfield (2015), Roger Warnes (2014), Greg Hinds (2013), and Pete Dorn and Brian Waterbury (2012).

This story was originally published April 29, 2018 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Cal Poly runners win men's and women's divisions at SLO Marathon."