Race Information: Seattle Marathon

The Seattle Marathon was certainly an interesting race as it reflected participant interests. Under cool, rainy conditions 9,000 runners and walkers participated in four separate events at two distances on Sunday, November 26, 2000. Beginning at 7:15 a.m., groups of marathon walkers, half marathon runners, half marathon walkers, and, finally, the marathon runners started in separate waves from the Seattle Center near the Space Needle. For four and one half miles everyone followed a common course on 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle and I-90 to Lake Washington. Then the course split into the half and full divisions.

Because sections of the present marathon course follow parts of the original Seattle Marathon and Emerald City Marathons, pleasant memories of those races of yesteryear came to mind as I ran on I-90, along the Lake Washington shore, and then inland to the Arboretum. I really enjoyed the out-and-back on the I-90 floating bridge to Mercer Island and back to the west shore of Lake Washington. Yelling out greetings to running buddies going in the opposite direction was a lot of fun.

The marathon winner for the second year was Uli Steidl, 28, the German-born doctoral graduate student at the University of Washington. He ran a steady pace to finish in 2:27:11 without a serious challenge. Joan McGrath, 38 , of Vancouver was the women’s winner in a fine time of 2:54:12.

Jim Boyd, 58, of Seattle ran a 4:13:37. This is remarkable considering that he ran 107.59 miles a week earlier (November 18-19, 2000) at the San Diego (CA) One Day (24 Hour) Track Run. He finished first in the 50+M division.

Our adopted grandson, Mike Dutton, 30, ran his FIFTIETH MARATHON at Seattle, a marvelous milestone to reach in just a few years….in a time of 4:32:35. This was a marathoning weekend for Mike as he had run his 49th marathon the day before at the Seward Park Marathon & 50K in Seattle.

Some other Marathon Achievers (MA) who did this weekend double were Ron Richoll, 57, (4:32:35,) Dave Dutton, 44, (3:43:33,) Scott Krell, 40, (4:05:16, ) Chris Ralph, 49, (5:06:06,) Tom Ripley 51, (5:06:07,) and Steve Pierce, 37.

We had an interesting group of fun-loving marathoners stay at our home the night before the marathon. Fenny Roberts, 48, of Salem, OR, ran 121 miles in 24 hours on a track in her hometown this year. She was hoping for a Boston Qualifier but had to settle for a marathon PR of 4:34:42. Larry Brown, 61, also of Salem had a PR in his second marathon. Eb Engelman, 58, our third Salem guest, has won the Washington State University 100K (62 miles) as one of many significant running accomplishments. He is racewalking these days as some injuries heal. On October 8, 2000, he walked the royal Victoria Marathon in 4:40:20. At the Seattle Marathon, a tougher course, he racewalked the course in 4:45:39.

As Lenore and I finished our day of volunteering at the Friday packet pickup/Expo, we gave a Korean runner a ride to the local YMCA where he planned to stay. Unfortunately, the dormitory wing has been razed, and they no longer have facilities for overnight guests. So, we invited Byunghak Bae, 44, of Taegu, South Korea, to stay with us. He is an interesting young man who owns a nightclub in his home city. As a pastime, he participates in marathons and triathlons in Asia. He is one of a few whom I have met who have successfully completed the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon. A leg injury has slowed him down, but he was happy with his 4:53:34 marathon time at Seattle. It was his first trip to mainland USA, and he hopes to return to run our Yakima River Canyon Marathon

Mel Preedy, 67, of Ravensdale is in a tough age group, but he persevered to finish in first place for the 65-69M division with a great time of 3:34:29. Todd Byers, 37, (3:58:25) who has relocated to Long Beach, CA, was on hand. We saw him at the Marine Corps Marathon a few weeks ago. He recently soloed the Haney to Harrison Relay, a 100K distance. This is quite an accomplishment!

Lori Kory, 44, of Spokane (our former neighbor) was ecstatic a year ago when she ran her first marathon in Seattle. This year, she was overjoyed to run her third in a time of 3:57:58. Terry Cliett, 42, president of the Hard Core Runners Club in Yakima, ran a respectable 4:00:36.

Steve Frederickson, 54, (3:47:28) passed me in the 12th mile in Seward Park. He has run a marathon on all continents, including Antarctica. His last marathon to reach this goal was in Mongolia earlier this year as he ran the Mongolian Sunrise to Sunset 100K. The article describing this adventure was published in the October 2000 Northwest Runner Magazine.

Mae Palm, 60, of Whistler, BC, is back and in a new age category. She had a 3:50:38 for first, and the only sub-four hour time, in the 60-64F division.

After a long layoff, it was good to see that Herb Allen, 58, our friend from Bainbridge Island, was healed enough to take on another marathon. He passed me in the 21st mile looking strong…and went on to a 4:11:27 finish.

Jerry Martin, 52, of Spokane won the wheelchair division, but his time is not listed with the published race results. Lenore was delighted to present him with his finisher’s medal.

As so often happens, I had a reasonably good first half and then dehydration led to a struggle in the second half, especially the hilly, last 10K. At times, I could walk some hills faster than I could run them, so I walked….thankful for the excuse. The closer I got to the finish line, the farther apart were the mile markers!! Eventually, I left the scenic Interlake Trail and Road and could see the Space Needle, my TARGET. In the last mile, I ran with Jerry Duncan, 56, MA, (4:09:25,) Herb Allen, Phil Weiser, 44, (4:09:58,) and Ray Wold, 63, (4:11:04) as we found our way to the finish. I finished with a 4:11:18 (9:36) and was first of six in the 70+M division by 32 minutes. Included in the 70+ group of runners was Senator Slade Gorton. Last year he had run the half marathon.

In this year’s half marathon Mark Bloudek, 26, of Seattle won with a time of 1:12:32. Judith Leroy, 27, of Victoria, BC, was the first woman with a time of 1:17:24. Our friend Gunhild Swanson, 56, of Spokane ran a 1:48:33 and, in spite of injuries, was third in her age group.

The fastest listed time in the Marathon Walk was 3:51:44 by Jon Mahoney, 48, of Vernon, BC. Danita Jolly, 31, of Renton was the first woman in a time of 4:41:13. These are excellent times for racewalking. I racewalked a five hour marathon once, so I can appreciate the effort.

As always, I enjoyed my 17th consecutive Seattle Marathon. It provided a nice tour of many of the scenic features of the Seattle area with minimal disruption of vehicular traffic. Where else in the country can you run on an interstate highway safely while it is being used by speeding cars on outer lanes???

Our thanks to the many volunteers who make this event a success.

Written by Bob Dolphin