Race Information: Victoria Marathon

The Victoria Marathon is special to Lenore and me. It is our favorite fall marathon, and we make a holiday of the outing to the Canadian capital city on the largest island in the Northwest. The weather during the marathon was good for running. It was in the low 60’s and overcast for the first three hours with infrequent and moderate winds.

Kevin Broad, 37, of Canmore, Alberta, won the race for his fifth consecutive time finishing in 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 55 seconds. When I saw him at my six mile mark, he had a racing companion. However, when I next saw him half way into my race, he was running alone and went on to finish 3 1/2 minutes ahead of the second place runner. The first woman was Noreco Kawayidio, 29, of Nanaimo, B.C., 31st overall, with a 2:49:06. Suzette Moore, 40+ of Bellingham, WA, was the first woman master runner with a time of 3:00:35.

In addition to the running accomplishments of the front runners, some of our friends ran extremely well. On October 3-4, 1998, Eb Engellman, 56, a Marathon Achiever (MA) from Salem, OR, placed third overall at Megan’s Run at Portland, OR. He ran 111 miles in that 24-hour event and recovered enough in a week to place 5th in the 55-59 Male Division with a time of 3:22:17. On October 4th Gunhild Swanson, 54, of Spokane, WA, had a second place finish in the 50-54 Female Category at the Portland Marathon, A week later at Victoria she had a reverse split, improved her time by four minutes, and placed first in her age compe- tition with a time of 3:18:10.

Congratulations to Tony Sagare, 59, of Yakima, WA, who ran his 68th marathon/ultra in a remarkable time of 3:50:45. This was Tony’s first marathon since his recovery from open-heart surgery. We visited at the 10K point on the course, but I fell back as he moved on. I was passed by Todd Byers, 35, of Seattle, WA, at the same time. Todd is a member of the Seattle Marathon Board of Directors, runs many marathons, and finished in 4:04:25.

Other American and Canadian friends and acquaintances follow:

3:28:37   Ken Bonner, 56, Victoria, B.C.
3:38:36   Mae Palm, 58, 3rd, Whistler, B.C.
3:52:33   Bobbie Busch, 40+, Gig Harbor, WA
3:55:24   Chbri Gillis, 40+, Woodinville, WA
4:06:48   Jack Swanson, 64, Spokane, WA
4:26:51   Clive Heatherington, 64, Port Alberni, B.C.
4:58:47   Ed Galiger, 59, Seattle, WA

My run went well, but as runners kept passing me, I was constantly reminded that I was moving slowly to a four-hour-plus finish. Since there would be only two age class awards in my division, I assumed that I was out of the running in that competition. However, at 23 miles I overtook a 65 year old who had passed me early in the race. He was walking, so I ran past. A minute later he ran past me going much faster than I was running. I caught up with him as he walked through an aid station area. I picked up the pace and ran on to finish in 4:06:24 to become finisher 1,242 of 2,400 runners and #2 of 8 in my age group.

Written by Bob Dolphin