A former Los Al Griffin runner had a pretty good week for herself at the World Masters Athletics Championship in Sacramento.
Rosalva Bonilla (Los Al Class of ’84) of Big Bear City was ninth in the 5,000-meter run (19:57.40), fourth in the 8K cross country run (31:32.03) and third in the women’s marathon (3:14:58.30). She led the USA women to a team gold medal in the marathon and a silver medal in cross country.
The Masters Games featured almost 5,000 athletes from 93 countries competing over none days. The athletes, who ranged in age from 35 to 101 years old, included such names as Zola Budd Pieterse, the one-time barefooted prodigy of women’s distance running; Willie Banks, the former world record holder in the men’s triple jump; and Willie Gault, a 1980 Olympian and member of the Chicago Bears Super Bowl championship team who holds the world record for the men’s 50-54 age group in the 100-meter dash. This was the first time in 16 years that the USA has hosted the event.
Bonilla accomplished her feat despite triple-digit temperatures during the first two events. The temperature was a more manageable 85 degrees for the marathon, which took place on July 17, nine days after the 5K run.
Running three long-distance events over a span of 10 days is nothing unusual for Bonilla who runs an average of 120 to 130 miles a week, mostly on the trails of the San Bernardino National Forest.
Bonilla first took up running at age 12 after a coach noticed her talent, then ran for Los Alamitos High School and Cal State-Fullerton before moving to the international ranks.
Bonilla, who has dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship, earned a spot on the 2000 Mexican Olympic team in the women’s marathon. But spinal injuries in a car accident on her birthday prevented her from competing in those Olympics.
After three years of rehab, she has come back with a vengeance. In 2010, Bonilla was an All-American in six events and received the Gold Phidippides Award as the top female distance runner.
- She’s a Master: Big Bear Runner is an All-American Distance Runner (BigBearGrizzly.net – August 3, 2011)
- Long road from coast to coast for Bonilla – SouthCoasttoday.com – March 15, 2004
