A day of firsts along the lake
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Sora Klopfenstein is all smiles after being the first female across the finish line in the Coeur d’Alene Marathon on Sunday.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Joe Hewitt crosses the finish line to win Sunday’s Coeur d’Alene Marathon in 3 hours, 2 minutes and 7.8 seconds. Pictured in the back is Hewitt’s wife, Chelsea, who competed in the half-marathon event on Sunday.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Post Falls High product Jacob Wimpenny runs with an early lead along Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive during Sunday’s Coeur d’Alene Marathon. Wimpenny, who went on to run at Lewis-Clark State College, finished second overall.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Nicolle Baune runs along Lake Drive during Sunday’s Coeur d’Alene Marathon. Baune won the women’s half-marathon.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Joe Hewitt of La Grande, Ore., looks at his watch in an early stage of Sunday's Coeur d'Alene Marathon. Hewitt, a former Eastern Washington middle distance runner, won the marathon.
COEUR d’ALENE — Sora Klopfenstein has been there, done that in track and field.
A two-time NAIA champion for the College of Idaho in the steeplechase, as well as a six-time All-American, she has earned her fair share of honors.
Klopfenstein was the top overall female finisher in the 41st annual Coeur d’Alene Marathon on Sunday, finishing in 3 hours, 9 minutes and 33.4 seconds.
She was the third finisher overall in the race, which began and ended in McEuen Park, and featured two loops out to Higgens Point and back.
“This is my first marathon — ever,” said Klopfenstein, who now teaches fine arts and ceramics at Caldwell High. “It’s my first time running here as well. I was looking around, and it worked out well with school getting out two days ago. My grandparents live in Sandpoint, so I just stayed with them.”
As far as a strategy, Klopfenstein didn’t have to look far to follow her game plan.
“I wrote it all down on my arm,” Klopfenstein said. “I wanted to key on paces in the first 6 miles, and then a little faster the next 6 miles and a little faster the next 6 and race the last 6.”
Joe Hewitt, who ran at Eastern Washington, won the marathon in 3 hours, 2 minutes and 7.8 seconds.
“I just wanted to run as even as I could,” Hewitt said. “I had never done the marathon here before, and wasn’t sure what to expect with the hills out there and wanted to test the waters a little bit in the turnaround. I was just trying to hold on in the second half and run negative splits.”
Post Falls High and Lewis-Clark State product Jacob Wimpenny was second in 3:04:51.8.
“I wanted to qualify for Boston,” Hewitt said. “It’s my third marathon, and I’ve qualified before, but couldn’t go because of work and never had a chance. I just thought I should give it another chance, and figured, ‘why not.’ I just worked out this time of year, and I get busy later in the summer. I figured it’s good training and I do most of my training in the winter and then come in the spring and run one.”
Hewitt works as a property appraiser in La Grande, Ore.
“I’ve still got some buddies that live in the area,” Hewitt said. “My folks are close by. I used to be a hotshot firefighter and smoke jumper for a few years.”
That changed when he married his wife Chelsea, who competed in the half-marathon on Sunday.
“She didn’t like that I was on the road as much as I was,” Hewitt said. “I switched careers two years ago. I’m a little more steady with my job now.”
“It was well marked,” Klopfenstein said of the course. “The bike lead was awesome and very supportive and really kept me going. It was nice and cool and really nice to see everything along the course.”
As far as a return for Ironman 70.3 on June 24, don’t count on it for Klopfenstein.
“Biking and swimming, I’m not too sure about,” Klopfenstein said. “But I’d love to do some trail races in the future.”
Danielle Parks of Coeur d’Alene, last year’s women’s marathon champion, finished second Sunday in 3:13:09.
In the half-marathon, Coeur d’Alene resident Korey Kreider (men’s) and Nicolle Baune — who was the top female finisher in April’s Spring Dash in Coeur d’Alene — won their respective races. Kreider finished in 1:22:49.4. Baune won in 1:29:36.3 seconds.
Full results can be found at www.nomadzracing.com.
COEUR d’ALENE MARATHON
TOP 10 FINISHERS
MALE
1, Joe Hewitt, La Grande, Ore., 3:02.7.8. 2, Jacob Wimpenny, Pullman, 3:04:51.8. 3, Aaron Gall, San Diego, 3:10.53.8. 4, Torsten Lippoldt, Liberty Lake, 3:13:41.3. 5, David Teklits, Philadelphia, 3:13:50.8. 6, Kurt Niven, Spokane, 3:15:36.5. 7, Grant Eldred, Waconia, Minn., 3:15:36.5. 8, Steven Parker, Cranbrook, British Columbia, 3:17:51.6. 9, Bill McNary, Bethesda, Md., 3:19:30.7. 10, Zeke Campfield, Missoula, 3:23:23.6.
FEMALE
1, Sora Klopfenstein, Boise, 3:09:33.4. 2, Danielle Parks, Coeur d’Alene, 3:13:09.09. 3, Vanessa Whattam, Hayden, 3:21:17.0. 4, Kelly Cogdan-Gehr, Bellingham, Wash., 3:31:42.0. 5, Stephanie Wolf, Bellingham, Wash., 3:37:05.3. 6, Chloe Peirce, Spokane, 3:38:31.3. 7, Holly Harris, 3:43:08.2. 8, Lindsay Purtell, Portland, 3:45:05.4. 9, Lauren Valentino, Houston, 3:48:30.7. 10, Danika Martin, Colbert, Wash., 3:51:29.4.