ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. – Jose Madera, 2015 alumnus of the University of San Francisco, won the 13th annual US Bank OC Marathon on Sunday.

In just his fifth marathon, Madera finished the 26.2 mile course amid rain wind cold and a spate of hail. Clocking in with a time of 2:31.44, Madera crossed the line two and a half minutes faster than his closest competitor and training partner, Juan Paredes.

The 25-year-old Madera was running at a 5:38 pace by the 20 mile mark, and averaged a 5:48 pace on the day. The course began near Fashion Island in Newport Beach, looped along Newport Bay and cut through Irvine and Costa Mesa before concluding at the Orange County Fair and Event Center. The win was described as "pretty much … wire-to-wire" by the OC Register's Greg Mellen.

"Last year I did the half-marathon so for the whole first half [on Sunday] I knew where it was and felt fine," said Madera, as reported by Steve Virgen and the LA Times. "But the second half was pretty rough. The last three or four miles were exhausting. Thank God I made it through and I came with the win."

Madera enjoyed a successful running career at USF, with particular affinity for distance racing. He was a three-time All-WCC performer and an individual competitor in the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championships. On the track, the Anaheim, Calif., native earned three trips to the NCAA Semifinals at the 10,000 meter distance.

"Jose is well suited for the marathon," noted USF head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "His strength was always his aerobic capacity – he achieved great things in our program so it is also great to see him excelling as a post-collegiate runner."