The Newport Marathon had its inaugural race in 1999 with a field of 318 registered participants. I wanted to run it that year, but I had a commitment to the Gap to Gap Relay in Yakima, Washington, on that weekend. This commitment dated back yearly to 1986 and continued until 2003. With an element of regret, I retired from my Gap to Gap involvement.....and Lenore and I went to Newport, Oregon, so that I could run the sixth annual Newport Marathon on Saturday, June 5, 2004.

Because I had a cold that came on after the Prince of Wales Marathon the week before, I was somewhat concerned about my ability to run. I figured that I could walk part of the race if I needed to.

The Newport Marathon lived up to our expectations. We had a great time, and I plan to run it often in the future. Race director Bruce Durkee, his wife Debi, and their committee.....with the support of great volunteers......offer a well-designed and organized race that is very popular. The single event, a marathon, is capped at 700 and fills quickly.

The Embarcadero Resort Hotel is the race headquarters, a nice site for packet pickup, the expo for the marathon and a great place for socializing with running friends. The socializing continued further at the Friday evening pasta dinner at Newport High School.

On race morning Lenore and I drove to the Embarcadero Resort and found parking on a nearby street. We checked out the finish area in the parking lot of the Oregon Coast Bank, and then I boarded a bus to the starting area. Lenore remained behind to become a volunteer at the finish area.

School buses shuttled back and forth a mile or so between the resort and the staging area at Yaquina State Park and Lighthouse. There were overlook views of the Pacific Ocean, the surf and the coastline.

As the gun started the race at 7:00 a.m., there was a high fog. The temperature was in the 50's, and the wind was light. We ran a three mile out-and-back course on Elizabeth Street north from the state park. We passed shoreline homes, hotels, B & B's and shops before we returned to the start area. Then we climbed a small hill to exit the park.

Busy Highway 101 was avoided by running on a road under the historical Yaquina Bay Bridge and downhill to the bay business area. The course took us to the historic district on Bay Boulevard where we passed seafood stores, restaurants and other shops. We skirted the bay further, passed the Embarcadero, climbed over a major hill and continued on Yaquina Bay Road.

This road was coned to reserve the shoreside lane for the runners, while the other lane was open to traffic. We ran an out-and-back along the bay and its Yaquina River source to an approximate 15.5 mile turnaround. It was an interersting tour of the bay with open water vistas of a distant shore and mud flats colored green with sea lettuce algae and brown with fucus seaweed. Some marshes were a sea of reed canary grass that waved gently in the breeze.

The road's other side had steep banks that were covered with whitish flowers of ocean spray shrubs, tall light purple flowered foxglove plants, white-flowered thimbleberries, and small, red-berried elderberry trees. There were scattered homes and farms on this side of the road and seaside industry and a few homes on the other side. There were boat repair and storage buildings and an oyster harvesting facility that offered free samples of good tasting, raw oysters.

In the latter miles there were some headwinds to 20 mph and temperatures in the 60's.....but it was still tolerable. A long, gradual climb in the last mile ensured a nice downhill run to the finish line by the bank and the race headquarters. I finished in 5:19:58, 516th of 581, and third in the 70-74M age division.

Lenore and I enjoyed meeting Daniel Welsh, 25+, of the U.S. Army and stationed at Fort Lewis, south of Tacoma, WA. Running his first marathon, Daniel won the race in a time of 2:34:44. He told us that he had trained with Sgt. Gerardo Avila, winner of the 2003 YAKIMA RIVER CANYON MARATHON, and that Gerardo had encouraged him to run the Newport Marathon.

He passed David Harkin, 30+, of Tualatin, Oregon, a two time winner of this marathon, near the end of the race. David set the course record of 2:27:57 in 2002 but finished this year in second place with a 2:38:07. He and his wife Paula are co-owners of the Portland Running Company, a sponsor of this marathon.

In third and fourth places were British Columbia runners Kevin Searle, 40+, (2:47:22) and Herb Phillips, 63, (2:47:28). Herb had an outstanding accomplishment for his age with his time of 2:47:28!!! In my estimation, his feat was the most significant of the race.

Refer to the "Partial Race Results" and note that each of the first six runners to cross the finish line was also the first in his particular age division as well.....an unusual occurrence!

Nancy Baxendale, 40+, of Shawnigan Lake, BC, and Rebecca Henry, 30+, of Portland, OR, had quite a race. Only seven seconds separated them at the finish line. Nancy finished with a 2:59:52, and Rebecca was just behind her with a sub-three hour 2:59:59. Just a few minutes behind them was the third place woman finisher Elycse Allphin, 30+, of Beaverton, OR, in 3:02:50.

At the pre-race dinner Lenore and I had an enjoyable visit with Dan and Michelle Wellington of Redmond, WA. Dan had a good race and ran a 2:58:04 for 15th overall and third place in the 30-34M division.

