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Yakima River Canyon Marathon
March 31, 2001
Race Report by Bob Dolphin
For
a year as co-directors of the Yakima River Canyon Marathon, a Yakima Hard Core Runners Club (HCR) event, Lenore
and I traveled the canyon by car many times. Since we maintain homes at Yakima
and at Renton (near Seattle,) we travel back and forth often, always through
the canyon on the old Ellensburg to Selah/Yakima highway. Each time we
traveled the southward route from I-90 in Ellensburg to the southern limit of
the canyon, I visualized running the marathon.
I looked forward to running in the farm country in Ellensburg's flat
Kittitas Valley in the first few miles before cresting the small rise at the
north end of the canyon. Here the easy running would continue for miles on a
gentle downgrade. There would be some ranch land but mostly lava cliffs, high,
grassy ridges, and the cascading Yakima River as visual feasts for the
runners. The first hill at midrace would be a challenge, but it would only be
a half mile long. Then a similar distance of a long downhill would provide a
recovery coast.
A few miles further as one comes around a small hill, majestic Old Baldy,
the tallest mountain in the area, comes into view. As this prominence goes out
of sight, the major hill at Mile 21+ will have to be negotiated. It follows an
easy grade for 1.4 miles to the Roza Hill summit and then a long descent to
the finish where I expected to coast to the finish at the southern canyon
gateway. In my reverie, I always coasted down these grades, running easily as
I finished just south of the abandoned road tunnel.
In the final week as race day approached, the preparations intensified.
There were meetings with our organizational committee and law enforcement
officers, a Pep Rally with volunteers at the Selah Civic Center (our Race
Headquarters,) three evening sessions of packet preparation, and the Friday
morning setting up of tables and chairs in preparation for packet pickup and
the pasta feed that day. We were ready!!
At the evening pasta feed on March 30, there was an excellent presentation
by Joe Henderson on a variety of running subjects. He helps keep the memory of
George Sheehan alive. This is appreciated by those of us who had met George
and were inspired by his talks at marathons, his books, and magazine columns.
Joe was a key figure at our inaugural Yakima River Canyon Marathon. He was the announcer at the start and finish of the
race. He spoke at the awards ceremony and talked to runners informally at the
Expo as he autographed his running books. The marathon committee is very
appreciative of his contributions to our first marathon.
On race day, Saturday, March 31, 2001, five buses provided transportaion to
the Ellensburg Best Inn, race start headquarters, and 385 marathoners began to
congregate. Just before the 8:00 a.m. start near the Inn on Canyon Road, Fenny
Roberts, our friend from Salem, Oregon, sang the national anthem. It was the
best rendition of the anthem that I had ever heard. Flags from the three
participating countries, United States, Canada, and United Kingdom, were held
by Eagle Scout volunteers.
Then the two wheelchair participants began the race. Jerry Martin, 53, of
Spokane finished the marathon in an excellent time of 2:07:33. David Whedbee,
33, of Seattle completed the course in 2:49:44. This is remarkable insofar as
he has the use of his right arm only as he races.
At a few minutes after 8:00 a.m., a stationary Burlington Northern/Sante Fe
diesel locomotive abreast of the starting line sounded its airhorn loudly, and
the runners and walkers were on their way. The weather was good....high 40's
to low 60's with thin, overcast-to- partly-cloudy skies, and 0-10 mph
headwind.
The first participant to run the full length of the scenic canyon and to
cross the finish line to win the race was Wayne Bunce, 31, of Clarkston, WA,
in a fine time of 2:42:56 (6:14.) Close behind was Tom St. Clair, 35, of
Yakima, an HCR member, who had a 2:47:25 (6:24.) In third place was Cliff
Banister, 40, (HCR) of Pendleton, OR, who ran a 2:49:11 (6:28) to be the first
Masters runner. Norm Buckley, 39, a local Yakima runner, ran a 2:50:53 (6:32)
for fourth, and Craig Eisner, 32, of Manson had a 2:53:30 (6:38.) A remarkably
fast race for a 56 year old was run by Jack Miller of Cache Creek, British
Columbia, who ran a 2:55:02 (6:41.)
The women's race was a contest settled in the last mile as Carol Stuhley,
38, (HCR) of Yakima passed Laura Baird, 31, of Seattle. They finished in
3:19:12 (7:37) and 3:19:21 respectively....23rd and 24th overall. Eva
Lust-Wright, 31, (HCR) of Yakima ran with Carol most of the way and finished
in third place with a time of 3:20:17 (7:39.)
