UNITED WE RUN MARATHON
November 6, 2005
It rained heavily all day Saturday, and we thought it would continue to rain the next day on Sunday, November 6, 2005, when the United We Run Marathon would be held. Fortunately, it did not!
The three of us who took an early start at 7:30 a.m. were pleased to find the temperature at 40 degrees, overcast skies and no air movement as we began our race. During the event it remained partly cloudy with light winds, but headwinds greeted us near the finish area.
The marathon followed the same course that I described in the report on the Green River Marathon held on June 4, 2005. To summarize, the race started in Kent on a paved running trail that followed the Green River for 15 miles. For the most part, the last 11 miles were on sidewalks adjacent to streets. It finished at Alki Beach across the street from Spuds Fish and Chips Restaurant. Handouts described the course that was well-marked by painted logos and arrows.
Karen Trout filled in for race director Jason Gordon who was on the East Coast to run the New York City Marathon the same day. She was there to give Sue Fauerbach, barefoot Jon Gissberg and me a 7:30 sendoff. An hour later she started the rest of the field, nine more marathoners and nine 2-8 person relay teams.
Yellow foliage was everywhere. Fallen leaves of black cottonwood made a yellow carpet to run on. The red-purple color of the red osier dogwood was most striking. I enjoyed running on the trail where I saw squirrels and birds that live along the river. Near the finish, I made an unusual observation of a shorebird flock of black turnstones as they flew by at a rocky section of Alki Beach.
I appreciated the group of friends who were on hand to cheer for me as I finished with a time of 5:31:35. This was an improvement over the 6:01:10 that I ran/walked on the same course last June.
Congratulations to Van Phan who won the race with a 3:38:13. Only six days before she had run a marathon in Dublin, Ireland!
Congratulations to ultramarathoner Ray Gruenwald who completed the Bear 100 Miler on September 23, 2005, at Preston, Idaho, in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in the southeastern part of the state.
Kudos to Sue Fauerbach who completed her 47th marathon of 2005 on November 6th!! On her schedule are more marathons for November and December. She hopes to set a women’s megamarathon record for the year.
Jon Gissberg’s quote tells all about the race in one paragraph: “The United We Run Marathon reminded me of some of the very early day local marathons with a dozen or so runners and not even having to bother with age/gender categories (everyone was usually in the top ten anyway!). However, the UWR entry fee was the best ever!”
By 7:26 p.m. on race day an e-mail from the “fill-in” race director said, “ Can you believe it? The 26.2 miles were covered today without anyone getting a drop of rain on them!! Hard to believe after yesterday’s torrential down pour. Hope everyone had a great time. Today’s results are included at the end.”
It was a fun day for all, and the efforts of Jason, Karen and all of the volunteers were much appreciated.
………………………..Written by Bob Dolphin
3:38:13 Van Phan
4:05:57 Ray Gruenwald
4:06:49 Mike Shiach
4:12:20 Guy Yogi
4:12:20 Diana “Slug” Robinson
4:50:14 Mel Preedy
4:54:35 Sue Fauerbach
4:55:31 Richard Dahl
4:55:31 Arthur Martineau
4:55:31 Janghae Shaffer
4:56:06 Jon Gissberg
5:31:35 Bob Dolphin
2:45:00 Fast & Crazy Teens (Jacob Stolz, Adam Stolz, Brendan Brewer, Greg Ideda,
Michaeld Mehan, Michael Henrich, Elliott Bogle, Tyler
Compton)
2:52:00 F.A.R.T. (Ruth Perkins, Rob Hester, Jamal Shoto)
3:40:35 Y-Run Club 2 (Rick Wade, Jimmy Razuri)
3:42:08 Buns on the Run (Monica Karlin, Ryan McLaughlin, Jeremy Elliot)
3:56:09 Y-Run Club 4 (Linda Walters, Lori Espinosa, Tina Schwesig)
4:09:32 Y-Run Club 3 (George Koski, Jessica Nelson)
4:11:52 LN6 (Becky Lavalleur, Mark Knight, Tom Kinsella)
4:15:50 Y-Run Club 1 (Michelle Barnes, Sonya Dahl, Riley Barnes, Margaret Barrett)
5:02:22 BaaN5 (Becky Lavalleur, Bruno Stolz, Bruce Bowman, Dave Arnesen, Janice
Abe, Ed Harlow, Clarence Poisson)