Chuck Cammack of Albany, OR, has had injuries and running-related operations, but he hasn't slowed down much in the years that I've know him. His time of 3:15:16 gave him a second place fiinish for the 55-59M group.

Our good friend Eb Engelmann of Salem, OR, had us worried a few years ago with injuries that prevented him from running marathons. He WALKED them instead.....in the 4:40 range, no less! Since his recovery, he qualified for Boston and had a successful run there. In the Newport Marathon he ran a 3:20:10 for a second place 60-64M division award.

Andrea Parnett of New Meadows, Idaho, had a long layoff from running competitively due to four operations for a variety of physical problems. The Newport Marathon was her chance to demonstrate that she had recovered fully from the operations and that she had retrained herself to a competitive level. She accomplished her goal by winning the 50-54F age division with her 3:58:57 race!

As far as I know, there were three Marathon Maniacs in this race. Diana "Slug" Robinson came from Bellingham, WA.........and Terry Watanabe of Spokane and I were wearing the club's distinctive yellow singlets. Our friends Fenny Roberts and Jim Scheer could certainly qualify to become members. They ran the Newport Marathon in 5:00:40 and planned to run the hilly Columbia River Gorge Marathon at Hood River, Oregon, the next day.

Congratulations to Delores Scott of Wilsonville, OR, who ran a 4:42:28 to place frist in the 65-69F group. Running a 4:24:12, Egon Harrasser of Redding, CA, (originally from Germany) was second in the 65-69M division.

Thanks go to Bruce and Debi Durkee for being our weekend hosts. A year ago Debi ran this race as her 50th marathon. This year she ran it again as she accumulates marathon experiences. Her time was 5:15:01, and she was runner #500 to cross the finish line.

It was worth the wait.........the Newport Marathon was everything we had expected......and more!! We highly recommend it to others. There's a cap of 700, so be sure to sign up early!

Newport Marathon Partial Race Results, June 5, 2004

(1) 2:34:44 Daniel Welsh, 1st in age division, 25-29, Steilacoom, WA
(2) 2:38:07 David Harkin, 1st, 30-34, Tualatin, OR
(3) 2:47:22 Kevin Searle, 1st, 40-44, Shawnigan Lake, BC
(4) 2:47:28 Herb Phillips, 1st, 60-64, Burnaby, BC
(5) 2:50:13 Steven Bremner, 1st, 45-49, Colorado Springs, CO
(6) 2:51:04 Nick Lederer, 1st, 0-19, Corvallis, OR

(19) 1st Woman 2:59:52 Nancy Baxendale, 1st in age division, 40-44,
Shawnigan Lake, BC (20) 2nd Woman 2:59:59 Rebecca Henry, 1st, 30-34,
Portland, OR (21) 3rd Woman 3:02:50 Elycse Allphin, 2nd, 30-34, Beaverton,
OR

(15) 2:58:04 Dan Wellington, 3rd, 30-34M, Redmond, WA
(51) 3:15:16 Chuck Cammack, 2nd, 55-59M, Albany, OR
(67) 3:20:10 Eb Engelmann, 2nd, 60-64M, Salem, OR
(69) 3:20:29 Ernie Chatman, 7th, 50-54M, Brooksville, FL
(245) 3:58:57 Andrea Parnett, 1st, 55-59F, New Meadows, ID
(274) 4:04:37 Diana "Slug" Robinson, 17th, 35-39F, Bellingham, WA
(296) 4:09:06 Will Gerber, 1st, 65-69M, Aldergrove, BC
(315) 4:12:51 Steve Shapiro, 29th, 50-54M, Portland, OR
(333) 4:16:41 Terry Watanabe, 9th, 50-54F, Spokane, WA
(371) 4:24:12 Egon Harrasser, 2nd, 65-69M, Redding, CA
(439) 4:42:28 Delores Scott, 1st, 65-69F, Wilsonville, OR
(465) 4:49:59 Harvey Nelsen, 1st, 70-74M, Langley, BC
(477) 5:00:40 Fenny Roberts, 25th, 50-54F, Salem, OR
(478) 5:00:42 Jim Scheer, 9th, 60-64M, Vancouver, WA
        5:12:31 Bernadette Langdon, 2nd, 50-54F Walker, Portland, OR
        5:15:01 Debi Durkee, 49, Newport, OR
        5:17:41 Art Dietz, 2nd, 70-74M, Florence, OR
        5:19:58 Bob Dolphin, 3rd, 70-74M, Renton/Yakima, WA
        5:30:56 Charles Hoover, 4th, 70-74M, San Rafael, CA
        5:45:38 Alan Steggles, 65-69M, Ravenna, OH
        6:15:03 Jack Hines, 65-69M, Portland, OR
        6:24:15 Larry Brown, 60-64M, Salem, OR

 Written by Bob Dolphin

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