Where are they now?

Hector Hernandez: South Bay's Marathon Man

By Phillip Brents

Posted April 7, 2005

Greek legend has it that the first person to run a marathon died. Mar Vista High graduate and San Diego Mesa College cross country coach Hector Hernandez, however, was invigorated and ready for more after competing in the recent Los Angeles Marathon. He finished the grueling 26.2-mile course in two hours, 28 minutes and 12 seconds to place 13th.

Not bad for a first-time effort, he said while mixing in a bit of self-critique.

Hernandez plans to compete in the upcoming La Jolla Half-Marathon later this month and in another half-marathon before tackling the "big one" once again.

He called running the daunting marathon distance a "learning experience."

"I wanted to run a little faster. I wanted to run 2:22. It was my first marathon. It was a learning experience," he said.

For those who remember Hernandez as a prep runner, they likely last saw him competing in the state championship meet as televised then on the Prime Ticket cable network. He later completed a standout collegiate career at Adams State College in Colorado where he was a seven-time All-American (three times in cross country and four times in track) before returning to the South Bay. Last season, he coached at Bonita Vista High School. This season he has served as an assistant coach at Castle Park High School where his wife Claudia is part of the Trojans coaching staff and his daughter, Julia, a freshman, competes.

Training for the Los Angeles Marathon consisted of long Sunday runs, according to the elder Hernandez. For the most part, it paid off. But he said there is some fine-tuning to be done in his race strategy before running another marathon.

At the halfway point, he was on pace to complete the marathon in 2:16:00. Toward the end of the race, however, he was running at an 8:00 pace.

"My last mile was a 5:20 pace. I came back at the end," he said with an air of pride in his voice.
The Long Beach Marathon is scheduled the second week in October. Hernandez said he will start preparing for that race about three months in advance. His plan is to concentrate on improving his performance over the last six miles.

"When I do my long runs, two-and-a-half to three hours, I need to work on my last hour. I need to bring my pace to 5:20. I was trying to run at a solid pace at 6:00. I need to work on my last 30 minutes of my long run," he said.