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CONTINUED FROM PG.15 16 WHARF TO WHARF SATURDAY | JULY 23, 2016 SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL 1996 The biggest news of the 24th race, at least from a local angle, was the record tying third Wharf to Wharf win in the women's division by Santa Cruz's Barb Acosta. Acosta, a 39-year-old mother of two who won the race in 1990 and 1994, joined Sue Munday and Nancy Ditz as three- time winners. She finished in 34:13. Acosta bolted to an early lead, completing her first mile in 5:08. The men's winner gave the event an international flavor, particularly in an Olympic year. As the Atlanta Games played on, Peter VanDerVelden of the Netherlands won the overall Wharf to Wharf title, setting a course record of 29:40 in his first race on American soil. VanDerVelden, 27, set a scorching pace with a first-mile of 4:33. He then held off Ivan Huff of San Luis Obispo to win. VanDerVelden said the beauty of the Pacific Ocean was a bit of a distraction, but the boisterous crowd gave him a welcome jolt of adrenaline. "When I needed it down the stretch," he said, "the bands really helped push myself." 1994 A course alteration — thanks to erosion along East Cliff Drive — and the absence of defending champions set the stage for a little-known Australian to steal the spotlight. In his first visit to Santa Cruz, Aussie Ian Leitch ran away with the race and set a record for a course that took new twists and turns. Santa Cruz's Barb Acosta repeated her 1990 victory. Leitch, in Northern California to run the San Francisco Marathon a week after the Wharf to Wharf, ran a time of 29:18. The Wharf to Wharf was a training run for Leitch, and most of the lead runners who chased him — along with most of the spectators and some of the race officials — did not know who he was. Acosta was almost knocked down at the start of the race, but pulled it together for a 32:42. She led the women's field from start to finish. Steve Coan of Cupertino ran the race in 54 minutes, but did not go away empty handed. His race number was selected to win a red 1994 Toyota Celica ST Sport Coupe, the grand prize. 1992 Lameck Aguta, in only his second race on U.S. soil, was the top finisher and the first to receive the cash prize of $5,000 in the first year of prize money. He led a Kenyan sweep of the top six places, with the top three breaking the course record of 27:30 set by 1991 winner Brian Abshire. Aguta was an Olympic hopeful who missed a flight for his country's finals. Russian Albina Galliamova was the women's top finisher. Galliamova ran ahead of the pack to win in record time of 31:34. She won a day after winning a 5K in Atlanta. Her only real competitor was Kenyan Scholastica Ndigirigi, who kept up for the first two miles until Falliamova hit stride. This year was the first ever wheelchair division in the Wharf to Wharf as six men and two women entered the field. The winner was Scott Parsons (25:01). 1991 With 3½ miles of the race completed, Brian Abshire took back the lead and kept it as he won with a course record 27:30, earning his second Wharf to Wharf title. Runner up Ivan Huff was 32 seconds behind. Woodside resident Nancy Ditz won her third Wharf to Wharf with her personal best time of 31:47, giving her three titles in five years. Her time also broke Lynn Nelson's course record set in 1989. 1987 Running on a new six-mile course, Jay Marden beat runner-up Steve Bishop by a step. The final times showed Mar- den's time at 0.4 of a second faster than Bishop. The last two miles were a two-man race, before finally being won on the last portion of flat road, along Opal Cliff Drive. The pace quickened, and Marden was the winner. Nancy Ditz led from start to finish as she earned her first Wharf to Wharf win by 1:25 over runner up Patti Grey. The 15th running of the event drew the largest number of entries as 14,000 runners competed. 1984 In his first Wharf to Wharf, Armando Siqueiros of Watsonville outran a field of 6,000. Siqueiros had a 20-yard lead 2½ miles into the race and increased it to 60 yards at Pleasure Point. Siqueiros, a former Watsonville High and UC Santa Cruz standout, couldn't reach his race number or racing flats because his brother had the keys and Armando couldn't find him. Armando ran the race barechested, with no race number and had to convince race officials at the finish that he was registered. Siqueiros remains the last county men's runner to win the overall title. Olympic marathoner Carla Beurskens from the Netherlands was first in the women's division, setting a course record in 30:19 after the computer overruled the official time-keeper. The 12th annual running also had its dramatics, as Mahlon Lee of San Jose suffered a heart attack upon finishing the race. 1982 Dan Gruber of Aptos became only the second county winner of the Wharf to Wharf. He crossed the finish line in 26:57. In the months before the 10th running, Gruber, a former Aptos High and San Jose State standout, was a competitor in the European track circuit. Laurie Binder won the women's title in 31:30. However, an unidentified and unofficial San Jose woman crossed the finish line in just under 30 minutes. 1974 Former Soquel High standout and Stanford runner Mark McConnell won the men's division. McConnell averaged under five minutes a mile as he strode to victory over a pack of 493 other runners. McConnell, the captain of Stanford's cross country team, ran 28:30 to win. Debbie Rudolph, a 13-year-old from West- wood, won the women's race in 36:08. 1973 For the first Wharf to Wharf race, the 276 entrants paid a $1 entry fee to compete in what has become a Santa Cruz County tradition. Jack Bellah won the race, which began as a road race to help the City of Capitola celebrate its 100th year anniversary. He was declared the winner despite taking a wrong turn on the Capitola Wharf. Terri Anderson of San Jose was the first women's winner.