PORT ANGELES — Motivation can come in many different forms, from the real to the rumored.
Tom Fagin followed the bikes to his first marathon win.
“The guys leading me on the bikes are awesome; just kind of blazed that trail for me,” Fagin said.
“I don’t think I would have had the strength otherwise.”
Fagin won the North Olympic Discovery Marathon on Sunday, finishing the 26.2 miles from 7 Cedars Casino in Blyn to City Pier in Port Angeles in 2 hours, 55 minutes, 1 second.
Sara Otepka is the women’s champion (3:19:38). She was chasing down a phantom.
“It’s interesting because you play head games out there,” Otepka said.
“A couple people were telling me I was the second female, so I started going a lot faster.
“But it was a relay winner who was in front of me, so they just thought I was second.”
Fagin and Otepka were both running in the North Olympic Discovery Marathon for the first time.
It was the seventh marathon that Fagin has run, but the first he has won.
The 28-year-old is originally from Ledyard, Conn., but recently moved to Port Angeles to work as a guide at Adventures Through Kayaking.
“I really wanted to see what this Olympic Peninsula is about,” he said. “It’s awesome.”
He was a track and cross country runner at Union College in upstate New York, and got into running marathons after he graduated.
When Fagin finished Sunday’s race, he was drained.
He made his way to the table where runners could retrieve the lime-green bags containing their personal belongings.
Fagin lingered there a bit, expressed his appreciation for the marathon workers — “I love you volunteers,” he said — and poured a cup of water on his head.
“That was a tough race, man,” Fagin said. “It’s hot. And there were a few hills out there.
“But, you know, I just tried to run the race I thought I should run. Just keep looking ahead. When it got tough, I just sort of focused on my form.”
Fagin said the final 6 miles were the most difficult. The heat and hills slowed him down, but he used what remained in his tank to sprint to the finish.
“I managed to prevent myself from blowing up,” Fagin said. “If the finish line was half-a-mile farther, you might have seen that.”
Fagin said he only decided to run the marathon a couple weeks ago, but he wasn’t coming into the race unprepared.
He turned 28 recently, and he and his father have a tradition of going their birthday distances.
“I try to keep mine in running as much as possible,” Fagin said. “So I ran 28 miles just about a month ago in Yosemite.
“So I was like, all right, I think I can go this distance. I don’t know how fast I can go it, but I think I can make this happen.”
The 2014 winner, Gilbert Ondusko, placed a distant second to Fagin, finishing in 3:04:37.
Port Angeles’ Colby Wait was the next finisher from the North Olympic Peninsula, placing fifth and crossing the finish line in 3:14:55.
Sara with no ‘h’
“You don’t need extra letters,” Otepka said of the spelling of her first name.
Fagin and Otepka both joked and giggled during interviews with reporters after finishing the marathon, but Otepka was particularly silly, despite having just run 26.2 miles.
Many of the world’s humans wonder how that’s possible.
“The fame. I live for the fame. I don’t mind the attention,” she said, laughing again.
Otepka was little less fazed than Fagin by the 26.2-mile experience. At least she seemed less fazed.
“The end there, it just took everything in me [to] dig deep and get it done,” she said.
“But I’ll pass out sooner or later.”
Otepka is no stranger to winning marathons. Sunday was her third. She also won in Seattle in 2005 and in Winthrop last September.
The 39-year-old mother of two lives in Bainbridge Island and works at Amazon as a Worldwide Product Leader of Prime Now.
Her training consists of running from her house to the Bainbridge Island ferry, from the ferry in Seattle to work. She then does likewise on her way home. She said she also does laps around the ferries.
“So my training is commuting,” Otepka said with a laugh.
“I get in like 10-15 miles a day, just doing that. It’s not how most people would train to win marathons, but somehow it works for me.”
It’s difficult, though, to properly train for the hills of the stretch of the Olympic Discovery Trail in between Blyn and Port Angeles.
“I raced it hard,” Otepka said.
“You know, it was hilly. I didn’t PR, I didn’t get my fastest time, but it was so beautiful and I beat the heat and the hills.
“But it was really nice to come along here and the water and to have a downhill at the end. That was a great finish.”
The Chicago native and Northwestern University graduate started running when she moved to Boulder, Colo.
She has since ran nine marathons, including the Boston Marathon in 2002.
So it means something that she has a high opinion of the North Olympic Discovery Marathon.
“It was awesome. This was the most beautiful marathon I ever did. For sure,” Otepka said.
“It’s well-organized, and the people are great, cheering. Perfect.
“I think this is my favorite race.”
Puyallup’s Amanda Hoskins (3:28:49) was the second female finisher. The top area finisher was Port Angeles’ Angela Busby (04:02:47).
Fagin and Otepka could be seen chatting with each other several minutes after finishing the marathon at different locations at City Pier.
Eventually, they would go their separate ways. Otepka will return to her husband and children in Bainbridge Island, where the family is hosting visitors from Texas.
Fagin planned to rest and recover.
“I might be squirming over to that beer garden at some point,” Fagin said. “And probably going to try to do very little.”
Other winners
The marathon relay was won by The Fat Cats of Chehalis, who finished in 3:08:42, nearly 13 minutes after Fagin.
Port Angeles High School graduate and current Western Washington University runner Peter Butler won the half-marathon for the second year in a row with a time of 1:14:29
Katie Taylor of Poulsbo was the women’s half-marathon winner (1:28:29). Port Angeles High School sophomore Gracie Long (1:39:15) was the area’s top female finisher.
Carlsborg’s Liam Byrne, running in the male 13-19 division, took first in the 10-kilometer with a time of 42:10.
Portland’s Christina Wright (48:14) won the women’s 10K. Port Angeles High School runner Lael Butler (48:18) took second.
Former Sequim High School football and track standout Miguel Moroles (21:38) won the 5K.
Stevens Middle School’s Emilia Long won the women’s 5K with a time of 22:26.
The complete results can be found online at www.tinyurl.com/NODMresults.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
