Trisha Steidl, the head coach of the cross country and track and field teams, won the Seattle Marathon for the second consecutive year Sunday, finishing the 26.2-mile course in a time of 2:59:58.
Steidl and two other runners broke away from the main pack at the nine-mile mark. As much as 30-40 seconds behind the other two runners at times, her knowledge of the course allowed her to plan her comeback. She moved into second place at the 17-mile mark, followed by a final pass on at mile 21, as she used the hills to her advantage.
“I knew the leader was hurting,” Steidl told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “I was catching up to her. I figured I’d catch her on the hill, so I wasn’t worried too much.”
Steidl still needs to run a marathon in 2:47:00 or under to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials, which will take place in April in . She hopes to hit that mark at the P.F. Chang’s Rock n’ Roll Arizona Marathon in in January. She plans to fit her training between her coaching duties at , especially as the indoor track and field season starts Dec. 1 with the at the Dempsey Indoor Track.
With Trisha's victory, this is the ninth consecutive year that a Steidl has won the Seattle Marathon. Uli Steidl, her husband and an assistant coach at , won the men’s race eight consecutive years (1999-2006) but decided to skip this year’s event to continue training for an ultra-marathon in next weekend. Last year Uli and Trisha became the first husband-and-wife combo to win a major city’s marathon.
“I felt like I had to win because Uli wasn’t here. So when I was in third, I had to be very patient. I was like ?Oh no, I can’t be third. Then no Steidl’s going to win.’ I was like ?Just be patient. You know this course really well,’” Steidl said to the Post-Intelligencer.
Steidl is in her second season as head coach of the cross country and track and field programs. Earlier this month the women’s cross country team finished sixth at the NCAA West Regionals, the best-ever finish at the regionals by the squad.