First-Time Marathoner Wins In Oakland

She just turned 26 and is very happy with her debut.

Anna Bretan of Berkeley, California, was the first woman to cross the finish line at the second annual Oakland Marathon on Sunday. Bretan, a delivery nurse and mother to two, was running her first marathon. Her winning time was two hours, 53 minutes, and 19 seconds. Her victory was impressive, with the second-place finisher a full ten minutes behind.

This is a good way to start,” Bretan said. “I turned 26 in December and I decided it was time to run 26 miles.”

Bretan maintains that the crowd carried her through the tough parts of the course.

“Everywhere you went, somebody was cheering for you,” she said. “It keeps you going.”

Bretan’s husband says that his wife outruns him even when she is pushing the couple’s three-year-old in a jogging stroller.”I have to pretend I’m not with her so it’s not so embarrassing,” he confides.

In the men’s race, Tegenu Beru of Ethiopia crossed the line first in 2:30:08.

For More: Mercury News