Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia, Washington, is an ideal site for the start/finish of the Capital City Marathon which was held on Sunday, May 16, 2004. Lenore and I stopped at the park on the day before the race medley (marathon, half marathon, five miler and kids' run) to pick up my race number and chip.

The first runners whom we met there were Jack and Gunhild Swanson, our long-time friends from Spokane, Washington. >From them we learned that Joan Benoit Samuelson was going to be the guest speaker at the pre-race dinner that evening. It was most appropriate that Joan Samuelson of Freeport, Maine, was on hand to celebrate her win 20 years earlier at the first Olympic Marathon Trials for American women held in May 1984 at Olympia, WA. The trials marathon was run on the 1984 Capital City Marathon course.

Competing only 17 days after knee surgery, Joan won the trials race against the best U.S. women. She went on to win the first women's marathon at the Summer Olympics at Los Angeles several months later on August 5, 1984. I have vivid memories of watching her on television......running on a warm day with the best marathoners in the world, Greta Waitz and Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway and Rosa Mota of Portugal and others. By 5K Joan had broken free from the lead pack. She ran alone and extended her lead to almost a minute and a half at her triumphant finish with a time of 2:24:52 (5:32).

Because Lenore and I had plans to visit and have dinner with our weekend hosts, Evelyn and Paul Maxin of nearby Summit Lake, we had to pass up the opportunity to meet Joan Benoit Samuelson. I would have told her that I have been an admirer of hers ever since she set the marathon world record for women in the 1983 Boston Marathon with a 2:22:43 and that I was in the same race in mid-field (running a 3:36).

On race day, Lenore and I returned to Sylvester Park to watch Carol Dellinger of Spokane and Jim Davison of Lakewood, WA, and others as they left at a 6:30 a.m. early start. For the next hour there were many conversations with friends as we waited for the regular start at 7:30 a.m. The weather was ideal with the temperature in the mid-50's, overcast skies, and no wind.

In the first mile, Jim Thatcher, a long-time friend who lives in Olympia, and I congratulated each other on running our 20th consecutive Capital City Marathon. It's good to see Jim every year as we chalk up another one on one of my favorite race courses. However, I am thankful that this tour of Olympia to Tumwater to Lacey and back to Olympia is in May and not In July as it was in the first four years that I ran it.

In the first half of the 2004 marathon I enjoyed running with Jim Thatcher, Byron Zarp of Olympia, Jim Boyd of Seattle, Ed Hanson of Stayton, OR, Andrew Dunn of Normandy Park, WA, and Jon Gissberg of Seattle. There were a lot of my friends on the course.....but I couldn't keep up with any of them.

The half marathon started at 8:00 a.m., and in the eighth mile the front runners of that race started to pass me. I admired their fast pace and appreciated their words of encouragement. One of the first women to run by looked familiar. A few miles later, Jack Swanson pointed out that this was Joan Benoit Samuelson. What a treat to be passed by Joan.....even if we were in different races, and I had a half hour headstart!

Joan, on her 47th birthday, ran a 1:24:26 in the half marathon. She finished 21st overall of 888 finishers, 3rd woman overall of 515 female finishers, first masters woman, and first of 51 in the 45-49F age division. What a triumphant visit to the site of her memorable victory at the Women's Trials of 1984!

Jon Gissberg slowed down to visit with me in the 13th mile as he passed me. He commented about the roughness of some of the pavement we had run over. This prompted me to look down and note that Jon was running barefooted! There are only a handful of runners who can do that. (Todd Byers of Long Beach ,CA, is another.) Jon and I met about seven years ago at the Capital City Marathon, and he attributes my lifestyle for influencing him to become a megamarathoner.

On this day I felt fine, enjoyed the spring conditions, and even saw an uncommon red-breasted sapsucker fly by in a wooded area. However, the slow leg speed that I have had since last December continues to be a problem.....but I'm working on it.

My fastest mile of the day was a 9:42 in Mile 1. Surely, I can do better than that. As I entered a one-mile loop in a wooded industrial park in the 18th mile, Byron Zarp, who was at an aid station at the loop exit waved. When I reached that aid station twelve minutes later, all of the volunteers greeted me by my first name. It was a good morale booster to counteract the wall doldrums. Thanks, Byron.

At 20 miles my split of 3:43:00 suggested that I would have to pick up the pace if I wanted to finish under five hours. I concentrated on doing this, but my body wasn't very cooperative. Finally, I ran down the long hill in front of the Capitol Building in the last mile and crossed the finish line before the clock showed the passage of five hours since the start of the race. My chip time was 4:56:46 (11:19). I was 417th of 468 finishers and fifth of six in the 70+ male division. The awards went five deep, so that was a pleasant surprise.

