Walsh, Bromme win Ninth Annual Whidbey Marathon

Spencer Walsh of Seattle and Uli Bromme of Boulder, Colo., won the ninth annual Whidbey Island Marathon Sunday, April 11.

They were joined in the winner’s circle by half-marathon winners Steve DeKoker of Seattle and Kristi Houk of Port Orchard.

Dave Kilfoyle of Valencia, Calif., won the half-marathon walk.

The top local finishers were Oak Harbor’s Jason Hynd and Jennifer Greunke in the marathon, Ian Chamberlain and Christina Bromme in the half, and walker Christina Collier.

The hilly, scenic marathon course started at Cornet Bay at 7:30 a.m.; the half-marathon took off from North Whidbey Middle School at 8. Both races finished at Windjammer Park. The temperature when the race started was 41 degrees; it was in the low 50s at the finish.

Walsh, 27, an assistant coach for the Skyline Running Club and former Western Oregon University runner, won the 26.2-mile men’s marathon in 2:30:23 with an average mile time of 5:45.

Bromme, 29, an elite tri-athlete, took the women’s race in 2:54:56 with a mile pace of 6:41; she finished eighth overall.

In the 13.1-mile half-marathon men’s race, DeKoker, 29, won in 1:11:06. Houk, 26, finished first among the women and sixth overall in 1:22:23.

Rounding out the top five in the men’s marathon behind Walsh were Chad Trammell, 25, Seattle, 2:31.02; Samuel Rotich, 28, Atlanta, 2:32:34; Jesse Stevick, 28, Olympia, 2:35:45; and Aaron Coe, 27, Portland, 2:38:45.

The next four marathon finishers for the females behind Bromme were Julie Devlin, 24, Spokane, 3:14:23; Kathi Webber, 39, Bothell, 3:26:01; Kai Sharbono, 26, Coeur d’Alene, 3:26:27; and Kirsty Maginness, 40, North Bend, 3:30:10.

DeKoker was followed in the men’s half marathon by Ian Fraser, 36, Port Angeles, 1:12:24; Jon Houk, 29, Port Orchard, 1:18:25; Patrick Mann, 46, Seattle, 1:20:31; and Tim Stieber, 47, McMinnville, Ore., 1:21:45.

In the women’s half, Kristi Houk led Jodi Suter, 38, Spokane, 1:23:03; Nikki Gamble, 26, Edmonds, 1:25:03; Shannon Kelley, 23, North Bend, 1:28:38; and Alma McMurtry, 30, Lynden, 1:31:02.

Gamble, a graduate of Oak Harbor High School, won the half-marathon last year.

Kilfoyle, 53, won the half-marathon walk in 2:16:12

For the first time, the Whidbey Island Marathon sponsors awarded prize money to the top finishers. First place in the marathon races received $1,000, second received $500 and third $250.

The two half-marathon winners earned $500, while second received $250 and third $100.

Hynd, 35, was the leading local finisher in the marathon, placing 22nd among men in 3:13:51. The next four best local efforts were by Oak Harbor’s Aaron Johnson, 36, 25th, 3:15:36; Coupeville’s Dale Folkestead, 57, 41st, 3:32.18; Oak Harbor’s John Maxwell, 41, 48th, 3:36:17; and Gregory Schuy, 26, 55th, 3:42.18.

Greunke, 26, finished 15th among the women in the marathon in 3:58:49. Greunke was followed locally by Oak Harbor runners Bethany Cesaro, 28, 20th, 4:05:44; Wendi Hiborn, 33, 47th, 4:33.18; Wendi Sjodin, 32, 48th, 4:34:03; and Kristin Conn, 22, 49th, 4:34:03.

In the half-marathon, Chamberlain led the North Whidbey runners by finishing 16th among the men in 1:29:12. He was followed by Coupeville’s Zachary Scheetz, 28, 17th, 1:30:01; Oak Harbor’s Robert Walker, 26, 18th, 1:30.25; Oak Harbor’s Chris Hunter, 37, 24th, 1:33:13; and Oak Harbor’s Rich Frazier, 42, 42nd, 1:37:14.

Christina Bromme, 54, ran the half-marathon in 1:44:02 to finish 22nd among the women. She was followed locally by four Oak Harbor runners: Theresa Jones, 28, 50th, 1:49:36; Maurin Scheetz, 27, 60th, 1:51; Laura Beard, 28, 70th, 1:51:51; and Amanda Burke, 35, 78th, 1:52:15.

Among the half-marathon walkers, Collier, 28, was first locally and second overall in 2:18:32.

The next four-best finishes for local walkers were Coupeville’s Brian Folkestad, 21, third, 2:19:28; Oak Harbor’s Sheila San Angelo, 54, eighth, 2:33:56; Oak Harbor’s Tracy Marti, 45, 20th, 2:55:20; and Oak Harbor’s Geni Muehlhausen, 43, 24th, 2:56:40.

Oak Harbor had three division champions: Christina Bromme, women’s 50-54 age group; Curtis Ducken, men’s 15-19 age group in the half-marathon, 1:39:47; and Alexandra Laiblin, women’s 14-and-under age group, 2:16:53.

A total of 1,806 finished the races. In the marathon, 246 (143 men and 103 women) completed the course. In the half-marathon, 1,347 (433 men and 914 women) crossed the finish line. There were 213 walkers.

For a complete list of the results, go to whidbeyislandmarathon.com.

Contact Whidbey News Times Sports editor Jim Waller at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5060.

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