Croft and Kokebe Win Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Titles

Shortly after the start of the 2012 Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon the race announcer commented that there were a few “Rock 'n' Roll Legends” in the crowd. No, they didn’t play guitar for a living or sing any hit songs; however, they did have about 60 Rock 'n' Roll Marathons under their belts. While that is impressive and certainly noteworthy as the Rock 'n' Roll franchise has grown into "the" grand running tour that now includes worldwide stops, true “Legend” status was being achieved a few miles into the race as Sheila Croft and Teshome Kokebe were already pushing towards victory.

A few weeks ago I received an email from RUNRACEWA reader John Swenson who suggested a profile on a local runner who was flying under the radar, logging miles at the Redmond Watershed and posting some impressive performances. That runner's name is Sheila Croft and after doing some research, I found out that she was 13^th at the this year's Boston Marathon,  2^nd at the Rock 'n' Roll Portland Half-Marathon in May and that she is a very, very good triathlete. Croft, who is 37 and lives in Redmond, not only added another impressive performance to her resume today with her 2^nd Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon title, but she cut nearly 10 minutes off her marathon personal best to run 2:41:38. In addition to winning the women’s title by nearly 12 minutes, Croft was the 5^th overall finisher across the line today and is now officially on the radar as her time would easily rank her among the best women’s marathoners in the United States.  Rounding out the Top 3 on the women’s side was former Romanian Olympian Nuta Olaru in 2:53:25 and Danya Crawford of Utah in 2:55:49. 

On the men’s side, Teshome Kokebe was also sprucing up his already impressive running resume with a convincing win over Cheyne Inman of California. Kokebe, who runs for Club Northwest and has been battling a nagging injury, was 2^nd at the 2012 Eugene Marathon in May and has still managed to put together a stellar 2012 with fast times from the 5k to the Marathon. The Lynnwood resident, who is originally from Ethiopia, was 2^nd at last year’s Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in 2:27:13 and is no stranger to winning, as he already owns a Seattle Marathon title from 2010. Having had the unique opportunity to regularly train with/behind Kokebe as part of the Wednesday Night Runners in Seattle, I can say with ease that if he gets healthy he can run well under 2:20 and add a few more marathon titles to his name. Kokebe ran 2:31:47 today under cloudy skies and light showers, while Inman clocked 2:34:41 and Eric Brill of Bellingham finished 3^rd place today was Eric Brill from Bellingham.

Congrats to Sheila Croft and Teshome Kokebe, today you are Rock ‘n’ Roll Legends!!!!