Uli Steidl, assistant coach of the Seattle University cross country and track and field teams, won the Seattle Marathon Sunday morning for the ninth time.
Steidl, who decided the day before to enter the event, posted a time of 2:28:26, almost two minutes faster than the second-place finisher. This was the first time Steidl had run in the race since 2006, when he won his eighth straight Seattle Marathon.
He ran with eventual runner-up Evan Blanshan and defending champion Jesse Williams for the first 15 miles before establishing his lead. According to the Seattle Times, Steidl prepared himself for the final portion of the race, a hilly section of Seattle in which pacing is important.
"You just have to know it's coming," Steidl said of the hilly last third. "The Galer and Madison Street (hill), people are pretty afraid of it."
This victory continued a string of successful runs for Steidl in 2012, including winning the masters division at the Boston Marathon in April and finishing first at the U.S. National Masters Marathon Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., in October.
Steidl will help the Seattle U track and field team prepare for the indoor season, with the UW Indoor Preview serving as the team's first competition Saturday, Jan. 12, at Dempsey Indoor.