In what has become almost as much of a Thanksgiving weekend tradition as turkey and football, Uli Steidl, assistant coach of the Seattle University cross country and track and field teams, won his 10th Amica Insurance Seattle Marathon Sunday morning, defending the title he regained in 2012.
Steidl completed the 26.2-mile course in 2:32:24, two minutes and 25 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Evan Blanshan. Steidl, Blanshan, and third-place finisher Rob Schlegel led the first half of the race before Steidl fell behind when he stopped for a bathroom break near the halfway point. Steidl quickly moved back into first place and ran by himself for the final six miles.
“I looked around a few times to make sure nobody was coming from behind,” Steidl told The Seattle Times. “I didn’t feel super, but nobody feels super at the end, no matter how they run.”
Steidl won the Seattle Marathon each year from 1999 to 2006 before taking a break to concentrate on ultra-marathons. Just like last year, he decided at the last minute to compete in the race in order to accomplish his goal of reaching double digits in victories. He now has the fourth-most victories within a single marathon series in the United States, behind Jim Pearson’s 16 victories in the Birch Bay Marathon in Blaine, Wash., Bill McDermott’s 13 victories in the Catalina Marathon, and Matt Carpenter’s 12 wins in the Pikes Peak Marathon.
Another male runner with Seattle University ties also crossed the finish line first in an event, as Redhawk alum Matthew McClement won the half-marathon in 1:11:24, 43 seconds in front of runner-up Brian Masterson.
The Seattle University track and field team is scheduled to begin the indoor season at the UW Indoor Preview at Dempsey Indoor on the campus of the University of Washington Saturday, Jan. 18.