SEATTLE MARATHON In 1984 and 1985 when I ran my first Seattle Marathons, the course was located by Seward Park and Lake Washington. In 1986 the race became a point-to-point from Marymoor Park in Redmond to the University District in Seattle. Since then, the old course has been used for the Seattle Ghost Marathon the day before the regular one. Runners were given the opportunity to do a weekend double without traveling a long distance to do it. Marathon Maniac (MM) Bill Barmore then made it possible to do a “Turkey Triple” by offering the Wishbone Run the day after Thanksgiving near his Gig Harbor home. This year the inaugural Wattle Waddle Marathon was held on Thanksgiving Day. For the first time a Quadzilla was offered in the Seattle area with FOUR MARATHONS IN FOUR DAYS…..starting on Thanksgiving Day and ending with the Seattle Marathon on Sunday, November 28, 2010. The “Turkey Triple” sounded good to our friend MM Roger Biggs, so he and Michael Grehan came from the United Kingdom to spend five days with us at the Dolphin Renton domicile. Thanksgiving Day in the United States and three marathons made for an eventful trip for these Brits. They ran good races on Friday and Saturday and were ready to join our other houseguests, Fenny Roberts of Salem, Oregon, and Jim Scheer of Vancouver, Washington, and me for an early morning drive to the Seattle Center on Sunday morning. We parked in a lot close to the starting line and then took an orientation walk to nearby Memorial Field, site of the finish area. From 7:15 a.m. on we cheered the marathon walkers as they started, then the half marathon runners at 7:30 and the half marathon walkers at 7:45. It was our turn to leave at 8:15 a.m. on this cool morning. The temperature was 40 degrees and the sky was overcast and calm, a good day to wear tights, a TyVek jacket, stocking cap and gloves in addition to my MM singlet and shorts. This is a rolling course with hilly sections that I walked. I did some running the first half, but then it became necessary to walk throughout the second half. The hill at Mile 21 was a struggle, and calf cramps in the last miles gave me another challenge. I walked across the football field to the finish line with a time of 7:03:59…..finisher #2,291 of 2,301 and first (and only) runner in the 80+ division. This time was an hour faster than at the Marine Corps Marathon on October 31, 2010, and a half hour faster than the Harrisburg Marathon on November 14, 2010. The winner of the Seattle Marathon this year was Ethiopian Teshome Kokebe, 29, who currently lives in Lynnwood. At the halfway point he had a lead of one minute and held it to finish in a time of 2:30:57. This was his second win of 2010, having previously won the Geneva Marathon in Switzerland. John Riak, 26, of Lacey and winner of the 2010 Capital City Marathon in Olympia, came in second with a 2:32:12. In third place was Jesse Stevick, 28, of Olympia with a 2:32:50. This was the fourth time that he had placed in the top three at the Seattle Marathon. The women’s winner was Sabine Pullins, 37, from Germany who currently lives at Fort Lewis with her husband and two teenage sons. She didn’t know that she was leading until she “broke the tape” at the finish line in a time of 3:04:21, a new PR (personal record) in her 12th marathon. In second place was Becky Manuel, 30, of Beaverton, Oregon with a time of 3:09:40. Coming in third was MM Jennifer Yogi, 35, of Seattle who had a time of 3:11:28. Our friends from the United Kingdom enjoyed the scenic views of downtown Seattle and Lake Washington and were happy recipients of the Seattle Marathon finishers medal AND the Turkey Triple medal. This was Roger’s 106th consecutive weekend of marathoning!!! The #106 will soon become special to our friend MM Larry Macon from San Antonio, Texas, who with his wife visited with Lenore and me at the Seattle Expo. Larry became the Guinness World Book record holder when he ran 105 marathons in 2008. When he and MM Yolanda Holder of Corona, California, run the Savages Seven Marathon in Ocala, Florida, on December 31, 2010, they’ll break the record together of “Most Marathons Run in a Calendar Year by a Man and a Woman”….106 Marathons in 2010!!! I enjoyed visiting with a lot of friends at the Expo, before the race, on the course and at the finish area. They’ll be mentioned in the “partial results of my 25th Seattle Marathon. ……………………………..Written by Bob Dolphin
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PARTIAL RESULTS, SEATTLE MARATHON – November 28, 20102:30:57 Teshome Kokebe, 29, Ethiopia & Lynnwood, WA, FIRST OVERALL, First in Division
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