The results of the 70 and over males are as follows: (1) 3:54:54 - Pierce Cornelius, 73, Bend, OR; (2) 4:38:38 - Grant Yule, 76, Prince George, BC; (3) 4:40:17 - Mel Preedy, 71, Ravensdale, WA; (4) 4:46:37 - Jack Swanson, 70, Spokane, WA; (5) 4:56:46 - Bob Dolphin, 74, Renton/Yakima, WA; (6) 5:44:59 - Jim Davison, 71, Lakewood, WA.

I didn't learn anything about the front runners and their races. The information of the male and female top three runners is shown in the Partial Results section along with how some of my friends ran.

Thanks to the race director, the race committee and the many volunteers for putting on another great marathon and other races. Since I see the same runners year after year, I know that most of us will return next year for another marvelous marathon experience at the Capital City Marathon.

.....................................Written by Bob Dolphin

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Partial Results......Capital City Marathon - May 16, 2004

(1) 2:48:21 - John O'Hearn, 42, Redmond, WA
(2) 2:49:56 - Pekka Termonen, 54, Port Gamble, WA
(3) 2:55:52 - Jim Boyce, 44, Orting, WA

(1) 2:58:35 - Karen Steen, Olympia, WA
(2) 3:03:32 - Susan Champlain, Renton, WA
(3) 3:12:37 - Alicia Britt, Seattle, WA

3:00:58 - Chris Warren, 36, Renton, WA, 3rd 35-39M
3:14:33 - Chuck Cammack, 58, Albany, OR, 2nd
3:17:21 - Jenifer Yogi, 28, Seattle, WA, 1st
3:17:22 - Steven Yee, 44, Renton, WA
3:17:43 - Tony Phillippi, 42, Tacoma, WA
3:22:14 - Tony Covarrubias, 43, Auburn, WA
3:29:46 - Gunhild Swanson, 59, Spokane, WA, 1st
3:33:59 - Ron Fowler, 56, Seattle, WA, 5th
3:37:12 - Ronald Olsen, 61, Woodinville, WA, 1st
3:38:07 - Gene Morris, 58, Seattle, WA
3:39:10 - Guy Yogi, 50, Seattle, WA
3:39:54 - Herb Allen, 61, Bainbridge Island, WA
3:44:48 - David Jones, 58, Seattle, WA
3:44:50 - Paul Emmett, 58, Redmond, WA
3:44:50 - Erik Downing, 32, Redmond, WA
3:45:41 - Lionel Wilridge, 69, Kent, WA, 1st
3:45:57 - Janet Green, 50, Courtenay, BC, 2nd
3:53:41 - Steve Barrick, 42, Kent, WA
3:56:43 - Michael Dutton, 34, Everett, WA
3:59:50 - Connie Ridenour, 45, Spokane, WA, 3rd
4:04:21 - Hanan Berman, 57, Seattle, WA
4:14:43 - Jon Gissberg, 61, Seattle, WA
4:15:24 - Ed Hanson, 57, Stayton, OR
4:17:35 - Jim Kunz, 55, Seattle, WA
4:24:34 - Bruce Katter, 69, Edmonds, WA, 4th
4:25:39 - Sandra Noel, 54, Vashon, WA, 5th
4:30:17 - Lynn Yarnall, 53, Edmonds, WA
4:33:11 - Jim Boyd, 61, Seattle, WA
4:34:20 - JR Phillips, 65, Yakima, WA, 5th
4:36:38 - Byron Zarp, 57, Olympia, WA
4:40:12 - Cheri Gillis, 51, Woodinville, WA
4:40:17 - Mel Preedy, 71, Ravensdale, WA, 3rd
4:43:16 - Steven Pierce, 42, Coeur d' Alene, ID
4:46:37 - Jack Swanson, 71 , Spokane, WA, 4th
4:56:46 - Bob Dolphin, 74, Renton, WA, 5th
4:57:55 - Andrew Dunn, 45, Normandy Park, WA
5:11:46 - Ultra Al Miller, Jr., 50, Deer Island, OR
5:23:56 - Bernadette Langdon, 50, Portland, OR
5:25:48 - Jim Thatcher, 55, Olympia, WA
5:29:03 - Fenny Roberts, 51, Salem, WA
5:29:05 - Jim Scheer, 62, Vancouver, WA
5:42:20 - Larry Brown, 64, Salem, OR
5:44:59 - Jim Davison, 71, Lakewood, WA
6:32:09 - Carol Dellinger, 41, Spokane, WA