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Willamette Valley Road Runners (WVRR)
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Rave Race Review
by Burke Schmidt

The North Olympic Discovery Marathon, a new race and course that goes from Sequim to Port Angeles, Washington, is in Bill Mayhall’s home territory. It is a brand new marathon and definitely one you must run. Bill knows the race director and convinced Pati Swearinger and me to come up and run it with him. So, on the Saturday before the race, Pati and I caught an Amtrak train to Seattle, walked to the ferry landing, caught the ferry to Bainbridge Island, and met Bill at the Ferry Terminal. Bill lives in Port Townsend, so we were close to the start of the race, and had great accommodations.

The marathon is a point-to-point race, which starts in a newly developed park near Sequim and guides the runners along via Rails to Trails’ system and rural roads ending in Port Angeles. The course is largely rolling hills with one interesting hilly section. Since you’re often on a trail, the surroundings remain quite lush and secluded even in more populous sections. For those who like softer running surfaces, on certain sections two-thirds of the width of the trails are asphalt and the other third is gravel, which provides a more cushioned running surface. As you cross the various rivers you get to utilize beautifully restored railroad bridges with wooden decks. During some of the hilly portions you have beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains and Olympic National Park. The final miles are along the water and as flat as you will ever find. The race ends close to the ferry terminal in Port Angeles in a beautiful city park.

I should mention that the official ‘shirt’ was a really nice zip front, pocketed fleece vest. A Discovery Trail pin was in our packet and we were given a fine mesh running cap when we crossed the finish line. The food and beverages rival Portland and the course volunteers and monitors were among the best we’ve seen.

This story has two parts, for as I mentioned earlier, Pati and I ran with Bill Mayhall. Bill is probably the toughest person I know. If you were to see X-rays of his knees, you would be baffled that he could walk or run at all. Additionally he fights his weight and for a few weeks prior to the Marathon, he had been on a rather austere diet. So he started the race with insufficient fuel and sore knees. As we began we were all running together, although Bill was a bit slower on the hills. We proceeded until Bill’s pace became slow enough that we were concerned that the course would close before we could finish. We discussed various game plans and finally agreed that at the half way point Pati and I would run on in and then turn around and come back for Bill. That is what we did. Additionally race officials assured us that the course would remain open till all the runners had completed the marathon regardless of the time limit.

When Pati and I crossed the finish line, we proceeded to the officials and asked if anyone had been transported, finally learning from a volunteer that Bill was still on the course. We must have generated some concern among the organizers, as we were quite insistent that we needed to know where he was.

So Cheron Mayhall (Bill’s wife), Pati and I set out to find him. We met him near the 23-mile mark. We then ran in with Bill, who was, by this time dead last, but still plodding along. As we approached the finish all the other participants were enjoying the awards ceremony. Pati and I dropped off the course a few yards before the finish and Bill proceeded. As he crossed the line the ceremony stopped and became really quiet; only the announcer stating Bill’s name could be heard. Suddenly after he crossed the line the entire crowd erupted into cheers and accolades for Bill. Somehow they all knew that what he had accomplished transcended everything that had happened before on that day.

We’ll do the North Olympic Discovery Marathon again, and Bill will run other marathons, hopefully more properly fueled, and we encourage all of you to give this one a try. It’s a gem.