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Jason Bourne’s Matt Damon Runs Half Marathon

By Lisa Hale
Published on: 00:16 PST, Feb 10, 2016

Jason Bourne’s Matt Damon ran a half marathon on Sunday while many of us were sitting around watching the first trailer for his new movie during a Superbowl commercial break.

Approximately 16,000 runners and 35,000 spectators showed up early Sunday morning for the 20th annual Surf City marathon and half marathon held in Huntington Beach, California.

The marathon ranks in the top 15 nationally because of the large number of participants. The number of runners this year was about 3,000 less than last year’s race, possibly because the Los Angeles marathon is scheduled on February 14.

Broadway World reports that runners came from all over the world, including 34 countries, all 50 United States, and over 1,000 cities. The event took place along the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway and is the largest combined half marathon and marathon in the state of California.

The 13.1 mile half marathon and its award-winning course are considered among the best in the country. The runners start along Pacific Coast highway up past the Huntington Beach pier, turn at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands, and then finish on Main Street. Several bands play on the path, and more than 2,000 volunteers are stationed to help with whatever the runners need.

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Amy Tomchak, the general manager of the Surf City USA Marathon & Half Marathon, spoke about the race.

“The Surf City USA Marathon and Half Marathon is cherished by the running community and we are thrilled to celebrate the event’s 20th anniversary. The race and expo has become an international destination event that celebrates active lifestyle and the surfing community.

“We congratulate all runners for participating, and we give our thanks and gratitude to each of our sponsors and the hundreds of crew and volunteers who helped make this weekend and the past 20 years a huge success.”

After spending Saturday evening in Los Angeles at the Directors Guild of America Awards, Damon arrived at about 2 a.m. in Surf City, then slept a few hours in a hotel. Damon talked to the Orange County Register about his thoughts that morning. He wasn’t quite sure he was up to the task of running the half marathon.

“I was on the fence this morning. I woke up and was like I don’t know (about this). Once I got going, I was ok.”

After running the half marathon, Damon waited with some friends for his wife, Luciano Barroso, to finish. He posed for quite a few selfie pictures with fans while he waited.

http://twitter.com/ludyregalado/status/696414606193897472/photo/1

“My wife wanted to do it. I’ve been working out of town for the last couple weeks so I was in no position to say no to her. For not training, I think we did well. We broke two hours.”

Just as Jason Bourne would do, Actor Damon ran under an alias, so there is no time recorded for the name Matt Damon. His wife does appear in the results with a time of 2:13:40.

Runner’s World reported that a picture on the Orange County Register’s website showed Matt Damon with a partially shown bib. The number could be 140, 146, or 148. Since bib 148 is a woman and bib 146 finished in a much longer time than two hours, that leaves bib 140, which is listed as belonging to a 45-year-old man, just like Damon. The name provided is Mathew Greenleaf of Santa Monica, California. The time was 1:58:05.

The last name of Greenleaf could possibly be a reference to Dickie Greenleaf, Jude Law’s character from the 1999 movie The Talented Mr. Ripley. Actor Matt Damon co-starred in the film.

The first place winner of the half marathon in the men’s division was Nick Mosey with a time of 1:113.25. Allison Gonzales finished in first place in the women’s division with a time of 1:18.55.

[Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Images]

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