Race Information: Lost Soles Marathon

In mid-February it’s time to work a long run into my marathon training program so Lenore and I headed south to Talent, Oregon—a few miles from Medford and Ashland. There I would run my fourth Lost Soles Marathon with my friends Mel Preedy (Marathon Achiever), Frank Searfus (MA), Ray Wold, and Dave Braje from Austin, Texas. On hand from the 50 States and DC Club were Ray Scharenbrock of Milwaukee, WI, Phil Little of Florida, and Paul Peplini of Mesa, AZ. We had seen these three runners at Rick Worley’s recognition dinner in Houston, Texas, last month prior to the January 16th marathon there. Jud Broom, a prospective member of the 50 States and DC Club, came from Ohio to “run Oregon” —his 33rd state.

The Lost Soles Marathon was run on February 13, 2000. It is a low-key event that starts and finishes at the home of Jerome Ellison, the race director. Jerome has laid out a scenic, hilly course that runs from Talent to Ashland and beyond to Emigrant Lake State Park and a half-way turn-around. It then returns to the start/finish on the same route as a basic out-and-back course.

Ashland is an attractive, small city located at the base of wooded mountain ridges. There are small cattle ranches and undeveloped park land by the lake to provide a pleasant backdrop for running a marathon.

I’ve never run the Lost Soles Marathon faster than 4:30:00, presumably due to the major hills and the elevation, so I look at the event as more training than competition. At the start there were 15-20 mph headwinds, 400 temperatures, overcast skies, and rain showers. I thought it would take five hours to complete the marathon this year.

Ater a slow run into the wind and some walking on the hills, I reached the half-way turn-around in 2 hours and 25 minutes. The prospects of finishing under five hours did not look good. On the return trip I was surprised that there were a few runners behind me. Running down hill with a tail wind was a treat! I was the only 70 year old in the race and finished 18th of 29 runners. My finishing time of 4:43:40 gave me a “wind-assisted” negative split—by six minutes.

The race was won by John Luckewitz, 31, in 3:12:24, and the first woman to finish was Christi Jones, 31, with a 4:05:07 time.

The race results follow:
1.  3:12:24 - John Luckewitz, 31     16. 4:32:35 - Pete Dawson
2.  3:34:17 - Ted Schusler, 25       17. 4:41:04 - Tom Pelsak, 55
3.  3:37:25 - Ian Ransley, 38        18. 4:43:40 - Bob Dolphin, 70
4.  3:41:54 - Jeff Kingstand, 34     19. 4:45:33 - Peter Fish, 63
5.  3:51:19 - Dave Braje, 53         20. 5:00:01 - Ginny Brown
6.  3:52:26 - Jeff Zobrest, 37       21. 5:04:55 - Jud Broom, 55
7.  3:52:58 - Carl Blaeuer, 35       22. 5:19:09 - Paul Piplini, 50
8.  4:05:07 - Christi Jones, 31      23. 5:21:10 - Christian Avery, 24
9.  4:05:07 - James Duhaine, 39      24. 5:27:57 - Ginny Turner, 47
10. 4:12:57 - Jessi Stratton, 54     25. 5:28:51 - Frank Searfus, 49
11. 4:14:27 - Mel Preedy, 66         26. 5:38:38 - Ray Scharenbrock, 66
12. 4:15:40 - Dick Green, 65         27. 5:38:38 - Layne Reibel, 43
13. 4:16:01 - Phil Little, 57        28. 5:57:07 - Mike O'Reilly, 34
14. 4:20:52 - Craig Roth, 24         29. 6:13:25 - Arlene Bidwell, 61
15. 4:22:00 - Ray Wold, 62

Finishing times reflect the wind effect on the field. The runners were glad when the race was over and were happy to enjoy the hot tub, massage, and spaghetti feed provided by Jerome.

Written by Bob Dolphin