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Seattle Marathon
November 26, 2006
Race Report by Bob Dolphin
On Friday, two days before the November 26, 2006, Seattle Marathon Lenore and I volunteered at Race Headquarters at the Seattle Westin Hotel. As we have done for a dozen years, we handed out envelopes containing bib numbers, timing chips and safety pins to marathon runners. We answered their questions and then sent them to the nearby Expo Hall to pick up their race T-shirts and goodie bags.
Visiting with old friends and getting acquainted with other runners is a side benefit of our volunteering. When asked about the weather, I mentioned that the prediction was for frequent rain and temperatures from the mid 30's to the mid 40's.
Saturday evening when our good friends and fellow Marathon Maniacs (MM), Fenny Roberts of Salem, OR, and Jim Scheer of Vancouver, WA, joined us an our Renton home for pasta loading, we all agreed that the marathon was going to be wet and cool.
On Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. when I looked out the front door of our Renton home, it indeed was raining, and, as forecast, the temperature was in the 30's. By 6:00 a.m. Fenny, Jim, Lenore and I drove our vehicles in the rain in tandem to a parking area near the Space Needle at the starting area of the race. After we parked, we stayed in the cars to keep warm and dry and to watch the participants as they gathered for the starts of the early races.
In the darkness at 7:15 a.m. it was still raining as approximately 44 men and 173 women walkers began their Marathon Walk, a separate event from the regular marathon. Then at 7:30 a.m. the biggest event, the Half Marathon, with 7,500 runners started. It was followed by the Half Marathon Walk at 7:45 a.m.
After the half marathoners left, I walked with Lenore to the nearby Memorial Stadium, where she worked at the rainy finish area distributing finishers medals. She was assisted by MM Bill Barmore of Gig Harbor and a lot of other great volunteers.
By the 8:15 a.m. start of the marathon, daylight had arrived, the temperature had risen to the low 40's, and (surprise) it was still raining. I was wearing tights, a Coolmax shirt, a Tyvek jacket, gloves and a stocking cap, so I ran comfortably and didn't get chilled or overheated. For the first time ever, I had hand-warmers inside my gloves, and they worked fine!
As always, I enjoyed running in areas that are normally off-limits to runners as in downtown Seattle on 4th and 5th Avenues, I-90 express lanes through tunnels and on a floating bridge on Lake Washington, and on many suburban streets.
As I was crossing the floating bridge in my 5th mile, I saw two leaders gong in the opposite direction as they were in their 9th mile. They were Uli Steidl, 34, of Shoreline (near Seattle) and Andy Martin, 31, of Bend, Oregon. They are old friends who ran track together at the University of Portland about ten years ago.
They were together in the marathon until about 21 miles into the run. Going into the Arboretum and the Interlaken hills and park area, Uli pulled away. In Memorial Stadium he ran across the athletic field to finish and win in a time of 2:27:51. This was a phenomenal EIGHTH consecutive win of the Seattle Marathon for him. Andy was close behind him with a time of 2:29:08 for second place. Coming in third was Nick Merrill, 31, who ran a 2:37:49.
The women's race was won by Trisha Steidl, 29, Uli's wife, who ran a 3:01:36 and was 34th overall. This is the first time in the 37 year history of the race, that a husband and wife team have won the men's and women's marathon!! Both of them are cross country and track & field coaches at Seattle University.
In the 18th mile,Trisha had taken the lead from second place finisher Christine Rehwald, 27, of Spokane.
Her time was 3:05:15, and Ann Armstrong, 44, of Poulsbo was right behind her with a 3:05:39. Ann was the second place woman finisher at the April 1, 2006, Yakima River Canyon Marathon.
The run along the Lake Washington shore is especially scenic between Miles 9 to 17 in a long strip park and a 2.5 mile loop of Seward Park. On this long out-and-back on two-lane Lake Washington Boulevard there was an opportunity to greet friends who were in front of me. On a Seward Park trail I visited briefly with marathon walkers and long-time friends, Jack Swanson of Spokane and Jon Nevitt of Burlington, his wife Janet and companions Robin Cole and Richard Curry.
Near the half way mat in Seward Park I met Lisa Ohge, 31, of the Seattle area who was running her first marathon. Congratulations to Lisa and other first-timers for completing a new goal!
Birdwatching by the lake was a treat, and I saw glaucous-winged gulls, American coots, double-crested cormorants, mallards and common mergansers swimming offshore.
The last seven miles were scenic, but hilly, as we went from lake level to the hills of Seattle and the finish area. The Interlaken forest with a lot of curves and hillsides was attractive. Then we arrived at civilization and crossed I-5 three times in two miles by overpass and underpass…..with the Space Needle, the destination area, in view.
When the Mercer Street underpass was negotiated by climbing, a steep (but short) hill, the finish was less than a half mile away. I entered the stadium and ran to the finish line where Lenore gave me a finishers medal and a hug. My chip time was 5:22:12, and I placed as the 1,215th male of 1,329 and 1,853rd of 2,086 overall. I was the first 75-79M and the oldest runner in the marathon. It had been a good race with little wind and cool temperatures that didn't exceed 45 degrees.
Congratulations to MM Van Phan from Maple Valley for running the Seattle Marathon double with several others. On Saturday, she ran the Seattle Marathon Ghost 50K and finished as the first female overall with a time of 4:35. Then on Sunday she ran the Seattle Marathon in 3:32:32. The second half is hilly and harder than the first half, yet Van ran a negative split by three minutes. It was her 50th marathon/ultra for the year…..with two more planned! Lenore had welcomed her into the 100 Marathon Club North America during packet pickup with a surprise presentation of her membership certificate, a newsletter notebook, a club T-shirt and "100" pin.
Jeff Hedrick, 52, of California and Chris Brown, 40, of New York ran the race together and finished in 4:48:18. This was an amazing feat for Jeff who wasn't sure that he could finish a marathon since he was a liver transplant recipient in 2004. His running partner, Chris, is the brother of the donor, Eric Brown, a family man who died young due to a cranial tumor. It was an emotional time with much family support in the finish area.
The University of Washington Medical Center was the title sponsor for the 2006 Seattle Marathon with benefits that went to the Living Legacy Foundation that saves lives through organ and tissue donations.
Team Transplant, a group of 150+ organ recipients, participated in the running and walking events of the Seattle Marathon Association. Jeff Hedrick is an example of the good work accomplished nationally by the cooperative network of organ donation and transplantation organizations.
Some of our friends ran excellent half marathon races. Rick Becker, 52, of Selah, a member of the Yakima Hard Core Runners Club, ran a 1:19:21 to place 11th overall and first in the 50-54M division.
Mary Hanna, 45, MM of Maple Valley came in second in the 45-49F group with a fine time of 1:27:52. Joan Benoit Samuelson, 49, was a minute ahead of Mary to place first with 1:26:51.
I remember watching Joan on television as she was leading and winning the first Women's Marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games at Los Angeles, CA. She beat the world's best women marathoners to finish unchallenged with a time of 2:24:43. She also broke the women's world record by three minutes at the Boston Marathon in 1983 with a time of 2:22:43. I finished that race one hour and fourteen minutes behind her, and I've idolized her ever since.
Our thanks go to race director Louise Long, Seattle Marathon Association president John Kokes, their co-workers and the volunteers for putting on another well-organized marathon, half-marathon, kids marathon and walks. In spite of the rain, it was another great event!
Written by Bob Dolphin
Edited, Typed and Distributed by Lenore Dolphin
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