It nearly came down to a photo finish to determine a winner for the 52nd edition of this past weekend’s Wharf to Wharf Race.
American Evert Silva pumped his legs for one last surge as he sprinted downhill past a tight pack for the dramatic victory in front of hundreds of fans at Capitola Village on July 28.
The 24-year-old Fresno native threw his arms up in celebration after finishing the race in 27 minutes, 03 seconds.
Not bad for a first-timer who kept pace behind a half dozen runners that led throughout most of the six-mile course from Santa Cruz to Capitola.
“I’ve heard a lot about it, and I know it’s a competitive race. I wanted to show up when I knew I was in good shape to compete with all the top level athletes that come here,” Silva said.
Silva earned a $4,000 paycheck for being the top male finisher, and was awarded an extra $1,000 for being the top American finisher. He edged fellow American Aidan Reed (27:04) and Matt Baxter (27:05) of New Zealand who earned $3,000 and $2,000 for second and third, respectively.
“It’s the most money I’ve ever had in my life,” Silva said. “I get to help my mom out a little bit, and take my siblings out and hang out with them. I’m just glad my talents can give me the opportunity to make some money doing what I love in my home state.”
Reed and Baxter stayed at the forefront with Ethiopian Ali Abdilmana (27:17), who earned $1,000 for fourth place.
Other notable finishers in the lead pack included Arturs Medveds (27:28; 5th), American Reid Buchanan (27:35; 6th) and Kenyan Peter Mwaniki Njeru (27:45; 7th).
Robert Miranda (27:56; 8th) of Los Angeles made a late push for a top-10 finish, followed by Shadrack Keter (27:58; 9th)—who partially led in the first two miles of the race—and Chris Frias (28:25; 10th).
“For a second I was content with fourth, that’s $1,000 dollars. The guys weren’t too far ahead of me, but I just wasn’t making up ground,” he said.
Silva gave a quick peek at his watch, which told him there were 400 meters remaining and he knew it was all literally downhill until the finish line.
It was a see-saw battle until the very end when Silva used whatever he had left in the gas tank to jump from fifth place to top of the podium.
“I guess I’m good at surging up hills because I would make up ground,” he said. “I just stayed calm, and just tried to focus on my breathing…I could read the body language of everyone. Once they’re not as smooth you know they’re dying and everyone’s suffering, so it’s whoever is going to suffer the most is going to come out on top.”
Prior to the Wharf to Wharf, Silva—who attends Oklahoma City University—had just raced in the Miguel Reyes Elite/Open 5K Run in Fresno on July 27.
It was either go work landscaping with his dad for $100 a day in the heat, or suffer by running nine miles for a chance at hundreds of greenbacks.
“You gotta be a little bit insane to be good at this sport,” he said.
This year’s top local male finisher was Santa Cruz’s Oliver Chang (29:17; 13th), who was considered a “wild card” going into the race. The 24-year old Pasadina native moved to the Central Coast two years ago to attend UC Santa Cruz for his doctorate.
Chang became a member of Grube’s Goobs running group under longtime Aptos High running coach Dan Gruber.
“I came here with little to no friends, and through running just made a whole lot of connections here,” Chang said.
Chang beat last year’s top local in Julian Vargas (29:55; 17th) out of Watsonville and Spencer Koonts (30:06; 18th) of Santa Cruz.
“I’m ecstatic. I couldn’t be happier with how today went. Everything went as planned and just all around a good crowd, good people to run with, good competition. Overall it was an awesome day,” Chang said.
It had been one year to the day that he ran in the San Francisco Half Marathon. He had no clue what type of shape he was in and had 10 weeks to prepare for last weekend’s race.
“A wildcard to say the least,” Chang said.
Other notable top finishers include Aptos alums Trent Nosky (30:12; 22nd) and Jack Rose (30:21; 24th).
Sunnyvale resident Daniel Mendez, 30, was awarded $5,000 after his bib—No. 9948—was called in the Golden Bib raffle. He finished the race in 55:29.
“This is the first time I’ve ever ran it. I didn’t even know that I had a golden bib,” he said. “I just had a bunch of people telling me that I need to stay at the end. I almost left and they’re like ‘No stay here by the banner.’ This is insane.”
52nd Wharf to Wharf Race men’s division results
1. Evert Silva, USA, 27:03
2. Aidan Reed, USA, 27:03
3. Matt Baxter, New Zealand, 27:05
4. Ali Abdilmana, Ethiopia, 27:16
5. Arturs Medveds, Latvia, 27:28
Top local: Oliver Chang, Santa Cruz, 29:16
