NORTH OLYMPIC DISCOVERY MARATHON: A hot time was had by all

PORT ANGELES — They came, they ran and they conquered the elements in the 23rd annual North Olympic Discovery Marathon on Sunday.

Runners from all across the country and locally took on the hottest NODM in recent memory with temps in the upper 70s by the end of the race. In the end, competitors enjoyed the race, the shade of the course and plenty of cool drinks afterward.

The North Olympic Discovery Marathon is put on by the Port Angeles Marathon Association with title sponsors the Peninsula Daily News and Sequim Gazette.

Generally, the race takes place in cool temps and often times early June light showers, which the runners like to stay cool. Not this year. The heat did slow times down as there was only one sub-3 hour marathon finish. He finished in 2 hours, 54 minutes, 44.74 seconds. Normally, the winning time is under 2:40.

The winners came from the East Coast and right here from Port Angeles. The men’s marathon winner was Jeff Greene of Leesburg, Va.

“It was hot out there,” Greene said. Greene said he had heard of the NODM and came out to the Olympic Peninsula specifically to compete in this race.

“I had heard some great things about it,” he said. “It’s a great course. There was a nice breeze and it was cool in the shade.”

Though Greene said he had won three or four marathons prior to Sunday’s race, “it’s always a surprise when I win. Because I’m old.”

While Greene calls himself old at 47 years old, the women’s winner was a young, local woman, Lauren Larson, 21, of Port Angeles. Larson had previously won 5Ks and 10K and even the team marathon event in the NODM. Now, she can add a full marathon placard to her extensive collection of trophies. Larson finished fourth overall in a time of 3:05:58.11.

Larson, a champion runner for Port Angeles High School, now runs for Boise State.

In fact, women made an impressive showing in this year’s marathon with three of the top six finishers women and six out of the top 14.

“It was a more controlled pace than the shorter races,” Larson said. “I did really great until about 23 miles when I started to hurt a little.”

“It’s really exciting, very cool [to win a marathon]. This is special,” she said.

The winner of the team marathon was Four Small Bees in a time of 3:20:44.21.

Despite the heat, there were 637 finishers for the half-marathon and 267 for the marathon. There were only six “did not finish” results posted for the marathon. To view full results online go to https://tinyurl.com/2025NODMresults.

The winner of Sunday’s half-marathon was Michael Lanthier of Seattle in 1:20:21.9, winning by more than two minutes.

“I feel tired. It was warm. I wasn’t expecting it to be this warm, but it went better than I thought it would go. It’s an absolutely gorgeous course,” Lanthier said.

The women’s winner was Megan Morris of Bremerton in a time of 1:35:13.56. She is the third time she has run in the NODM, but the first time she has ever won.

“I wasn’t expecting anything. I just wanted to have fun. And fun was delivered,” she said.

Saturday events

The 23rd annual North Olympic Discovery Marathon started off Saturday under bright sunny skies Saturday with the vast majority of the runners more than holding their own against warmer than normal temperatures.

The 5K and 10K races and children’s marathon were run Saturday with temperatures by late morning nearly 70 degrees, the warmest NODM weekend in many years.

Times were slightly up in Saturday’s races, too, which started later in the morning. Only two 10K runners cracked 40 minutes when most years six or seven runners have sub-40 times.

More than 560 runners took on the 5K and 10k, just over 200 in the 10K and 364 in the 5K.

The winner of the 10K was Jack Weaver of Bremerton in 36 minutes, 2.12 seconds.

“It was hot, but the course is beautiful,” he said. “There was a good amount of shade and the volunteers were very supportive with the water.

“I managed the heat well and executed my plan,” Weaver said.

Winning the women’s 10K in 47:24.7 was Cecelia Maginot of Chicago, who has loved ones from this area. She said the route along the Olympic Discovery Trail and the Strait of Juan de Fuca reminded her very much of the lakefront trail along Lake Michigan in Chicago.

“It was shady most of the course,” she said.

The winner of the 5K in a sprint to the finish was Port Angeles High School cross-country and track runner Easton Dempsey, 17, who won the first Run the Peninsula event he had competed in.

It was no mean feat, as Dempsey held off Sarah Paquet of Bothell, who completely blew away the entire field in the Sequim Railroad Run 10K in April. Dempsey won the event in a solid time of 18:30.83. Paquet was right behind at 18:40.7.

Dempsey said the heat didn’t bother him. “It was definitely shady, it was pretty nice,” he said.

Paquet picked up her second straight winners’ poster for winning the women’s race. “I’m feeling pretty good. That was nice and fun,” she said.

The weekend is the crown jewel of the Run the Peninsula series, which has races at the Elwha River Bridge, the Sequim Railroad Bridge, the Spruce Railroad Trail in October and in Blyn in December for the Jamestown S’Klallam Glow Run.

Top 10 results for each race. These results are based on chip time, are unofficials and may change. Full names are not available for children under 13.

Marathon men — Jeff Greene, Leesburg, Va., first, 2:54:44.74; Noah Reudink, Seattle, second, 3:01:25.07; Jack Ryan O’Neil, Brier, third, 3:30:56.61; Brian Beecher, Seattle, fourth, 3:17:39.09; Tyler Schloesser, Seattle, fifth, 3:18:09.7; Ryan Millard, Fircrest, sixth, 3:18:35.08; David Stout, Fairfax Station, Va., seventh, 3:21:13.43; Andrew Enright, St. Paul, Minn., eighth, 3:34:49.24; Chris Stubblefield, Sandy, Ore., ninth, 3:31:0; Ryan Fetterly, Victoria, B.C., 10th, 3:32:24.54.

