FIRST CALL PRESIDENTS DAY MARATHON
February 21, 2011
On Monday, February 21, 2011, I participated in the second annual First Call Presidents Day Marathon that’s directed by Adrian Call. I always enjoy these marathons on the Sammamish River Trail. As in some of the past races that I’ve run here, this double out-and-back starts at the Bothell Landing park in Bothell, WA.
Those of us who took the early start left at 7:00 a.m., crossed a footbridge over the river and then turned left to run or walk south on the trail. We crossed another footbridge in a mile, passed by I-405 overpasses, went through a park in the town of Woodinville and continued toward Redmond.
At the 6.55 mile marker we reversed course and returned to Bothell Landing to be timed for the half marathon distance and to partake of a variety of hot and cold food. Then we “did it all over again!”
On this day the weather was ideal. The temperature was in the high 30’s at the start and went to 45 degrees in the afternoon. The sky was overcast, and a light wind was present.
I saw a lot of friends during the race AND the bird-watching was great! Multiple flocks of more than 500 honking Canada Geese flew overhead about mid-morning. There were a lot of waterfowl on the river, and I observed Double-crested Cormorants, Pied-billed Grebes, Mallards, Gadwalls, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Ring-billed Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls. I even spotted a Bald Eagle near Redmond! An early sign of spring was the flowering Osoberry shrubs that I saw along the way.
No marathon is easy, but the ones offered several times each year on this course for different holidays and seasons go the smoothest for me. It’s a good course for me to try different strategies. When I start out a race by running, I usually have to change to walking about mid-race. When I’ve started by walking for ten minutes followed by running for ten minutes and alternating this pattern, I’ve still shifted to continuous walking eventually. Subsequently, a five-minute alternation pattern in another race had a similar outcome. I like to walk, so for this race I tried something different and walked every step of the course. Walking is slower than running, so I wanted to find out how much slower a continuous non-run race would be for me on a flat course in good weather.
With a time of 7:18:30, I was the last participant to finish the race. A year ago I ran/walked it in 6:32:25, almost two minutes per mile faster than this year.
Another great marathon is history, and I appreciate the efforts of Adrian Call and his volunteers for providing these good races on the Sammamish River Trail.
……………………………………Written by Bob Dolphin
Edited, Typed, and Distributed by Lenore Dolphin
FIRST CALL PRESIDENTS DAY MARATHON RESULTS – February 21, 2011
3:19:54 Tony Phillippi, 45-49, Tacoma
3:29:55 Mark Casey, 35-59, Auburn
3:40:46 Scott Sebelsky, 45-49, Camano Island
3:42:06 Steve Walters, 30-34, Beaverton, OR
3:42:33 Steve Barrick, 45-49, Kent
3:47:46 Rachel Williams, 30-34, Everett
3:51:10 Michael Britt, 45-49, Everett
3:52:31 May Cheng, 45-49, Mercer Island
3:52:42 Terri Gray, 40-44, Everett
4:03:05 Rusty Willson, 35-39, Port Orchard
4:06:55 Sheryl Perales, 40-44, Granite Falls
4:25:19 Adaon Castleton, 15-19, Lynnwood
4:31:54 Diana Robinson, 40-44, Bellingham
4:32:24 Laura Johnson, 45-49, Vashon
4:33:19 Francesca Carmichael, 50-54
4:41:27 Takao Suzuki, 45-49, Redmond
4:50:28 Jon Clark, 35-39, Kirkland
4:45:25 Cheri Pompeo, 55-59, Woodinville
4:53:02 Linda Walter, 55-59, Puyallup
4:54:44 Margaret Gorog, 50-54, Auburn
5:04:28 Ruth Balf, 55-59
5:16:09 Monte Pascual, 50-54, Federal Way
5:23:49 Rich Menzel, 65-69, Everett
5:26:32 Jim Boyd, 65-69, Seattle
5:31:01 Cyndie Merten, 50-54, Corvallis, OR
5:34:26 Deb Evdemon, 40-44, Sammamish
5:36:03 Robert Stretz, 40-44, Issaquah
5:40:00 Marie Zornes, 45-49, Gig Harbor
7:18:30 Bob Dolphin, 81, Renton/Yakima
4:33:16 Tony Covarrubias, 50-54, Renton
5:05:46 Susie Ro, 40-44, Seattle
6:51:34 Jenni Schoneker, 35-39, Marysville
6:51:34 Tory Klementsen, 45-49, Marysville