NORTH OLYMPIC PENINSULA MARATHON: Winners come from near and far on opening day

PORT ANGELES — More than 500 runners from as far away as Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Amsterdam braved the drizzly weather of the North Olympic Peninsula to participate in day one of the North Olympic Discovery Marathon 5K and 10K events.

The marathon and half-marathon will be held Sunday starting in Blyn for the full event and Agnew soccer fields for the 13-mile race.

Winners include three repeat champions and one new champion, who came all the way from Colorado to run along the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Conditions were overcast with sprinkles, which many of the runners don’t mind.

The Larson family of Port Angeles which has won NODM events several years running now, took first place in both 5K races. Langdon Larson won with a time of 17 minutes, 39.05 seconds and right behind him in second place was his sister and women’s winner Lauren Larson in a time of 18:05.03.

“Conditions were perfect … fairly humid but warm,” Lauren Larson said. Lauren finished just 26 seconds behind her brother but said she never thought she had a chance to catch him. “No, he took off right off the start.”

“17:39 … I’m happy with it,” Langdon said.

The women’s second-place winner was sibling Leia Larson in a time of 20:45.78. The youngest runner in the Larson family, Leyton Larson was 11th among the men in 20:41.63. In all, the Larsons took four of the top 13 times in the 5K. Mom Jeanne Larson was 11th among the women in 25:45.69.

The Larsons have run in the team marathon in past years, but this year, Langdon and Lauren said they are running in the half-marathon Sunday.

Winning the 10K was a former marathon winner, John Mauro of Port Townsend in a time of 34:57,89, which he said was a personal record by a minute. He won by two full minutes over Timothy Lara (36:53.21) of Everett.

“This is really pleasant, I just love this place,” Mauro said, who has also run in Peninsula Adventure Sports races which involve the slightly different discipline of trail running.

“I just love being out in it. Here’s the same, you have the ocean right there, I love being out in the wild,” Mauro said. Mauro, who has run in the Boston Marathon, said he has no plans to run marathons this year but turns 50 soon and may run in some marathons after he turns 50.

The one new winner was Melissa Snobeck of Arvada, Colo., who won the women’ 10K, and was third overall, in a time of 37:58.07. The second place 10K woman was Sarah Paquet of Seattle, whose time of 38:30.32 was good for fifth place among all runners.

Snobek decided to come out and run the NODM because she has family in Oregon. “I like this fun and fast race,” she said. She said running at sea level is a lot easier than running in Arvada, elevation 6,100 feet. “There I can’t breathe,” he said.

A total of 524 racers finished Saturday, with 186 taking on the 10K and 338 the 5K. Another several hundred are expected t race in the marathon and half-marathon Sunday.

Top 20 runners in each race include (Full names not available from the timing company for runners under the age of 13). Results are unofficial and may change:

Women’s 5K — Lauren Larson, PA, first, 18:05.03; Leia Larson, PA, second, 20:45.78; Patricia Bachmeier, Prior Lake, MN, third, 22:02.79; A. Wieschhaus, Poulsbo, fourth, 23:10.49; Kaherine Braun, PA, fifth, 23:19.98; Maddie Walton, PA, sixth, 23:42.65; Alexa Kearns, Vancouver, B.C., seventh, 24:00.41; Tanja Goedecke, Tacoma, eighth, 24:12.56; Aimee Olbu, Marysville, ninth, 25:12.83; Sophie van Vrijberghe de Coningh, Amsterdam, 10th, 25:25.34; Jeanne Larson, PA, 11th, 25:45.69; Cela Waknitz, PA, 12th, 25:50.63; Claire Ruotolo, Everett, 13th, 25:52.37; Onyx Gish, PA, 14th, 25:59.24; Selah Turrey, 15th, Sequim, 26:00.23; Christine Loewe, PA, 16th, 26:13.43; Shelby Box, PT, 17th, 26:32.55; Natasha Ashenhurst, Olympia, 18th, 26:42.8; Ava Fox, PA, 19th, 26:50.71; Stella Fradkin, PA, 20th, 27:8.02.

