We can’t wait to see the Oakland Marathoners huffing and puffing their way through Montclair, as they reach the high point of this brand-new race.  At least they won’t head up to Skyline!

This marathon, which takes place on Sunday, March 28th, offers a new way to experience Oakland – as a runner, volunteer or regular old cheerleader.

Over 4,000 participants are expected in the three main races during the Running Festival Weekend, including 1,000 who will run the full marathon through Montclair.  These long-distance goers will leave City Hall at 7:30am, and are supposed to hit the Village between 8-10 am.

“Getting to Montclair was a little bit of a challenge and found Broadway to be the least ‘up’ of the streets,” explained Montclarion Tod Vedock, who’s volunteering and serving as assistant race director.  “Plus we figured running through Temescal Park would be a nice addition.”

You may greet these runners as they sashay south on Mountain Blvd.  Fortunately, there won’t be any Heartbreak Hill stories, since the throng arrives at the Oakland Hills early in the race:  Lake Temescal at mile 6; Duncan/Fernwood at mile 7;  Montclair Elementary at mile 8; and Mountain/Ascot at mile 9.

“Our goal for this race was to bring a positive and revenue generating event to the City of Oakland.  We are an outdoor community with bikers, runners [and] walkers,” said Vedock.  This kind of running event seems long overdue, and it’s nice to shine a light on Oakland.

P.S.  Want to make sure everyone’s headed in the right direction?  Volunteer as a course marshal for the Oakland Marathon by reaching Tod Vedock at tsvedock@yahoo.com.