Photos by Erin O’Donnell

The 5th Annual San Luis Obispo Marathon winners were Zach Bitter, 30, from Davis, Calif. and Maggie Yount, 32, San Mateo, Calif. as overall male and female champions in 2:36:14 and 2:50:06, respectively. Yount, in her 26.2 mile debut, shattered the women’s event record by nearly 9 minutes.

In the men’s 26.2 mile race, Bitter was the class of the field as he rattled off sub-6 minute miles over the challenging course for a 4 minute, 30 second victory over Bihama Vedaste of San Jose who was runner-up in 2:40:54. The 2012 inaugural Marathon and top Master Van McCarty, 45, of San Luis Obispo finished third, recording a 2:42:33.

Lots of locals took part as well with groups of friends and coworkers cheering each other on.