Race Information: Christmas Marathon

It was a pleasure to run in the Christmas Marathon near Olympia, WA, on Sunday, December 19, 1999. Bob Green, race director, made several improvements in the event this year that were well-received. The race start and finish area was relocated from Kennydell County Park to Millersylvania State Park near Maytown. This more rural course area is safer due to less traffic. It has rolling hills through some wooded areas and is a single out-and-back layout—replacing the double out- and-back of previous years.

There were three races sharing the same course. The marathon had 83 finishers, the half marathon had 67, and the 5K race had 16 runners. Unlike other years, the weather was nearly ideal. The temperature was in the mid 40’s, and there was cloud cover with a light headwind in the early miles.

At the 11th mile, I saw the lead group of runners coming back. There were two young men and one woman. The latter prevailed, and Laura Nelson, 34, of Bend, Or, became the first woman to win the Christmas Marathon!! Cliff Gill, 35, of Aloha, OR, came in second with a 2:55:11. Close behind was Jim Bates, 43, of Hopewell, VA, with 2:55:35. During 20 years of active racing this was the first race I had participated in that had a woman as the overall winner. There was a lot of excitement at the finish line. CONGRATULATIONS TO LAURA FOR A GREAT TIME OF 2:52:55!!

Because of the conservative number of participants in the Christmas races, it’s easy to meet and greet friends and enjoy the camaraderie before, during, and after the events.

Our friend Jimmy Smith, 59, from Bremerton is nursing an injury, so he chose to run the Half Marathon and finished in 2:13:30. While volunteering at the Seattle Marathon registration, we met Tim and Kathy Swanson, ironman competitors, new to this area from Florida. We were happy to see them and their 18 year old daughter Kylie participate in the Half Marathon. Tim, 49, finished in 1:31:10; Kylie in 1:47:09; and Kathy, 43, in 1:47:20.

The following is a list of the times and finishing positions of our friends and acquaintances who ran the marathon:

9. 3:13:25 Ed Hill, 36, Renton, WA.. .3rd 
15. 3:20:33 David Jones, 53, Seattle, WA.. .2nd 
19. 3:27:25 Kenneth Bonner, 57, Victoria, B.C. .2nd 
22. 3:31:06 Mel Preedy, 66, Ravensdale, WA.. .1st 
29. 3:38:44 Bryan Chapman, 48, Battle Ground,Wa.. .4th 
30. 3:39:17 John Little, 58, Vancouver, B.C. .3rd 
33. 3:41:55 Sarah Gallain, 47, Vancouver, B.C. .1st 
34. 3:43:17 Steve Frederickson, 53, Kent, WA.. .4th 
39. 3:49:09 Phil Weiser, 43, Federal Way, WA.. .6th 
54. 4:01:44 Bob Livitz, 64, Houston, TX.. .2nd 
61. 4:11:43  Cheri Gillis, 47, Woodinville, WA.. .3rd 
62. 4:15:15  Diane Wilcox, 47, Yarrow Point, WA.. .4th 
66. 4:18:50 Ray Scharrenbrock, 66, 5. Milwaukee, WI.. .2nd 
82. 5:26:26 Donald Lang, 65, Glendale, CA.. .3rd

Davey Jones ran his 77th marathon. He called it his “lucky double 77th and it turned out to be just that. As usual Mel Preedy was first in the 65-69M division. He was a bit disappointed that he ran a 3:31 and didn’t get under 3:30. He shouldn’t be. He beat the first 60-64M by 19 minutes!

We had seen John Little and his wife Sara Gallalin at the Birch Bay Marathon on December 11 and were happy to have them join us from Vancouver, B.C., for this race. Steve Frederickson’s quest is almost finished. His goal of running a marathon on all seven continents will be completed next July when he runs his Asian marathon in Mongolia. He is one of only a few runners who have run a marathon in Antarctica.

Phil Weiser had run the Honolulu Marathon the previous weekend. He passed me at mile 15 and was out of sight in no time. Cheri Gillis has been running 24-hour trail runs and other ultras recently—including the Vermont 100 miler. A 26.2 mile race must seem like a “run in the park” to her.

This was my 6th marathon since turning 70 on October 4th—and I have managed a first place in all of them. Oh, the joy of being in a new age class!! I finished 57th of 83 overall and was the only one in my age division—with a 4:03:05 time.

On hand were runners from 19 states and British Columbia. The states were: California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington.

Many of these runners were fellow members of the 50 States and DC Club here to add Washington to their “state list.” Ray Scharenbrock ran his 371st marathon! Donald Lang ran his 40th marathon of the year to bring his total to 217 marathons. Robert McNaught, 51, from Bellingham ran his 98th marathon in 2:57:20. He has chosen the 2000 Boston Marathon for his 100th marathon. He has completed 50 states and DC and is now working on the provinces and continents.

Two marathon runners wore signs saying, “Coast to Coast”—a runner from Maine running with a local. A runner from Honolulu, Hawaii, came to run the half marathon with her sister. Dottie Duncan, 45 came from Chicago to run her “26th state” and received an award for being the last woman to cross the finish line (5:04:40).

There was something for everyone at this well-organized event. Evan Galloway and Andy Reese, both 16 and from Bambridge Island, completed their first marathons in outstanding times of 3:04:59 and 3:13:50. Five runners were allowed “early starts” so they could finish before dark, and other runners were excited about “qualifying for Boston.”

There were finisher medals for all marathoners, and trophies three and four places deep. The T-shirts and sweatshirts with a great Christmas design were sold out before the races began—but there was plenty of food for all. Available were bananas, sandwich fixings, cookies, donuts, and pop, but best of all there were fires in the stoves and hot chili, soup, and cider to warm us up.

Denny Brooks from www.ontherun.com checked in for a short time with his camera and has a picture of the Half Marathon winners, Ernest Wong and Becky Backstrom, with his posted results of the Christmas Marathon.

Kudos to Bob Green, the volunteers from his softball team and others— and to my favorite volunteer, my wife Lenore.

Written by Bob Dolphin