Weekend Race Round Up: Sunflowers, a Lost Lake and a Mother's Day Half Marathon

Sunflower Marathon(Mazama/Winthrop) 5/12- Starting in Mazama at 1900 feet, 105 finishers climbed up and over several peaks, topping out at 2600 feet(around 20 miles) and then dropping down into Twisp for a downhill finish at the 2012 Sunflower Marathon. The course, which looks more than challenging, was quickly traversed by men’s and women’s champions Chad McBride of Wenatchee in 3:24:42 and Kayleen Uibel of Kalispel, Montana in 3:49:00. Eric Brooks of Winthrop was close in 2^nd place at 3:26:18, while Peter Findlay of BC completed the Top 3 in the men’s race in 3:35:03. Susan Fairchild of Seattle and Althea Shaw of Alberta were the 2^nd and 3^rd finishers in the women’s race. The next event put on by the Methow Valley Sport Trails Association(MVSTA) will be on May 26^th as they host the Mazama 5k and 10k, which according to their website features the “World Famous Mazama Pancake Breakfast”. 

Lost Lake 50k(Bellingham) 5/12-If the name Lost Lake 50k didn't scare you them then the 8,200 feet of elevation should have been a breeze. The Skagit Runners provide this description(warning) of the course “there are several challenging, leg-burning, steep ascents, slow, technical, rolling ridges, and a limited supply of fast "free speed" on the descents.” That didn’t stop 48 rugged trail runners from completing the 2012 Lost Lake 50k. Dan Paquette of Seattle was 1^st across the line in 5:29, with Bill Huggins and Hozumi Nakai of Vancouver, BC following close behind in 5:31 and 5:32. Candice Burt, who is no stranger to the challenging ultra runs that Washington has to offer, won the women’s race in 5:53. Check out Candice’s Ultra SignUp race results, that is a pretty impressive list of ultras. Kerri Fezzey and Laura McDonough also ran well, completing the Top 3 on the women’s side in 6:14 and 6:43 respectively.

Kirkland Half-Marathon(Kirkland) 5/13-The ladies led the charge on Sunday with 582 finishers on Sunday at the Kirkland Half Marathon, which kicked off a beautiful Mother’s Day morning. Paige Pattillo was the women’s champion as she navigated the scenic tour of Kirkland in 1:26:09. Behind Patillo were the closely matched Tracy Wollschlager and Savaka Yoshinaga in 1:29:34 and 1:35. Rounding out the Top 5 was Patty Bredice and Jodie Isomura at 1:30:20 and 1:30:38. On the men’s side Michael Fill, Emil Newhouse and Erik Bies comprised the Top 3, with Finn getting the win in 1:17:50 to Newhouse’s 1:17:51. There were 946 finishers in all that joined together for a very active Mother’s Day celebration. Full results and a photo link can be found here.