Ideal weather conditions greeted the Sunday morning collection of runners - many from Ceres and Hughson -- who turned out for a grueling run of 26.2 miles for the 4th annual Modesto Marathon, the less exhaustive half marathon of 13.1 miles and a 5K race.

A total of 520 individuals started the marathon in downtown Modesto in the chilly morning and 463 finished with times ranging from the best time of 2 hours, 26 minutes and 18 seconds recorded by Jesus Campos, a 28-year-old Fresno man, to the last timed runner at 7:59:44. The race stopped clocking runners at the eighth hour.

Rudy Medina, 45, of Ceres, came in 120th place with a time of four hours, one minute. He ranked 14th in his age division, and 98th in his gender division.

Felipe Garcia, 16, of Ceres, finished the marathon at 4:22:04 for the 171st place. His time put him at the 18th fastest in his age division, and 133rd in the male division.

Angelito Miranda, 31, of Ceres, came across the finish line at 4:22:12 for the 173rd spot. He was 135th among men, 31st spot among men.

Leslie Baptista, 34, of Hughson, finished with a time of 4:23:37 to claim eighth in her age division and 42nd among all women.

Jamie McClendon, 33, of Hughson, was right behind her with a time of 4:23:38. She was 43rd among women and ninth in her age category.

Francisco Vaca, 29, of Ceres, finished the marathon at 4:27:36. He was 191st to finish and 15th place among runners in his age division.

Abel Verduzco, a 17-year-old runner from Ceres, completed with a time of 4:43:22 to be the 233rd place.

Others who raced the marathon from Ceres and Hughson were:

• Gisselle Mendoza, 22, of Ceres, 5:03:43.

• Richard Prestia, 41, of Ceres, 5:09:20.

• Jan Yost, 63, of Hughson, 5:17:39.

• Trenton Holway, 17, of Hughson, 5:21:50.

A number of Modesto Marathon runners were members of Teens Run Modesto (TRM) from Ceres High School, Central Valley High School and Cesar Chavez Junior High School in Ceres. TRM is affiliated with the Shadow Chase Running Club in Modesto. Juniors and seniors who complete the program are eligible to apply for a college scholarship.

"They were very proud of themselves," said CVHS running coach Megan Uhrich, who ran the half marathon at 2:28:49. "Most of them had a goal to just finish."

Students started out training for the marathon in September by meeting three times a week to practice and running an hour on Saturdays. The pace was picked up in November with 15 hours a week of running, then 20 in December. The group of students began running 16-mile runs in January.

Marathon runners from Central Valley High School and their finish times included: Angel Alva, (5:42:55); Idalia Arroyo, (5:56:47); Favian Castellanos, (4:56:08); Kevin Chavez, (5:24:52); Felipe Garcia, (4:22:04); David Jimenez, (5:48:59); Jacob Metzger, (5:35:01); Matthew Metzger, (4:50:49); Thomas Metzger, (5:30:55); Brandon Rodartes, (5:41:47); Alex Rodriguez,(4:13:10); Jocelyn Sandoval, (5:41:51); Arnulfo Serrano, (5:49:03); Manuel Serrano, (5:49:40); and Jacqueline Solis, (5:08:36).

CVHS students running the half-marathon were: Andrea Avalos, (2:53:10), Gerardo Avalos, (2:04:43); Roberto Aguilar, (1:34:25); Joaquin Garcia, (1:38:45); Laura Davila, (2:26:00); Alex Hernandez, (2:53:14); and Elizabeth Mejia, (2:53:15).
Besides Uhrich, mentors for the CVHS group were Hugo Gil, Marina Gil, Charly McIsaac, (1:58:26 half); Rudy Medina, and Rita Perez (2:41:51 half).

Ceres High School students in the full marathon were Karina Ruiz, (4:43:43); Harjinder Kaur, (5:22:53); Gloria Salcedo, (6:48:45); and Demetrius Ibarra, (7:00:08).

CHS students who either trained or ran in the half-marathon were: Sergio Arroyo, Donovan Guiriba, (1:45:37); Mickey Guiriba, (2:46:41); Alexis Jauregui-Ortiz, (3:05:26); Omar Martinez, (3:05:10); David Reyes Borunda; Jesus Valencia and Abel Verduzco. CHS mentors were Stefanie Alvarez and Angel Alvarez.

TRM members from Cesar Chavez Junior High School in the marathon were: Harben Mahil, (6:39:48); Dana Miranda, (5:30:29); Dylan Miranda, (6:36:39); and Ricardo Romero, (5:12:22).

Classmates in the half-marathon were: Azia Brewster, (2:39:51); Joshwa Buerer, (2:52:51); Noah Farnam, (2:35:50); Natalia Guzman, (2:52:46); Kendall Neilson,(2:37:33); Isabel Ortiz, (2:38:11); Michael Zheng, (3:15:37); Ellen Zheng, (2:52:18); Nayeli Castellanos and Brianna Zamora.

The Chavez team was mentored by Elizabeth Capdevielle, Greg Raynes, Rogelio Adame and Melissa Smith.

Runners in the youth club attended a Saturday night dinner at the Modesto Centre Plaza where they heard keynote speaker Bart Yasso, of Runner's World Magazine. The students also met Reyma "TyreGirl" who dragged a tire the entire 26.2 mile race to promote her campaign: Revise, Reuse, Repair. Students also met Mike Arazia, the organizer of TRM and the Modesto Marathon, and Kevin Kline, an ultra marathoner who spoke at ShadowChase movie night.

In the 5K race, which was finished by 989 runners, Carlos Murillo, 17, of Ceres, finished with an impressive time of 18 minutes, 53 seconds to take sixth place and third in his age division. The winner, Dylan Isaacson, 23, of Berkeley, finished with a time of 16:20. Other racers included Nancy Rodriguez, 28, of Ceres, (22:10), who was first in her age division and second among 5K female runners; Jayden Shinn, 11, of Ceres (22:34) who at 33rd place was also first in her age division and fifth among females; and Ismael Felix, 20, of Hughson (22:44), to finish 36th place and second in age division.

In the half marathon, the best time was recorded by Miguel Nuci, 33, of Turlock, with a time of 1 hour, 11:20 minutes. The best half-marathon time of a Ceres runner fell to Roberto Aguilar, 17, who finished at 1:34:25.