Champion racewalkers return to Santee
Percy Karlstrom, winner of the chamionship racewalk in Santee
Photos and story by Mike Allen
January 14, 2025 (Santee) -- Santee’s reputation as a world-class venue for race walking was burnished again Jan. 10 when it hosted the 2026 USATF Marathon Race Walk Championship in and around the Trolley Square Mall.
It was the 13th consecutive time -- and the 15th overall -- the city has hosted championships in the sport, which has one event -- the half marathon -- in the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympic Games, being held in Los Angeles.
“This is an unbelievable honor for Santee, which as a city is just 46 years old!" said Santee Mayor John Minto. "We love being the 'Race Capital of the United States.' They (race walkers) fly under the radar but they are among the toughest and most uniquely talented athletes that there are in all of sport.”
While Los Angeles is certainly in mind for the best competitors, most of the race walkers' sights were more focused on making the United States team that will vie for medals at the World Team Race Walking Championships in Brasília, Brazil, scheduled for April 12, and the 2026 Senior Pan-American Athletics Championships, to be held the last week of June in Medellin, Colombia.
The
2026 USATF Marathon Race Walk Championship is also a professional event with a total of $60,000 awarded to the winners of the top seven finishers in the men’s and women’s marathon. In addition to the marathon at 26.2 miles, the event’s other distances were the half marathon, 10 kilometer, 5 kilometer and 3 kilometer.The total award money exceeds the largest purse for any race or endurance event of any kind in the region including the Rock ‘N Roll Marathon, according to the USA Track & Field San Diego-Imperial Association.
Some of the best race walkers are either from the San Diego area or grew up here.
They include Nick Christie, 34, from El Cajon, and Miranda Melville, 36, of Chula Vista. The two, who engaged, compete for the New York Athletic Club and are former Olympic team members. Emmanuel Corvera is also from San Diego. Race walking stars Katie Burnett and Mike Mannozzi used to live here.
Competitors in Santee ranged in age from 11 to 80-year-old Darlene Backlund (photo, below right) of East Wenatchee, Wash., who finished the half marathon course in 3 hours, 14 minutes and 53 seconds. Backlund started race walking at 50 and holds 11 American masters records.
The top three marathon men winners were Percy Karlstrom 3:04:50, Christie (3:11:12) and Jordan Crawford (3:31:30). The women top three finishers were Maria Michta-Coffey (3:50:38), Burnett (3:59:07) and Lydia McGranahan (4:07:15).
Karlstrom, 35, of Torshalla, Sweden, has won multiple silver and bronze medals in the last three World Championships -- the top competition in the track and field world -- and has made the Swedish Olympic team three times.
At last year’s Santee event, Karlstrom was also the winner of the 35K event with a record time of 2:27:19.
In all, there were 11 Olympians competing in Santee, including eight from nations besides the U.S.