2012 Eugene Marathon: Teshome Kokebe 2nd in 2:24:16

Teshome Kokebe of Lynnwood finished 2^nd at the 2012 Eugene Marathon on Sunday. His time of 2:24:16 led a group of Seattle-area runners and Club Northwest teammates that finished in the Top 5. Spencer Walsh and Phil Olson, who both ran personal bests, finished 4^th and 5^th with times of 2:25:02 and 2:26:11.

Olson, of Lynnwood, ran to his second Top 5 finish on Sunday. He also finished 5th in 2011, but was over two minutes faster with this year's effort. Walsh was the steadiest of the top marathon finishers as he negative split the race, going out in 1:12:40 and coming  back in 1:12:12.

Kokebe, who was outdistanced by Michael Wisniewski of Corvallis, Oregon(2:20:41) for the win, is showing a positive trend in his marathon racing lately as his last 3 marathons have been run in 2:30:53, 2:27:13 and now 2:24:16.

Other top Washington finishers were Spencer Riley in 14^th place in 2:36:30 and Scott Drennen in 30^th place in 2:45:43. Drennen was also 2^nd in the Masters Division and was followed by Glen Weissman(Seattle Running Club) who was the 3^rd Masters runner in 2:46:10 and 31^st place overall.

Elizabeth Lewis of Yelm was the top Washington finisher on the Women’s side in 3:04:37 for 12^th place. Right behind Lewis was Becky Backstrom of Sammamish in 3:04:47. Also running to strong finishes were Dominique Lopez-Stickney(Vancouver) 18^th place in 3:06:59, Bess McKinney(Seattle) 23^rd place in 3:08:28 and Kassy Bargfrede(Seattle) in 24^th place.

Full Results: 2012 Eugene Marathon