Lake Forest Resident Wins Tinker Bell Half Marathon

By City News Service

A Lake Forest entrant clocked the fastest time to win the third annual Tinker Bell Half Marathon on Sunday.

Andrew O'Bannon was first among the 1,654 male finishers, running 13.1 miles through Disneyland, California Adventure and the streets of Anaheim in 1 hour 16 minutes 35 seconds.

O'Bannon, 30, finished ahead of Mike Rusiewski, 51, of La Habra Heights (1:21.21) and Matthew Toth, 31, of Chicago (1:23.01).

Melissa Hernandez, 29, of Oxnard was the winner among women, pulling away from the remaining challengers nearly halfway through the race.

The 29-year-old completed the 13.1-mile course in 1:25.40 for her first victory in a half-marathon. Alyssa White of Durham, N.C. was second in 1:27:28. Kellie Nickerson of Albuquerque, N.M., the winner of the inaugural race in 2012, was third in 1:28:58.

"I had finished second in a few half-marathons," Hernandez said. "I had never run in a race this big before, so it was really nice to win my first here."

A capacity field of more than 15,000 entered the race.

The field for the women's-themed race was 88 percent female, with runners from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 15 nations, according to Raquel A. Giorgio, the sports media manager of Walt Disney World Public Relations.

The oldest entrant was 82-year-old Viola Douglass of Seguin, Texas, who completed the course in 3:16:17, finishing 9,466th and 8,126th among women.