YAKIMA RIVER CANYON MARATHON
April 5, 2008
During the course of the weekend of the Yakima River Canyon Marathon which was run on Saturday, April 5, 2008, Lenore and I received favorable reports from participants. Most of them said that this year’s events were the best yet. While I agreed, I checked out Marathon Guide to see what newcomers to our race were reporting to the running community.
An excerpt of the first entry of 2008 by a runner from Chicago stated, “I relied on the information posted for the last few years (by Marathon Guide) to make my decision to run Yakima – and I was not disappointed. This is one of the best races in the country – large or small. Terrific organization, great course, good pre and post race festivities, and excellent on-course support. This is a great race to check out – especially for 50 Staters.”
This says it all and confirms my biased opinion.
There were 452 runners, walkers and one wheelchair athlete who registered for our race, and there were 409 who came from 22 states, three Canadian provinces, Norway, Wales, England and Mexico to be at the starting line. Of these, 402 completed the run through the canyon and crossed the finish line in rural Selah.
There were over 70 Marathon Maniacs in the field and a lot of 100 Marathon Club North America members who were here for the first reunion of this club. Rick Nealis, the race director of the Marine Corps Marathon……one of the best and biggest at 30,000 runners…..was our featured speaker and “guest helper” for the weekend. He enjoyed being Lenore’s chauffeur on the course and encouraging the volunteers and participants along the way.
This year we had a selective early start at 6:00 a.m., two hours ahead of the regular start, for seven participants. This allowed Jose Nebrida a chance to be greeted by others as he carried the American flag in his 26.2 mile journey and gave the others the assurance that they’d make it across the finish line before 3:00 p.m. A big “thankyou” goes to Lois Brown from Sebring, Florida, who provided the roving aid station car to assist these early starters before the regular aid stations opened.
It was a sunny day with the temperature in the mid 40’s at the start and mid 50’s at the finish. There was a light wind that had a cooling effect in the sunlight.
At the starting line pastor Norm Buckley of the First Presbyterian Church in Yakima said a prayer, and Fenny Roberts of Salem, Oregon, sang the National Anthem as she has every year. Tony Sagare had a few announcements and then started the lone wheelchair athlete, Tim Clark, 46, of Puyallup who completed the race in a time of 1:55:58. At 8:00 a.m. a “faux” train whistle signaled the start of the 8th annual Yakima River Canyon Marathon for the runners and walkers.
Jesus Valdez, 43, a Mexican citizen who lives and works in Oregon went to the front early and built a good lead. He was slowing in the final miles to finish in 2:46:26. Andrew Ruggiero, 30, of Yakima ran in second place and was gaining on Valdez, but he “ran out of course” to finish in 2:47:26. Ruslan Tkebuchava, 27, of Vancouver, WA, was third with a 2:52:10. In fourth and fifth places were Paul Brickel, 41, of Seattle with a time of 2:53:29 and Cliff Richards, 47, a Marathon Maniac of Maple Valley, who ran a 2:54:58.
Annie Thiessen, 37, of Tacoma, a Marathon Maniac who had four marathon wins in 2007, led the YRCM women in 2007 until she had a painful hamstring muscle tear and finished in fourth place. This year she prevailed and finished strong to win with a 3:00:25 time. Three-time winner Mary Hanna, 46, MM of Maple Valley, holds the course record of 2:58:06 (2006). She ran steadily to finish second in a time of 3:12:32. In third place was Selina Danko, 39, of Wenatchee with a time of 3:29:48. In fourth and fifth places were Jill Banister, 48, of Pendleton, Oregon, with a 3:32:28 and Sheila McPherson, 47, of Calgary, Alberta, with a 3:33:20.
It was a good day to run, and four course records were broken. In winning the women’s title, Annie Thiessen also established a new course record in the 35-39F age group with her 3:00:25 time. Janis Campbell, 57, from Redding, California, set a new course record for the 55-59F age group with a 3:34:04 time. Dan Shuff, 73, from San Antonio, Texas, broke his own 70-74M age division record by 2.5 minutes for a new record of 4:03:37.
Joe Solem, 11, of Ellensburg broke a different kind of record by becoming the youngest person ever to finish the YRCM!
I enjoyed my run/walk even though it was slow. As we left the starting line, I could see the snow covered Stewart Mountain Range northeast of Ellensburg. Later in the canyon, mountain and ridge tops had snow in the ravines that I hadn’t seen in earlier YRCM marathons. While Bighorn Sheep were seen by some runners, I missed them, but I watched violet-green swallows maneuver over the river. It was peaceful running through the canyon with only a few runners nearby.
When I was two miles from the finish, I could see Jose Nebrida ahead. I caught up with him in the last mile and had a great chat with him until we crossed together. I finished in 6:05:28, my slowest run/walk at the YRCM, 362nd of 401 runners/walkers and second of three in the 75-79M division.
The Yakima River Canyon Marathon offered a weekend of activities for all that began at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, April 4th, with the start of packet pickup and a small Expo. At 4:00 p.m. a reunion meeting was attended by 42 members of the 100 Marathon Club North America and their guests. Each member was introduced and presented with a special mug with the YRCM logo on it. The tally for the total number of marathons run by these 42 megamarathoners was 9,043 for an average of 215 marathons per person!!!
