BLYN — More than 600 people from the Olympic Peninsula and the Pacific Northwest enjoyed what is turning into one of the most popular 5K/10K races in the Run the Peninsula series in the Jamestown S’Klallam Glow Run on Saturday night.
The colorful lights at the Jamestown S’Klallam campus and running along the Olympic Discovery Trail in the twilight are features of this unique race.
This year, 602 runners participated, 432 in the 5K and 170 in the 10K, by far the most of any race in the Run the Peninsula series other than the crown jewel, the North Olympic Discovery Marathon.
That compares to 454 runners who participated in the Jamestown Glow Run last year and 320 runners who just competed in the inaugural Spruce Railroad Run at Lake Crescent in October.
So many people signed up for this race that a week before race, entries were closed except for people signing up to be put on a waiting list.
The title sponsors of the Run the Peninsula series are the Peninsula Daily News and Sequim Gazette, and Olympic Medical Center. The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe also sponsored this race. The Port Angeles Marathon Association puts on these series of races.
Winning the 10K was multiple winner John Mauro of Port Townsend, who finished in a time of 36 minutes, 32.5 seconds.
Mauro pulled off the impressive feat this year of going 5-for-5, winning the Run the Peninsula 10K races at Jamestown, the Spurce Railroad Run in October, the North Olympic Discovery Marathon 10K in June, the Sequim Railroad Run in April and the Elwha Bridge Run in February. He is also a past winner of the full NODM Marathon.
Not far behind in second was Matthew Wolport of Neah Bay at 37:21.16. A perennial top finisher in local races, Michael Higuera of Port Angeles, had his usual solid race, coming in third at 41:21.67.
The top women’s 10K runner was an Oregon woman, Anna Eshelman of Pendleton, who finished in a time of 45:48.8.
Sabrina Hill of Port Townsend was second among the women at 48:57.12 and Jennifer Mathews of Belfair was third at 52:27.77.
The 5K race was close with the top three finishers coming across the finish line just five seconds apart.
The top 5K runner was Port Townsend High School student Dustin Hines, 17, in a time of 17:44.39. Hines came in second in the Jamestown S’Klallam Glow Run last year, shaving 50 seconds off his time from 2023.
Second was Ethan Huff of Bremerton in 17:47.62 just three seconds behind Hines and third, also right behind, was Sawyer Roark of Silverdale at 17:49.53.
The top 5K woman was Erin Fredrickson of Seattle, who finished in 19:42.98, good for 12th overall. Jordan Clark of Seabeck was the second-fastest woman at 20:44.82 and Sequim High School distance and cross-country runner Dawn Hulstedt was third at 20:54.6.
The Jamestown S’Klallam Glow Run is the final race in the Run the Peninsula series. The series returns in February 2025 with the Elwha Bridge Run in February, followed by the Sequim Railroad Bridge Run in April, the North Olympic Discovery Marathon from Blyn to Port Angeles in June and finally the Spruce Railroad Run in October.
All told, more than 2,200 people ran in the various Run the Peninsula races this year, not counting the children’s marathon in Port Angeles and people running virtual races.
Taren Reaves of Forks (No. 101) leads a group across the finish line after dark in Blyn at the Jamestown S’Klallam Glow Run on Saturday night. (Run the Peninsula)
