Photo by Asia Morris.

This Saturday and Sunday, over 20,000 runners, walkers and cyclists are expected to take to the street for the 33rd JetBlue Long Beach Marathon & Half Marathon, Aquarium of the Pacific 5K and Fun Run, and the 20 Mile Bike Tour.

As it’s often the personal stories of the individual athletes that draw attention to the large-scale running event, it’s certainly worth mentioning the backgrounds of a few of the participants who will be lining up at the start this weekend.

Nadia Ruiz, who has run 130 marathons, 70 half marathons, 11 ultras and five ironmans with recent personal records and was recently featured in Univision and Telemundo for being the “Youngest Latina in the World to Run 100 Marathons,” will be participating with her father this year.

Graphics courtesy of JetBlue Long Beach Marathon. 

A seven-year breast cancer survivor, Carol Dellinger recently finished her 303rd lifetime marathon and will be running her 304th this weekend. Now 100 percent cancer free, Dellinger shares with audiences her story as an inspirational speaker, saying, “I will never quit, I will never give in because I am a survivor and an overcomer! I still have a lot of faith left in me!”

In February, 43-year-old Eugene Fields weighed 256 pounds. Deciding he needed to make a change not only for himself, but for his family, Fields joined a bootcamp, changed his eating habits and in April, ran his first 5K in 10 years, finishing in 40:54. Since then, he’s lowered his time to 24:13, ran his first 10K in May and his second in November and dropped his mile time to 7:26. His next goal is to qualify for, and run, the Boston Marathon.

Up and Running Again is a nonprofit organization helping homeless individuals improve their lives through training for and completing a half marathon. JetBlue crewmembers Jason Kamimori and Ann Crowley have been volunteering their time training men and women at the Long Beach Rescue Mission to run the half-marathon on Sunday.

Street and course closure information.

Included in the schedule of events is the Health & Fitness Expo on Friday from noon to 7:00PM and Saturday from 9:00AM to 6:00PM at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, Hall C, where late registration will be available.

Olympic track & field athletes and New Balance brand ambassadors Brenda Martinez and Boris Berrian, will be at the Health & Fitness Expo on Saturday between noon and 2:00PM signing autographs. For the full schedule of events, visit the website here.

The award-winning Gregg Young of Gregg Young & the 2nd St. Steel Drum Band will be setting the sound to the Long Beach Marathon, with Young (guitar, vocals), as well as PanMan Ross Harper (steel drum) and Casey Jones (percussion, vocals) set to perform for the athletes at the Shoreline Village Stage from 6:00AM to 9:00AM. Fun fact: Young’s original song, “Runner” has been dubbed the official song of the marathon.

Street and course closure information.

For more information, visit the website here.