RUN THE PENINSULA: It was a family affair at Spruce Railroad Run

LAKE CRESCENT — The second Spruce Railroad Trail Run went off without a hitch and it was a family affair among the winners.

Last year’s inaugural Spruce Railroad Run had some problems when a windstorm knocked down some trees and limbs and made access to the race along East Beach Road impossible. While the windstorm didn’t affect the race course, people had trouble getting in to the Lake Crescent trailhead along East Beach Road and had to use the Joyce-Piedmont Road.

This year, there were no access problems for more than 300 runners and dozens more volunteers and support staff, though there was a startlingly large boulder in the middle of East Beach Road early in the morning after a night of showers.

The Spruce Railroad Trail Run is part of the Run the Peninsula series run by the Port Angeles Marathon Association, which also puts on the North Olympic Discovery Marathon in June. The event’s presenting sponsor is Olympic Medical Center while the title sponsors are the Peninsula Daily News and Sequim Gazette.

This year the race course was cool and dry on an almost perfect and windless October morning.

The men’s and women’s winners of the 5K was a married couple from Bremerton. Matt Dale won the men’s race in a time of 21 minutes, 24.92 seconds, while Janae Dale won the women’s race in 27:00.75.

“That last hill is a killer,” Matt Dale said after crossing the finish line. He won by a fairly big gap of 1 minute, 50 seconds. The course goes over about 150-foot-high hill between McFee Tunnel and the parking lot.

There were repeat winners in the 10K. Local race veteran John Mauro of Port Townsend won in a solid time of 37:52.57. Coming in second and taking first for the women was repeat winner Sarah Paquet of Bothell in a time of 39:57.66.

Paquet has won the overall race in the Sequim Railroad Bridge Run, also part of the Run the Peninsula series.

“I couldn’t catch you,” she told Mauro.

Mauro won the race after finishing third last weekend in the Big Hurt 52-mile endurance race, but felt no ill effects seven days later. The two competitors ahead of him in the Big Hurt had finished first and second the past three years.

“Those guys [Michael Finley of Port Angeles and Joey Gish of Sequim] are beasts,” Mauro said. “That was the first time I ever did the Big Hurt. I really enjoyed it.”

Mauro’s 10-year-old daughter Madeline also won the girls’ 10-14 age group in the 5K despite competing against several older kids.

Liam Grice, 13, was another youngster who did well, finishing fourth overall in the 5K.

The ages of the runners and walkers ranged from 8 to 82, not counting babies in strollers. A total of 189 ran the 5K and 124 the 10K.

The next race in the Run the Peninsula series is the Jamestown S’Klallam Glow Run in Blyn on Dec. 6.

These results are still unofficial. For total results, people can go online to www.tinyurl.com/2025SpruceResults.

Spruce Railroad Run

5K winners

Men — Matt Dale, first, 21:24.92; Christopher Roark, second, 23:15.82; Conor Gromek, third, 24:41.89; Liam Grice, fourth, 24:58.51; James Grice, fifth, 25:44.19; Andrew Christison, sixth, 26:09.68; Asher Roark, seventh, 26:23.76; Vicente Bravo, eighth, 26:27.96; Robert Gromek, ninth, 26:52.11; Truman Hood, 10th, 30:26.67.

Women — Janae Dale, first, 27:00.75; Rebecca Gunderson, second, 27:23.56; Monica Jeruto, third, 28:28.5; Nancy Potts, fourth, 28:30.89; Bridget Richardson, fifth, 28:45.79; Helen Lovejoy, sixth, 28:51.76; Anne Anderson, seventh, 28:59.01; Heike Gries, eighth, 29:09.37; Melinda Roark, ninth, 29:11.51; Brittany Shrout, 10th, 29:13.67.

10K winners

Men — John Mauro, first, 37:52.57; Taylor Lee, second, 41:42.6; Steven Moore, third, 42:39.45; Michael Higuera, fourth, 42:41.91; Amos Almy, fifth, 44:16.87; Bryan Strang, sixth, 45:19.0; Carson Shamp, seventh, 45:32.7; Ken Reiten, eighth, 46:42.06; Christian Vannoy, ninth, 47:18.07, Isaac Shamp, 10th, 47:47.03.

Women — Sarah Paquet, first (second overall), 39:57.66; Aspen Smith, second, 49:39.36; Jennifer Mathews, third, 51:20.86; Courtney Dustrude, fourth, 53:31.8; Stephanie Milliron, fifth, 53:43.86; Chelsea Bush, sixth, 54:21.82; Rachel King, seventh, 55:23.32; Marie Haller, eighth, 56:16.96; Jessica Tong, ninth, 56:52.6; Sherilyn Lorega, 10th, 57:10.61.