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.
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