Now in its 46th year, the Wharf to Wharf Race has finally found its sweep spot.
There are no plans to increase the amount of runners. The field of elite competitors continues to be a solid mix of young talent and proven personalities. And, most importantly, the registration process has simmered down from an all-out blitz of years past to a manageable pace.
“There’s no real big changes that we want to make down the road,” said Wharf to Wharf race director Scott McConville. “We’re always making adjustments from year to year, but we feel pretty good with where we’re at, at the moment. It’s all small tweaks from here.”
The six-mile road race between the Santa Cruz and Capitola wharfs returns on Sunday.
At 8:30 a.m. sharp, 1,600 runners — a little more than a dozen competing for cash prizes — will zoom through the streets of Santa Cruz into the Capitola Village.
Not much will be different from last year’s run. Having The Expendables, an American reggae rock band from Santa Cruz, playing at the start line might be the lone visible — and audible — difference.
Here’s a look at the 46th running of “the best little road race in California”:
ELITES
The elite field will be 17 runners deep.
On the men’s side, the overall championship will be up for grabs.
Last year’s champion, Teshome Mekonen, of Ethiopia, might have been considered the favorite before dropping out earlier in the week. But last year’s runner-up, Simion Chirchir, a 24-year-old from Kenya, is back, as well as veteran Silas Kipruto, a 33-year-old Kenyan who won the title in 2011 and has finished within the top three each of the last two years.
American Scott Smith, 32, is the only other runner in his 30s, according to Wharf to Wharf records. The rest are all runners in their mid-20s, still waiting to hit their stride. Kenyan Bernard Ngeno, 24, Ethiopian Tesfaalem Mehari, 25, and Americans Craig Lutz, 25, and Willie Milam, 26, will also test their stuff on Sunday morning.
On the women’s side, defending champion Buze Diriba, of Ethiopia, will be back with hopes of repeating.
She’ll have to hold off 34-year-old Kenyan Caroline Rotich, the 2014 champion and Wharf to Wharf record holder (30 minutes, 18 seconds) who went on to win the Boston Marathon the following year, 25-year-old Kenyan Monica Ngige, the runner-up last year, and a host of American runners.
Amy Schnittger, the multi-time top local, joins Stephanie Bruce, Caitlin Chrisman and Rachel Hyland, who earlier this year stunned the Boston Marathon field by taking fourth, in the American field.
Kenyan Delvine Meringor and Canadian Kinsey Middleton complete the women’s elite field.
McConville said he receives a few dozen pitches from agents in the months leading up to the Wharf to Wharf.
He whittles down the list by using a multitude of factors, including times, accomplishments, personalities and the runner’s record with performance enhancing drugs.
“We love to get the returning champions every year, that’s the goal, but sometimes it doesn’t work out for whatever reason,” McConville said. “After that, I like to take chances with the younger racers. Obviously, you look for fast times, but you also have to take into account the athlete as a complete package…”
He added: “Some times you get the Silas Kipruto’s and Caroline Rotich’s.”
The top male and female finishers win $4,000. Second place takes home $3,000, third wins $2,000 and fourth pockets $1,000. The top American male and female finisher also wins $1,000.
REGISTRATION
The four-frame registration, now in its second year, has cooled the first-come, first-served frenzy of years past.
With loyalty registration, which prioritized participants who had registered for the Wharf to Wharf in at least four of the past eight years, and the 1,000-bid random selection process as the bookends, registration — beginning on March 22 and closing on April 10 — was much more manageable.
McConville also said his team did less marketing than in the past, and did not push the race as much through its social media channels.
“We tried to get the windows to stay open longer,” McConville said. “It’s fun to sell out fast and continue to break the record every year, but at some point you start hurting yourself and your product.”
EXPANSION
For the past few years, McConville has pitched the idea of expanding the Wharf to Wharf’s reach in the community beyond its singular race date — always the fourth Sunday of July.
He’ll get his wish this year, as the organization is introducing the Little Wharf 3-Miler later this year during the weekend of the Capitola Beach Festival, which was formerly known as the Capitola Begonia Festival.
The race, scheduled for Sept. 29 at 8 a.m., will kick off the weekend’s festivities.
“I think this one is going to be a little more for the locals,” McConville said.
To register for the new race, visit: wharftowharf.com.