Men’s 5K — Langdon Larson, PA, first, 17:39.05; Andre Campbell, PA, second, 18:54.39; Michael Higuera, PA, third, 19:00.59; Adrian Osborne, Sequim, fourth, 19:06.63; Oliver Westerndorf, Maple Valley, fifth, 19:52.91; Owen Armstrong, Maple Valley, sixth, 20:08.22; Dylan Zehr, Maple Valley, seventh, 20:09.24; Easton Dempsey, PA, eighth, 20:29.81; J. Lieberman, PA, ninth, 20:13.16; Keith LaLonde, Monroe, 10th, 20:28.26; Leyton Larson, PA, 11th, 20:41.63; Michael Boyle, Arlington, MA., 12th, 21:41.5; Avi Allison, Seattle, 13th, 22:09.08; Jamie Dunnett, Nanaimo, B.C., 14th, 22:13.46; C. Dunnett, Nanaimo, B.C., 15th, 22:13.97; Tod Jones, Sequim, 16th, 22:31.5; F. Dunnett, Nanaimo, B.C., 17th, 22:31.88; Ben Tegge, Seattle, 18th, 22:37.44; Brandon Weishhaus, Poulsbo, 19th, 23:14.25; Dylan Vianna, Port Hadlock, 20th, 23:15.46.

Women’s 10K — Melissa Snobeck, Arvada, Colo., first, 37:58.07; Sarah Paquet, Seattle, second, 38:30.32; Carolynn Pype, PA, third, 43:57.02; Samantha Schofield, Seabeck, fourth, 45:02.48; Sophia Macdonald, Brmerton, fifth, 45:07.97; Noella Patel, Lake forest Park, sixth, 45:48.69; Nancy Patel, Seattle, seventh, 45:54.95; Sarah McCurdy, Seattle, eighth, 46:05.78; Reneee Macdonald, ninth, 47:23.24; Rochelle Lancaster, Silverdale, 10th, 48:00.89; Quinn Herr, PA, 11th, 49:46.64; Jessica DiBari, PA, 12th, 50:46.07; Madelaine McCullough, 13th, Olympia, 51:13.28; Courtney Raehl, Ashland, Ore., 14th, 51:36.35; Reagan Curtis, Seattle, 15th, 52:33.14; Alison Castle, Vancouver, B.C., 16th, 53:13.97; Kris Higginson, Tacoma, 17th, 53:58.1; Abby Duffy, High Point, N.C., 18th, 54:28.67; Austyn Heinlein, Leavenworth, 19th, 54:39.89; Katie Potter, Sequim, 20th, 54:52.76.

Men’s 10K — John Mauro, Port Townsend, first, 34:57.89; Timothy Lara, Everett, second, 36:53.21; Sawyer Roark, Silverdale, third, 38:12.38; Aman Luthra, Lilburn, Ga., fourth, 39:05.78; Taylor Lee, Sequim, fifth, 40:55.79; Derek Burke, Centralia, sixth, 41:23.42; Justin Garrett, PA, seventh, 43:32.45; Justin Serrill, Issaquah, eighth, 44:08.39; Tri Ngo, Seattle, ninth, 44:40.25; John Ostezan, Reno, Nev., 10th, 44:59.18; Paul Corzatt, Fort Myers, Fla, 11th, 45:27.26; Kelton Finrich, Bothell, 12th, 46:27.17; David Hall, Folsom, Calif., 13th, 46:34.1; Ayden Macdonald, Bremerton, 14th, 46:39.68; Matthew Bekker, Edmonds, 15th, 46:41.27; Aaron Petersen, Monticello, Utah, 16th, 47:09.32; James Dobberfuhl, Clinton, 17th, 47:52.70; Damien West, Puyallup, 18th, 48:18.36; Derrick VonBank, Everett, 19th, 48:37.46; Frank Bekker, Kingston, 20th, 49:21.86.