Marathon women — Lauren Larson, PA, first (fourth overall), 3:05:58.1; Emma Smith, Bellingham, second (fifth overall), 3:11:16.2; Gemma Sleik, Nanaimo, B.C., third (sixth overall), 3:15:13.6; Bonnie Boyes, PA, fourth, 3:22:58.84; Annelise Babcock, Johnson City, Tenn., fifth, 3:25:21.9; Katrina Church, Squamish, B.C., sixth, 3:27:38.68; Kendra Wells, Victoria, B.C., seventh, 3:38:36.64; Karen Busick, Peidmont, S.C., eighth, 3:38:52.7; Elian Ginn, Poulsbo, ninth, 3:41:08.23; Aya Ishizu, Denver, 3:41:24.93.

Half-marathon men — Michael Lanthier, Seattle, first, 1:20:21.9; Ethan Huff, Bremerton, second, 1:22:45.72; Nigel Neaves, Bremerton, third, 1:24:35.36; Evan Wendel, Seattle, fourth, 1:25:41.88; Nico Errichetti, Port Townsend, fifth, 1:26:08.18; Michael Nguyen, Seattle, sixth, 1:28:16.89; Maximilian Tottene Darvas, Seattle, seventh, 1:28:43.16; Paul Mockford, Portland, Ore., eighth, 1:30:47.26; Andrew George, Lacey, ninth, 1:31:38.83; Brian Moore, Seattle, 10th, 1:31:40.38.

Team marathon — Four Small Bees, first, 3:20:44.21; The Longest Yard, second, 3:26:43.98; Running on Empty, third, 4:03:34.23; Enchilada and the Fluffy Butts, fourth, 4:09:43.85; Misfits, fifth, 4:10:51.97; Pace Makers, sixth, 4:25:13.2; Rain City Bigeons, seventh, 4:27:01.31; Rotor Runners, eighth, 4:36:43.5; Not Fast But Fabulous, ninth, 4:41;46.35; S.A.D.B.J., 10th, 4:44:47.52.

Half-marathon women —Megn Morris, Bremerton, first, 1:35:13.56; Lara Malpass, Bellingham, 1:37:00.34; Maren Rodgers, Sumner, third, 1:39:02.41; Natasha Puzon, Enumclaw, fourth, 1:40:49.66; Amy Ritter, Gig Harbor, fifth, 1:44:11.02; Jennifer Mathews, Belfair, sixth, 1:45:04.56; Lindsay Primrose, Brentwood Bay, B.C., seventh, 1:46:45.84; Stori Smith, Sequim, eighth, 1:48:07.22; Lori Quick, Indianapolis, ninth, 1:48:16.45; Flo Booth, Bothell, 10th, 1:52:21.46.

10K Men — Jack Weaver, Bremerton, first, 36:02.12; Justin Garrett, PA, second, 39:20.64; Mason Mai, PA, third, 41:27.81; Jordan Duncan, Tracyton, fourth, 42:01.93; Dustin Walsh, Sequim, fifth, 43:25.21; Axel Swanson, PA, sixth, 43:34.01; Scott Clayton, PA, seventh, 43:36.71; David Soutter, Victoria, B.C., eighth, 45:26.69; Oliver Carey, Townsville, 45:52.26.

10K women — Cecelia Maginot, Chicago, first, 47:24.7; Tanja Goedecke, Fircrest, second, 51:15.97; Kyra Worthley, Shoreline, third, 51:28.88; Lauren Wood, Prescott, Ariz., fourth, 51:53.11; Carolynn Pype, PA, fifth, 52:05.09; Jeanne Larson, PA, sixth, 53:09.31; Carolyn Justus, PA, seventh, 53:21.34; Jenna Brechbuhler, eighth, 53:25.53; Kelli Lachapelle, Snohomish, ninth, 53:26.32; Emma Fuchs, Silverdale, 10th, 55:23.43.

5K men — Easton Dempsey, PA, first, 18:30.83; Emmett Steuwe, Frazee, Minn., second, 19:36.41; Michael Higuera, PA, third, 19:43.96; Josh Wakefield, Sequim, fourth, 19:48.74; Johnathan Tipton, Sequim, fifth, 19:54.5; Westley French, Sequim, sixth, 20:11.36; Gray Endicott, Belfair, seventh, 20:44.8; Keith La Londe, Monroe, eighth, 20:46.65; Leyton Larson, PA, ninth, 21:11.94; Brandon Wieschhaus, Poulsbo, 10th, 21:18.48.

5K women — Sarah Paquet, Bothell, first, 18:40.7; Lara Malpass, Bellingham, second, 20:21.92; Aurora Wieschhaus, Poulsbo, third, 24:15.3; Alexis Neal, Bremerton, fourth, 24:28.24; B. Patel, Lake Forest Park, fifth, 25:37.05; B. Gray, PA, sixth, 26:26.39; Ellie Zehr, Maple Valley, seventh, 26:37.43; Celbie Karjalainen, PA, eighth, 26:41.53; Amanda Koth, Clallam Bay, ninth, 26:50.72; Arwen Osborne, Sequim, 10th, 26:53.53.