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by Bob Dolphin
In the first two miles the runners ran along 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle passing skyscrapers and department stores. As we passed the Kingdome, we ran onto the express lanes of I-90 which were closed to vehicular traffic, We ran through tunnels and on the floating bridge over Lake Washington to the interior of Mercer Island as an out-and-back segment, Upon returning to the west side of the lake, the runners headed north along the lake shore on Lake Washington Boulevard. There we passed the mid-point of the race on the way to the 180 foot hill on Madison Street. Once the hill was scaled, the course passed through the Arboretum to the Interlaken road and paved trail through hillside forest. Then the course paralleled I-5 for a few miles before skirting Lake Union and the base of Queen Anne hill. In the last two miles there was a long climb to the Seattle Center and the finish line. The weather was typical for Seattle in late November. At the start of the race it was about 40', and the temperature did not exceed 45' as the race progressed. It rained constantly--a steady rain. Winds were infrequent but reached 10-15 miles per hour at times. On the out-and-back section to Mercer Island we passed the front runners running back to Seattle--strung out, but only yards apart. At the finish, Sean Nesbitt, 23, of Portland, OR, running his first marathon crossed first with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 38 seconds. In second was Warren Hancock of Anchorage, AK, who ran a 2:32:53. Dave Steffens, 39, of Issaquah, WA, ran a 2:36:14. He is a four time winner of the Seattle Marathon who lost several months of training this year due to a hamstring injury. Mariko Shirazi, 30, of Louisville, CO, running her first marathon on pavement was the first female finisher with a time of 3:00:19. She was followed by Natalie Butler of Kelowna, BC, (3:03:04), and Rachel Farrett of Bloomfield, CO, (3:04:03). Jerry Martin of Cheney, WA, took a tumble from his wheelchair while dodging a runner. This bloodied his forehead and nose, but he was able to get going again and won his division with a time of 2:31:13, He had an eleven minute lead over Wayne Philips of Richmond, BC (2:43:55). Those of us who run the Coeur d' Alene (ID) Marathon see Jerry competing in that event as a perennial winner. Carlton (Buck) Jones, 30+, our friend from Ellensburg and Pullman, WA, had the fastest time of any runner that we know personally. He turned in a fine time of 3:13:24. Buck is well known for winning many road races in the Seattle area in recent years. Another friend who is running exceptionally well is Gunhild Swanson, 54, of Spokane, WA. She ran a 3:19:36 to place as first masters woman by 4 1/2 minutes, llth woman overall, and first woman in the 50-54F Division. Some of our running friends are called Marathon Achievers with good reason. Steve Pierce, 35, (3:47:12), Mark Hartinger, 40 (4:01:10), Scott Krell, 36, (5:03:12), and two others ran a 50K in the Seward Park Runs the day before the Seattle Marathon. Steve and Mark were running well as we greeted each other on the course. They accomplished their feat of running back-to-back marathons with ease. Congratulations to Todd Byers, vice president of the Seattle Marathon Association, for completing his 100th MARATHON in Seattle!! Kudos to Ethan Bergman, 46, of Ellensburg for shepherding his 16 year old daughter, Sara, to the satisfactory conclusion of her first marathon in 5:02:34. Mel Preedy, 65, is still running with an injured Achilles tendon. If he were healed and healthy, he would have probably been first in our division. His time of 4:29:53 was respectable given his disability. After I ran the first several miles at an 8:30 pace, I began slowing down, and I knew that I would finish somewhere around 41/2 hours. I had injured the plantar fascia of my right heel in August and had just about quit training, hoping the injury would heal. This hasn't happened yet, so my racing times are heading for the cellar. I finished with a 4:26:28 which reflects my present level of fitness. My position was fifth of twelve in the 65-69M Division. Since entering this age class, I had received four first place awards, so I was due to have my string end. No regrets. I've had my share of the hardware. Bruce Katter, 64, from Edmonds is usually listed among the finishers as a winner in his division. But this year things were different, and he deserves recognition in another area. Recent foot surgery kept him from running the marathon, so he worked as a volunteer for the entire weekend--two full days at registration on Friday and Saturday and at the finish line on Sunday!! Lenore and I arrived at the Runners Expo on Friday, November 28th, wearing our "ontherunevents.com" T-shirts that Denny Brooks, head of the on-line computer service for runners, had given to us. We were fortunate to see Denny and have a chance to visit before working for over seven hours at the marathon number pickup area of registration. Lenore worked the finish line for the Half Marathon and the Marathon for a period of 41/2 hours in the cool rain. She sure has a lot of endurance! Thanks go to her, the other volunteers, the Board of Directors, and race directors who made this nationally ranked race possible. Thanks Bob Dolphin for sharing your report with us !
Have you got a human interest story about a runner you know or a race report to share ? OTR is happy to share stories like this with our readers. Send us your stories, your experiences!
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The Seattle Marathon was run on Sunday, November 29, 1998, and was a
great success on its new course. In the past the former courses were
along the shoreline of Lake Washington or along bicycle trails from
Redmond, WA, to the University of Washington area in Seattle. The new
course gave visibility to the event as a "Seattle Happening." The race
started and finished in the Seattle Center near the Space Needle with
the finish line on the field of Memorial Stadium, The adjacent Mercer
Arena was available as a heated runner's recovery area.