As expected, Uli Steidl of Shoreline won the Seattle Marathon for the eighth consecutive time, continuing to reinforce race announcer Laurel James' reference to the event as the "Uliathon."
Steidl's time was two hours, 27 minutes, and 51 seconds on a cold, damp Sunday morning.
However, James might need to come up with a new moniker -- such as "Steidlathon" -- after Trisha Steidl won the women's division for the first time in five tries. Only a handful of husbands and wives have ever swept top honors in major marathons throughout the world.
Neither Steidl seemed particular impressed by that feat.
"I'm happier that I won," Trisha said. "I was sick of being second [which happened twice before in addition to a fourth-place finish]. I'm happy for both of us. We both had the goal of winning."
That goal seemed in jeopardy during the early stages.
"Another woman took off at [6:20 a mile] pace," she said. "I thought, 'If you can keep it up, more power to you.' "
Trisha was further hampered by a sore foot, which plagued her during the entire race. Another factor is her new position as cross country and track coach at Seattle University, which has resulted in 10- to 11-hour days and cut into her training time. She noted she rarely approaches her once-customary 80-mile weeks and was able to run just twice in the week before the marathon.
But she caught the early pacesetter at the 16-mile mark. Once she took the lead, she ran alone to the finish line and won by more than 3 ? minutes with a 3:01:36 time.
By all appearances, Uli's streak also appeared to be in jeopardy. He shared the lead for 22 miles with Andy Martin of Bend, Ore., before pulling away. But to Martin, who finished in 2:29:08, it wasn't a battle.
A former track and cross country teammate of Steidl's at the University of Portland, Martin said, "I never once considered that I was competing with Uli. I've had plenty of chances to beat him but I never did. I knew he'd win today unless he was injured."
As a result, the two men spent most of their two hours together "just catching up," as Martin explained. "We talked about our families."
A few times, Martin's competitive juices emerged.
"Some points I pushed him a little," said Martin, who was pleased with his time as he seeks to overcome an illness-plagued fall running season and meet the 2:22:00 qualifying standard for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
Uli acknowledged his friend's effort.
"He pushed me harder than I wanted to," he said.
The added effort wasn't enough to deter Uli. As has become customary, he wasn't breathing hard when he finished. Moments later, he greeted Martin with a big hug and congratulated him for becoming the only other runner to finish what is generally considered to be a difficult marathon course in less than 2 ? hours.
Winners of the accompanying half-marathon were Andy Rakestraw of Seattle (1:12:57) and Rhea Richter of Moscow, Idaho (1:24:50).
The half-marathon included perhaps the biggest name ever to run in a Seattle Marathon: Joan Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic Marathon champion. In Seattle to headline the prerace pasta dinner, Samuelson, now 49, was the fourth woman to finish and placed 54th overall. She became a local legend in 1984 when she decisively won the Olympic Marathon Trials in Olympia less than three weeks after knee surgery.
Both races experienced significant growth. The full marathon attracted 2,465 runners and 272 walkers, while 6,925 entered the half-marathon run and another 1,552 walked it.