Marathon Photos

I hope everyone enjoyed the run.
We are very fortunate to have some great photos.
Linda Walter's husband, Richard took pictures and to view them click here.

Tory took some great video while running.
To view this click here.

And here's Bob Dolphin's report of the run:

FIRST CALL TO RUN MARATHON
January 1, 2009

A marathoner’s New Year’s resolution might be to run our favorite event on New Year’s Day and start the New Year out right. Until Thursday, January 1, 2009, this wasn’t possible because the local races on New Year’s Day in the Pacific Northwest were short distance races not exceeding five miles. Thanks to Marathon Maniac Adrian Call, a marathon is now available on New Year’s Day.

His First Call to Run Marathon, Half Marathon and 50K event was on the Sammamish River Trail, one of the favorite paved trails in the Seattle area. It was a double out-and-back race for the marathon on this flat trail that’s adjacent to one bank or the other of the narrow Sammamish River as it flows north and west from Lake Sammamish near Redmond to Lake Washington near Seattle.

On race morning 60 runners gathered in Bothell, Washington, at a riverside park known as Bothell Landing. In the predawn darkness, we signed waivers, picked up runners’ numbers and received directions and race information from Adrian.

The weather was good for running. There was a light rain that soon became a mist and then turned into thin fog. The temperature range was between 37 and 46 degrees, and the wind was calm to moderate along the way.

There were about 15 of us who crossed a park footbridge to the trail and a start/halfway-turnaround/finish line by an aid station for a half hour early start at 7:30 a.m. As we left the Bothell start, the trail had remnants of the December 13-25 snowfalls, and we ran on melting snow in an upstream, southerly direction in the first mile. Then we crossed a footbridge where the trail became mostly bare and wet. Along the way we passed Interstate 405, the town of Woodinville, and the Red Hook Brewery, all by way of underpasses to the 6.55 mile turnaround at 60 Acre Park.

It was there that we reversed course and ran back to Bothell where there was a food and drink station at the start/halfway/finish line. Consequently, it was possible to be passed by most runners three or four times during the race. Most of the runners were friendly Marathon Maniacs who exchanged Happy New Year wishes and often slowed down to visit with me before running on. These included runners whom I’ve know for awhile such as Eric and Michelle Barnes, Jim Boyd, Tony Covarrubias, Arthur Martineau and Michael Shiach.

Running along the river was a delight for winter bird watching. I saw 20 species, and the highlight was seeing a pair of white swans flying overhead near flocks of Canada Geese as they left the green field where they had been feeding. A black and white, male Hooded Merganser duck flew several feet above the river, and two Bald Eagles were in a cottonwood tree by the river for us to admire as we ran by.

My run/walk went well as I drifted into nostalgia and recalled many earlier races on this familiar trail. I had fond memories of the former Falls to Gasworks 52 mile events, the previous Seattle Marathon course and the current Super Jock and Jill Half Marathons.

On this day I enjoyed my walk in the last 10K and finished in 6:05:05, 27th of 29 marathoners. I really appreciated the pancakes and hot chocolate in the Bothell Landing recovery area. There was also a wide array of bagels, cookies, crackers and chips that the race director and his volunteers made available for the runners before they left the race area. On the course there had been all of the water and Gatorade that a runner needed and solid food at the half and finish. Who could ask for more??

Congratulations to Tim Zornes who ran his first half marathon in 2:37:00. I enjoyed visiting with him in the early miles.

It was a great marathon experience, and I look forward to running it again on January 1, 2010. Thanks to Adrian Call and his aides for making this marathoner’s first resolution possible to complete on New Year’s Day!

……………………………………Written by Bob Dolphin
Edited, Typed and Distributed by Lenore Dolphin