Race Information: Birch Bay Marathon

The Birch Bay Marathon was more of a delight than usual. Early Saturday morning of race day, December 11, 1999, we left our son’s home at Mt. Vernon as heavy rain was falling and headed north for the hour drive to Birch Bay State Park. When we got there, the rain had stopped, the wind was not blowing, and the air temperature was in the mid-forties —an ideal day for a run and certainly atypical for the Birch Bay Marathon

The field of veteran marathoners on the course enjoyed the great weather. These 15 runners had a combined total of approximately 1,845 marathons & ultras. Steve Pierce ran his 200th marathon/ultra to join John Bandur, Stan Nakashima, and myself in the 200+ group. Steve runs 26 or more marathons/ultras every year and is gaining on the rest of us who don’t run that many. Way to go, Steve!

My run went fairly well for about eleven miles. Because I hadn’t prepared properly for this marathon, I had early wall problems. This gave me another opportunity to work on my survival shuffle! I walked all of the hills in the second half of the race, and this helped me to be able to finish.

This is a great marathon with views of two bays, forest, and a charming, seaside village, Birch Bay. Fresh pavement with new tarred shoulders were welcome improvements this year where the road traffic is heaviest.

Thanks to the volunteers: Sonia Preedy, Lenore Dolphin, and others who manned the mobile aid stations and worked at the finish line.

1. 3:22:41 Pete Hansen, 43, Birch Bay, WA
2. 3:26:20 Leland Wakelin, 40, White Rock, B.C.
3. 3:32:56 Brian Van Oene, 44, Kelowna, B.C.
4. 3:47:23 Dave Dutton, Race Director, 43, Conway, WA
5. 3:47:58 Ron Adams, 51, North Vancouver, B.C.
6. 3:56:02< Mel Preedy, 66, Ravensdale, WA
7. 4:00:08 John Little, 58, Vancouver, B.C.
8. 4:01:19 Sarah Gallazin, First (and only) Female, 47, Vancouver, B.C.
9. 4:12:37 Karl Jensen, Former Race Director, 50, Richmond,B.C.
10. 4:13:05 Steve Pierce, 37, Coeur d' Alene, ID
11. 4:14:39 Doug McKeever, 52, Bellingham, WA
12. 4:16:00 Stan Nakashima, 48, Mt. Vernon, WA
13. 4:17:26 John Bandur, 61, Federal Way, WA
14. 4:34:31 Bob Dolphin, 70, Renton, WA
15. 5:05:00 Ray Kent, 54, Mt. Vernon, WA
		

Congratulations to our friend Karl Jensen for his successful completion in 1999 of the LAST GREAT RACE. This title signifies that the runner has completed the below six 100-mile races in the United States in one year. These events and Karl’s finish times follow:

Old Dominion (VA), 23:23:21; Western States (CA), 27:08:46; Vermont, 26:07:42; Leadville (CO), 25:55:22; Wasatch (UT), 29:18:13; and Angeles Crest (CA), 28:01:46.

Written by Bob Dolphin