Milestone pins were presented to some of the members. For completing over 500 marathons, Henry Rueden; over 400 marathons, Roger Biggs; over 300 marathons, Steve Boone; over 200 marathons, Frank Bartocci, Paula Boone, Jim Boyd, Peter Graham, Raymond Hoyle, Jim Scheer, Steve Yee and Cheri Pompeo (in absentia).
Janice Moyer from Wellpinit wore bib #100 the next day in honor of her 100th marathon and was presented a special medallion as she was welcomed into the club. Congratulations to Ray Scharenbrock who shared the fact that he had just completed his NINTH cycle of running 50 states and DC, the only runner to have reached this level of accomplishment.
A highlight of the pasta dinner activities occurred when Steve Boone, an officer in the 50 States Marathon Club, presented a trophy to Roger Biggs, chairman of the 100 Marathon Club United Kingdom, for FINISHING a marathon in ALL 50 U.S. states. Roger is the first 50 states finisher from the U.K.
At the 7th annual YRCM last year the “Team Dolphin Boston Marathon Fund” was established by our five children in honor of my 400th marathon that I ran on March 31, 2007. The purpose of this fund is to award a minimum of $200.00 to a male and a female runner who qualified for Boston at our YRCM and was registered to run the 2008 Boston Marathon. Lenore and I contributed $1,000.00 to this fund in memory of my mother who passed away on June 2, 2007, at the age of 96, so the selection committee chose to honor all five applicants this year. Introductions and presentations of the check and certificate were made to Jim Scheer of Vancouver, Sean Meissner of Sisters, Oregon, Karin Kupp of Yakima, and Kelly Larimer and Carey Gazis of Ellensburg.
There are 64 runners who qualified for Boston this year. That’s 17.7% of the finishers! Those who register for the 2009 Boston Marathon are eligible to apply for next year’s award by going to www.hcrunners.org or to www.marathonmaniacs.com (Team Dolphin) to download the application form.
Rick Nealis, our guest speaker for the evening, was introduced by Jose Nebrida. His humorous and informative talk included tales of his 20 year military career in the U.S. Marine Corps and stories about the Marine Corps Marathon that he has directed for many years. We enjoyed his personable and entertaining presentation. Throughout the weekend he provided guaranteed entries for the October 26, 2008, Marine Corps Marathon for all runners who wished to take advantage of this rare opportunity. This race has a 30,000 cap limit and will fill within a few days of the April 30th opening of registration.
Prior to the awards ceremony/meal on Saturday local runner Rick Tabor provided entertainment with his “Tribute to the Beach Boys” presentation, and Fenny Roberts played some requested songs on her flute. This was followed by a song by Rosie Rifa and the blessing spoken by Chaplain Bill Hunt of the Kittitas County Sheriffs Department.
After a delicious meal, we began the awards ceremony by presenting a bottle of wine from Beeman’s Backachers Vineyard to those who have competed all of our marathons. The 26 who wore a “gold star” on their bibs to denote this accomplishment will become “25” for 2009….and they are Steve Barrick, Stan Bostrum, Jim Boyd, Gerald & Karin Buchmann, Larry Carroll, Neil Corrigan, Bob Dolphin, Ron Fowler, Steve Hamling, Ron Hayden, Dennis Higbee, David Jones, Stephen Love, Mark Moody, Jose Nebrida, James Nolan, David Olsho, Bruce Palmquist, JR Phillips, Mel Preedy, Casey Rice, Fenny Roberts, Jim Scheer and Steve Yee.
The first-time marathoners are designated by a “foot sticker” on their bibs and were honored at the awards ceremony by the presentation of a certificate noting this accomplishment.
At the awards ceremony Bruce Katter, a long-time friend of many in the running community was remembered. His battle with cancer ended on November 11, 2007, at the age of 73. He was a 50 States Club finisher, 100 Marathon Club NA member and Marathon Maniac #77. He was also a member of the Fabulous 50’s Relay Team, a small craft sailor who sailed around the earth twice, a retired rocket scientist, and an annual volunteer at the Yakima River Canyon Marathon who ran the race all but one time when a “state” race that he needed interfered. His last race ever was the 2007 YRCM when he wore bib #500.
In his memory Roger Biggs and Jack Brooks from the 100 Marathon Club UK had a special contest for the 100 Marathon Club NA during our race. The winners who received a special medallion were Tony Phillippi, Scott Krell, Steve Boone and Laura Garett. Lenore and I received one of these medallions also.
The “marathon weekend” ended with a no-host breakfast at the Howard Johnson Hotel in Yakima on Sunday morning from 9:00-11:00 a.m. This was a time for enjoying the newspaper articles about the race and saying our final “goodbyes” to runners who had come from near and far for another great YAKIMA RIVER CANYON MARATHON.
We hope that many will return on April 4, 2009, for our 9th annual YRCM which will be another Marathon Maniacs reunion.
………………………………….Written by Bob Dolphin
Edited, Typed and Distributed by Lenore Dolphin