NORTH OLYMPIC DISCOVERY MARATHON: Youth is served at Saturday’s 5K and 10K races

PORT ANGELES — Though runners young and old tackled the Olympic Discovery trail for Saturday’s North Olympic Discovery Marathon 5K and 10K races, it was youngsters that led the way.

Two high school students, a recent high school graduate and college runner all won the men and women’s 5K and 10K.

The NODM 5K and 10K have been moved to Saturdays, taking place in the morning before the NODM Kids Marathon in the afternoon. The half-marathon, marathon and marathon relays will be held Sunday morning between Blyn and Port Angeles.

The Peninsula Daily News and Sequim Gazette are title sponsors of the NODM.

Runners from age 5 to 85, including a few babies in carriages, ran the 5K and 10K. Runners came from as far away from Florida.

There were both local winners and a winner from the Midwest. There had been strong winds all week long, which can be difficult for runners, especially on the parts of the trail along the Olympic waterfront. But the winds died down Saturday and runners all reported near-perfect conditions. The 5K and 10K races featured a showdown between the Lemrick family of Anacortes and the Larson family of Port Angeles.

The winner of the men’s 10K was Kaeden Peterson, a recent graduate of Kingston High School. He was hoping for a sub-35 minute time and just cracked it at 34 minutes, 52 seconds.

“I was feeling really good. When I was doing warm-ups, I wasn’t feeling so good. So I really surprised myself,” he said.

The 10K women’s winner was a familiar name in local racing circles, Lauren Larson, who won the 10K last year. Larson was a runner for the Roughriders and now runs cross-country for Boise State University.

Larson finished in a time of 36:51 beating the second-place women’s runner by more than a minute. She was third overall among all runners. Her brother Langdon, a runner for Port Angeles High School, was second in the 10K at 35:50.34 and her sister Leia, also a Roughriders’ runner, was third among women and 10th overall in the 5K with a time of 21:09.

“It was probably one my better 10Ks,” Lauren Larson said. “It was a beautiful day. No wind. There were lots of people on the course cheering us on.”

“I would have liked to have gotten a PR (personal record), but it’s still good. I had a good time,” said Leia.

Leyton Larson, 12, finished eighth overall in the 5K and sixth among males with a time of 20:51.99.

Kolin Keltner, 16, is a junior at Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Mo., won the men’s 5K

“It was tougher than I thought at the start, [but] the wind was very gentle,” he said.

Casey Lemrick, 17, came from across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to compete in her first non-school race. The Anacortes High School student was the women’s 5K winner and had the fourth-fastest overall time of 19:39. She is part of an extremely strong Anacortes girls cross-country team that finished second in the state last fall.

Lemrick said she was aiming for a sub-20 time and got in at 19:38.

“This is my first time doing a race like this, so here we are,” she said. She is also part of a running family as family members Chad Lemrick finished third in the 5K (19:27) and Lucy Lemrick, 15, was the second-fastest 5K female (and sixth overall) at 20:03.

In all, the Larsons picked up a first-, a second-, a third- and a sixth-place finish. The Lemricks collected a first, a second and a third. Mother Jeanne Larson was 12th among the women in the 5K.

The full marathon begins Sunday at 7:30 a.m. with the start at 7 Cedars Casino in Blyn and the half-marathon beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Agnew soccer fields. The first runners are expected to show up at the Port Angeles City Pier around 10 a.m.

There were 186 finishers in the 10K and 317 finishers in the 5K for 403 total runners. A number of participants are also expected to run in either the half-marathon or marathon Sunday.

Top 10 finishers (Unofficial results that must still be confirmed. Results will be updated.)

North Olympic Discovery Marathon 5K and 10K (Times are clock times. Full names not included for children under 12)

10K men — Kaeden Peterson, Kingston, first, 34:50.29; Langdon Larson, PA, second, 35:50.34; Simon Tang, Poulsbo, third, 40:07.51; Aman Luthra, Everett, fourth, 40:47.09; Jadyen McLarty, fifth, 40:57.28; David Blalock, Poulsbo, sixth, 42:30.23; Andrew Gorbett, Forks, seventh, 43:43.33; Mark Davis, Gig Harbor, eighth, 44:01.55; Mark Curtiss, Portland, Ore., ninth, 45:14.49; Alex Hall, Bremerton, 10th, 46:18.50.

10K women — Lauren Larson, PA, first, 36:51.13; Trisha Helmer, Abbortsford, BC, second, 38:00; Noella Patel, Lake Forest Park, third, 46:49.06; Nancy Patel, Seattle, fourth, 47:51.33; Miriam Cobb, PA, fifth, 47:48.87; Andrea Hillary, Seattle, sixth, 48:03.47; Emily Aldridge, Bremerton, seventh, 49:00.83; Katy Jach, Seattle, eighth, 49:19.13; Kathy Tierney, Yakima, ninth, 49:19.34; Madeline Orem, Seattle, 10th, 51:30.36.

5K men —Kolin Keltner, Springfield, Mo., first, 18:33.40; Ethan Martin, Sequim, second, 19:15.62; Chad Lemrick, Anacortes, third, 19:27.10; Michael Higuera, PA, fourth, 19:38.21; Sawyer Davis, PA, fifth, 20:48.99; Leyton Larson, PA, sixth, 20:51.99; Noah Lansford, Panama City, Fla., seventh, 21:13.53; Justin McLarty, PA, eighth, 1:21.27; Christopher Lansford, Panama City, Fla, ninth, 22:58.03; G. Moon, Seabeck, 10th, 23:03.34.

5K women — Casey Lemrick, Anacortes, first, 19:39.66; Lucy Lemrick, Anacortes, second, 20:03.59; Leia Larson, PA, third, 21:09.62; Lilli Toone, Marysville, fourth, 22:20.38; Alexis Neal, Bremerton, fifth, 23:05.45; Aimee Olbu, Marysville, sixth, 23:15.03; Kathie Moen, Issaquah, seventh, 23:30.13; Lucy Wait, PA, eighth, 24:18.50; C. Waknitz, PA, ninth, 24:17.17; M. Walton, PA, 10th, 24:25.65.