Can Oakland Go the Distance?

East Bay Express by Dan Schoenholz

After a 25-year hiatus, the Oakland Marathon returns next week with an eye-popping new route and a menu of race choices.

Longtime Oakland runners and the race organizers are optimistic, too. They see the Oakland Running Festival as an opportunity to promote both Oakland and running, and as a way to unify a community that is often divided by racial, economic, and geographic differences. Marathons are big events in many cities — New York and Boston, famously, but also Baltimore, Cincinnati, Houston, and countless others — and serve as a source of civic pride and unity. Why not Oakland?

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