Josef Gertner wins men’s race for third straight year, while LAPD Sgt. Amanda Lankford takes women’s race
Amanda Lankford, a Simi Valley resident and sergeant in the Los Angeles Police Department, said she wanted to give herself a Mother’s Day present, so on May 10, the day before Mother’s Day, she came up to Solvang and ran in the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon.
Then, she got a bonus present: A first-place finish in the women’s race as she broke to tape at 1 hour, 30 minutes, and 46.12 seconds, 1:46 before her closest finisher.
Lankford was one of 1,639 runners to compete in the annual 13.1-mile race, which takes participants from Solvang up to Los Olivos and back, ending at the finish line on Copenhagen Drive.
“This race has been on my bucket list for a while,” Lankford said after the race. “It’s a Mother’s Day present to myself, and a chance for me and my family to enjoy Solvang. I wasn’t necessarily expecting to win, but it was great that I had a good showing.”
After Lankford, Heather Montgomery came in second at 1:32:31.45, and Lisa Gibbs rounded out the top three with a time of 1:33:40.45.
Lankford said she really enjoyed the race, though the conditions weren’t quite what she expected.
“It was warmer than I thought it would be,” she said. “But I got through it. Plus, it was just a beautiful course; this area has a lot of scenery.”
The race conditions were warmer than usual for most of the contestants. While past Wine County Half-Marathons were run under a cloud cover and cooler temperatures, this year’s edition saw the race start under sunny skies, which remained throughout.
Before Lankford won the women’s race, the men’s race saw a familiar face breaking the tape: Josef Gertner of Orcutt, who finished in 1:13:49.16, winning the race for the third straight year.
“I ran a little faster last year [1:11:19], so it’s a kind of disappointing for me,” Gertner told race announcer Angela Warren after he crossed the finish line. “However, it’s just beautiful out here, and the organizers do a wonderful job of getting this together, so thanks to them for that.”
Rounding out the top three for the men were Matt Scurria (1:13:33.52) and Chris Gregory (1:16:55.10).
Gregory, from Carpinteria, has been a yearly presence in the Wine Country race with this year’s being his fifth by his count, and his finished first in 2022.
“It’s kind of my baseline, you know,” he said. “Every year, no matter what’s going on in my life, I tell myself ‘I’m going to do the Wine Country race this year.'”
Gregory has had a lot going on in his life in the past year. He got married shortly after last year’s race and he and his wife Meredith had a baby girl, Luna, afterward. He also had to recover from an injury.
“A month after last year’s race I suffered a stress fracture,” Gregory said. “So, I was out for the rest of the year and have been coming back slow.”
Gregory said the Wine Country race was his third race of the year, “although one of them was a stroller race with Luna, so I don’t know if that counts.”
In addition to the men’s and women’s races, the event also had the relay, where two runners could complete the course, with the switchover in Los Olivos, where the course turns back toward Solvang.
In the relay, the team of The Bros finished first with a time of 1:33:05.58, followed by KiBri at 1:36:01.99 and Will Run FASTER for Wine at 1:37:43.06.
After the race, participants were treated to the Wine and Musical Festival at Solvang Park, just a short walk from the finish line, featuring wine, food, and live music, as well as a photo area and booth along the concourse for running needs.
One of the booths was manned by representatives of the Golden State Challenge, a program where runners can track their performances over a group of running events in California, of which the Wine Country Half Marathon is one, in order to “experience the diverse beauty of the Golden State one stride at a time,” according to the GSC website (goldenstatechallenge.com).
“We do this to highlights the events here in California,” said Gretchen Schoenstein, community lead for the GSC. “We started in Huntington Beach in February, and this (Wine Country) is the second one, with the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco to follow [on May 18]. We have three of them in Northern California and five down in Southern California.”
Schoenstein said the Challenge ends in November at the Golden Gate Half Marathon & 5K in San Francisco.
“The Golden Gate one is really cool because you get to run across the Golden Gate Bridge if you do the half,” she said. “To qualify for the Challenge, they just have to do two of the races to get a prize, three to get another prize, and four to get a special medal.”
With the Bay to Breakers having been held last Sunday, May 18, the next race in the Challenge will be the Napa to Sonoma race on July 19 and 20, with subsequent races in Huntington Beach (Sept. 14), Long Beach (Oct. 4 and 5), Malibu (Nov. 16), and the Golden Gate event on Nov. 2.
As for the next Wine Country Half Marathon, organizers are already preparing for the next one on May 9, 2026, and runners can already register by going to santabarbarawinehalf.com
