San Juan Island spent the weekend celebrating endurance sports with the Kings’ San Juan Island Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k, and Three Lakes Triathlon. The triathlon kicked off the weekend on Saturday, and marathon followed on Sunday.
Megan Schorr won the women’s marathon with a time of 3:56:09.2. The Men’s marathon winner, with a time of 3:34:09.2, David Cipoletti used his victory to bid farewell to the San Juans after moving here last November. Originally from Pennsylvania, Cipoletti called the islands home for an eight-month job assignment and will be moving on to Bend, Ore.
“[It’s a] really fun event, the hills were rough but beautiful,” Cipoletti said.
While the day belonged to the marathon winners, the half marathon winner, Brett Boldemann, turned heads with a time of 1:16:32.9, 18 minutes short of the world record. He certainly impressed event organizer Paul Hopkins. Especially since Hopkins refers to the run as scenic, which he says is code for lots of hills.
“He did a 1:15, which is fast! I mean really fast! It’s like wow!” Hopkins exclaimed. “Even with that out and back [he made that time.] They have 1,440 feet of elevation on this course and the highest spot on this course is only about 400 feet, So it’s up and down, up and down, up and down. It’s not billed as an easy run.”
Triathlon competitors didn’t allow the soggy conditions to dampen their spirit. Elise Landreaux was the women’s overall winner with a time of 2:59:37.1. While, the men’s overall winner was Brian Goodremont, with a time of 2:23:09.5. Goodremont had to skip the awards ceremony to get back to his job on a boat, according to Hopkins.
The friends and family of the athletes were there in full support. They had the help of a Seattle-based food truck and live music to keep the atmosphere warm when the weather wasn’t.
“If I wasn’t willing to run in the rain then I wouldn’t be able to compete,” said winner of the men’s triathlon sprint class with a time of 1:18:01.7, Brian Houck.
Houck shared his stage with the women’s triathlon sprint class winner Mikelle Ackerley, with a time of 1:22:34.5. Ackerley said the cool weather played to her favor more than she first thought it would.
“I was kind of worried because I thought it would be too cold,” Ackerley said. “But, I didn’t overheat and I thought it was perfect triathlon weather.”
Hopkins said it was a great weekend, and made a special point to thank all of the sponsors and volunteers who made the weekends happen. He said he couldn’t hold this event alone and appreciates their help.
