Coronado resident Jenna Gasparrini ran through the tape at the finish line of the Carlsbad Marathon in first place on Jan. 19, an achievement she says means the world to her.
In addition to taking first place among women, Gasparrini achieved a personal record (PR), cutting 16 minutes from her previous time.
“I’ve had a lot of injuries over the past several years, so I was very happy to make it through training without getting injured and psyched to PR by 16 minutes, so winning just made that even more special,” Gasparrini said. “Two of my siblings and a bunch of my friends were on the sidelines, so having them there while I broke the tape made it a perfect day.”
The Connecticut transplant said she takes part in daily runs around Coronado, with her longer Sunday runs down the Silver Strand. This is Gasparrini’s second marathon; she competed in the Philadelphia Marathon in the fall of 2023.
“I started running in high school and had great success early on, but as I grew, it developed into a passion,” she said. “I loved being able to push myself to go father and faster and see real results in the race times. I won some races in high school and college, but this was my first time breaking the tape for a marathon.”
Gasparrini finished with a final time of 2:58:10, putting her first in her division and first among the women racers.
The next available race in San Diego for runners interested will be the San Pasqual Valley Half Marathon and 10K in Escondido on Feb. 1.
