The 2005 Salt Lake City Marathon was held yesterday in weather that could not have been more perfect for running. Our spring rains greened everything up and then abated just in time for the run. H got up and did her daily 8-9 mile run that morning, after which we got on the bikes and went out to watch the marathon runners.
Driss Dacha from Flagstaff Arizona (the dude with the headband) performed admirably (8th overall and first in the Masters division) against the Kenyans and Ethiopians who are typically the guys to beat. In the picture below, you have essentially the top finishing men. Araya Haregot (#18) ended up winning overall with a time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds for the 26.2 miles distance. #9, Sisay Bezabeh and #6, David Kemboi are also in this frame.
After the first pass of runners at about mile 6, we went in search for lattes and then biked down to find another vantage point further down the road by a little park at about mile 22.
Salt Lake City is a pretty bikeable city, but it is truly a bicyclists paradise on occasions such as this when traffic is more controlled and there are more police patrolling the streets. It has a tremendous traffic calming effect and it seems everybody on their bikes come out to watch the events.
These guys have perhaps the coolest job in the city for events. We have a number of police and paramedics that have realized the benefits of bicycles for response time and accessibility.
The Kenyans and Ethiopians are amazing runners that keep up an unbelievable pace throughout the entire distance and look just as strong at the end as they do the beginning. The amazing thing is that you can tell from almost the beginning who is going to perform well.
The top finishing woman, Poland’s Dorota Guca finished with a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes and 7 seconds and ran amazingly strong throughout the race finishing almost 4 minutes ahead of the next woman.
There were a number of wheelchair racers as well with Holly Koester shown here with a 6th place finish overall.
Benjamin X Lagat from Nairobi, Kenya ran with some of the coolest shoes I’d seen and the Oakleys made for an image I had to capture.
Then there was this guy who carried an American flag for the entire 26.2 mile distance eliciting claps and shouts of support along the whole route. I don’t know what his story was, but I have always been amazed at the number of stories behind what inspires people to run. Running for remembrance is a strong motivator and helps to connect spiritually and personally to those individuals who are closest to us.
Finally, I made this picture out of one I captured of Tammy Miller. I saw a great number of folks running with iPods of all flavors and this is what came to mind every time I saw a runner pass by with those white earbuds.