Don Hill, 51, of Richland was the first 50-54M and 11th overall with a time
of 3:08:35 (7:12.) Larry Carroll, 61, of Liberty Lake, WA, had a remarkable
3:14:59 (7:27) for 20th overall. Mel Preedy, 67, a Marathon Achiever from
Ravensdale, WA, had a 3:43:07 (8:31) for first place in the 65-69M division.
Close behind in that group was Bill Nicholson, 65, (HCR) of Yakima in 3:44:24
(8:34.) Al Becken, 72, of San Antonio, TX, running a smooth, steady pace
passed me at the 17 mile marker and went on to finish in 4:10:59 (9:35,) first
in the 70-74M division.
My first half went reasonably well, but hamstring cramps showed up in the
16th mile and were a problem as other leg and foot muscles cramped
periodically. I walked every step of the Roza Hill and ran slowly on the
downside to the finish line (not as I had visualized!) I finished in 4:13:57
(8:42,) 184th of 371 runners/walkers, 2nd of three in the 70-74M division. An
inspiration to all of us who met him was Ed Burnham, 81, of Kansas City, MO,
who finished in a time of 7:17:41, looking fit and strong.
The women masters turned in some good performances for first places in
their divisions. These were Connie Ridenour, 42, of Spokane, 3:30:43 (8:03);
Gunhild Swanson, 56, a friend from Spokane, 3:42:46 (8:31); Susan Elderbroom,
47, of Schenectady, NY, 3:42:34 (8:32); Ruth Ripley, 53, of Pennellville, NY,
4:25:48 (10:09); Virginia Nicholson, 61, HCR vice president and a member of
the YRCM organizing committee, 4:54:31 (11:15.)
Many walkers signed up for the marathon. The last two to finish the 26.2
mile walk were Lori Warneck, 30, and Shelley Yu, 31 of Yakima in 7:26:03 and
7:26:06 (17:02.) Congratulations to all 373 competitors who finished the
challenging course and earned classy finisher medals.
The first-time runners/walkers had a foot-shaped sticker on their bib
numbers to identify this special group. They were called to the front of the
hall at the Civic Center during the awards ceremony to receive special
first-time marathon completion certificates.
Prior to the distribution of drawing prizes and the awards, local service
clubs served a delicious meal to all in attendance. Tony Sagare, past
president of the Hard Core Runners Club and a Marathon Achiever, presented the
awards to the wheelchair participants, the overall male and female winners,
and the age division winners. He always handles this assignment masterfully.
Many thanks to all of our running friends and acquaintances who chose to
run our inaugural Yakima River Canyon Marathon. We appreciated having Peter Graham, Secretary of the 100
Marathon Club, here from London, England, to run the marathon. He expressed a
desire to have a North American branch of the club formed. Because I have
similar interests, I will follow through on this. The 50 States and DC Club
was well represented at the marathon with 36 members from 17 of the 21 states
in participation. This was a marvelous turnout! Thanks to Boonsom Hartman and
Lynda Petri, 50 staters who had encouraged 7 runners from Illinois to
participate. There were 10 Marathon Achievers who ran the marathon and joined
in the festivities. It was good to see these long-time friends. I do
appreciate Toddy Byers traveling from Long Beach, California, and Lou Hatch
coming here from Lolo, Montana. I can't name all of our friends due to space
limitations. However, the race results that list these runners and others are
listed on Denny Brooks' website, ontherun.com. Our deepest appreciation goes to Denny for providing
and maintaining our marathon's space on his website at www.ontherun.com/yrcm.
Many individuals helped make the marathon happen, and I wish to recognize a
few who have made major contributions. Previously, I have mentioned Joe
Henderson and Denny Brooks. In addition, there are Martin Rudow, editor of
Northwest Runner Magazine, who distributed our entry broachures widely in the
Northwest; Marty Wanless, Sports Marketer from Vancouver, BC, who distributed
our brochures at marathons throughout the U.S. and Canada; Dean Rademaker,
leader of the 50 States & DC Club, who encouraged members to run the
inaugural event as he sent out newsletters; Ruth & Roelif Laughlin, who
came from Seattle to provide laurel wreaths for the winners, all of the
flowers for our event, and to volunteer at the finish area; Steve
Christofferson, photographer from Mt. Vernon, who had participant pictures
available at the finish line; family and friends who drove long distances to
support us; and especially, the local communities of Yakima, Selah, and
Ellensburg, the law enforcement agencies, Rick Gifford and the Washington
State Department of Transportation, and the friendly and helpful VOLUNTEERS
(numbering 1+ to every 2 participants!!)
My year-long vision of the Yakima River Canyon Marathon has become a reality. The experience has more than
fulfilled my expectations. Now, I look forward to running the next marathon on
April 6, 2002. At this time, I will pay more attention to pre-race rest
and hydration to see if I can improve upon my finishing time.
Written by Bob Dolphin
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