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Shore to Shore Marathon
September 13, 2003
Race Report by Bob Dolphin
Running the south shore of the Lake Chelan Marathon on Saturday, September 13, 2003, was a pleasure that I like to repeat each year. The race course is in a wooded area that stays shaded as one runs on a rolling course of minor hills. The lake is in view much of the time, and landmarks can be s
potted on the far shore several miles away. I recognized the town of Manson, Wapato Point, and Mill Bay Park where the race finishes.
It was peaceful.....and runners were few and far apart. At times chipmunks and steller's jays were the only company that I had. One participant I ran with said his name was "Wilson" and that he was running his first marathon. Another said he was from Soap Lake and that he runs the Frosty Four
Miler at Yakima every February. When the race results are posted on the internet, I'll have more information about these and other marathoners in the race.
Hal and Patty Porter of Manson were our weekend hosts for the third consecutive year. The day before the marathon Hal gave me a tour of the Manson orchard and sage area before taking me for a drive to the 4,000' summit of The Butte, a mountain near Chelan. From there we saw Lake Chelan, the Columbia River, the North Cascade Mountains and many other natural and man-made beauties. During this time Patty was teaching Lenore a new method of quilting.
With cooler air temperatures than in previous years, September 13th was just a good day for running a marathon. I ran five minutes faster than last year at Lake Chelan for my second fastest marathon in 2003. Others also ran well. Four of our friends and acquaintances ran 12-18 minutes faster t
his year than in 2002.
Kevin Carroll, 48, from Spokane was the overall winner with a time of 3:03:04. In second and third places were Kevin Martinell, 43, of Bellevue (3:11:43) and Pete Hansen, 43, our friend from Birch Bay (3:19:42). The first woman, Wendy Oneal, 35, followed in 4th place with a time of 3:22:28. De
bbie Danner, 30, was the second woman finisher (4:00:42), and Ingrid Peterson, 56, was third (4:06:28).
Other friends on hand were Gene Morris, 57, of West Seattle (3:33:14), Steve Love, 50, of Mansfield (4:21:45), and Janice Moyer (5:50:00).
After the Friday night pasta feed, Lenore and I met 16 year old Jared Wymer and learned that he would be running his first marathon the next day. He had no trouble running it in 4:15:43. Others whom we met for the first time were Dan Oliver, 30, from Yakima who ran a 3:41:25 and Debbie Welding,
48, and Bonnie McCullough, 36, who alternated running and walking to finish in 4:17:03.
My race went well. I was in last position at the start, but I moved up in the field a few places on a downgrade in the first mile. One runner I passed was Al Becken, 74, a friend from San Antonio, Texas. Because he had come in ahead of me at our first YAKIMA RIVER CANYON MARATHON in 2001 and at
the first Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon in South Dakota in 2003, I expected to see him pass me later in the race.
The early miles went well as the temperature crept up from the mid 50's to the low 60's. We ran in shaded forest on rolling terrain with lake and mountain views appearing frequently. In past years, from the 10th mile and beyond running in the open was a warm experience. This year it stayed coo
l, and I didn't fall off of my pace. The field was small and it became well spread out by the midway mark.
In the second half of the marathon I overtook a dozen or so runners, and no one passed me. This is most unusual! I couldn't believe how well things were going, and I ran a negative split which I rarely do.
At the half, my watch read 2:06:04 which usually means a finish of about 4:22:00. On this day, I ran a 4:10:26 with a second half time of 2:04:22. My place was 21st of 50 finishers, and I was first of two in the 70-74M division. I had thought Al would catch up with me....but he didn't. His finishing time was 4:36:26.
This was the third running of the Lake Chelan Shore to Shore Runs, and only 210 participants registered for the three races. For the inaugural Shore to Shore Marathon the date for the race was the third Saturday of September, but last year and this year it was changed to the second Saturday of September.......the same weekend the Skagit Flats Marathon in Burlington has been held for 26 years. About 30 of our friends from the Puget Sound area, Spokane, and British Columbia were at Skagit Flats. It's regrettable that two marathons in close proximity are scheduled for the same time.
This race is conducted to raise money for "Youth Athletics and New Field Construction" and would do better if it didn't compete with a well-established marathon and half marathon located near a major population center. Let's hope that next year they'll use a different Saturday in September so th
at more of us can participate in both events.
Written by Bob Dolphin
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