Oakland Marathon draws a record 10,000 runners

OAKLAND, Calif. - The 16th annual Oakland Marathon is much more than a foot race. It helps a city stake its place.

The marathon came off without a hitch: a record ten thousand strong, a color wheel of humanity, from here, near, far and wide.

Each runner has their own reason to run for a medallion. 

"I would like to do a marathon in the USA because I really like running," said French runner Caillile Poerlen.  

"I run for good health. I'm 64 years old. I love to run. I ran in Las Vegas, a 5K and then a 10K," said Bay Area runner Anthony Buenodiaz.

The love of running runs deep. 

"I've always run, and love running. This is my first time doing an official run," said Alameda's Harry Fong. 

"Today, I hope to accomplish just to finish. I mean, everybody has their own goal, but mine is to just finish the race. I have my own goal," said Oakland runner Julian Williams.

Some goals are lofty. 

"I'm training for the Boston Marathon, so this is part of a tune-up race, and I'm hoping to get an elite time, which is [under 1 hour 34 minutes], for my age group," said runner Megan Kossar.  

"We are here to support people with cancer, especially people with neural-endocrine cancer, and the important thing is that we are here to be together in community," said Juliette Linzer of NorCal CarciNET Community. 

"I'm doing it because of my father. He passed away from prostate cancer… I was kind of going downhill because of depression… I started running like half-marathons and doing a lot of races and stuff," said Tracy runner Monique Irby.

Some are here for the sheer fun of it. 

"I'm running the full marathon. This is my first marathon. I'm running here because I'm with my friends," said Angie Woo.

And for Oakland, one very special day. 

"The effort that we put in to really promoting the race, bringing the community together, bring people from different walks of life together to be able to run, together in a spirit of community, health, and wellness," said marathon official Randy Wells. 

"Most of the people are very excited to be here supporting Oakland as well and the community, and we see many first-time participants," said marathon official Diane Batchelor.

This event speaks about the very best in Oakland; the fact that people are willing to come here and participate here, and do things here. That's a victory for Oakland.