'I'm starting to hurt now'

HAYDEN LAKE — As one of the founders of the Hayden Lake Marathon, Jason Ball never had a chance to run it because he was busy organizing it.

Until Saturday.

“It’s just really fun to finally do the course,” he said as he and his daughter, Noelle Ball, powered up a long, steep hill near English Point.

The two were running the 26.2-mile race together.

“It’s always been my dream to run one with my dad because I grew up running with him,” Noelle said.

The 27-year-old ran cross country and track at Coeur d’Alene High School, and later moved to Honolulu for work and stopped running.

But she resumed training for this year’s Hayden Lake Marathon and flew home for the race.

Both dad and daughter were battling through some ailments, but holding on.

“We’re gimping along,” Jason said.

“I’m starting to hurt now,” Noelle added.

They didn’t quit.

The duo finished side by side and smiling in four hours, 44 minutes and 19 seconds, and were greeted with cheers and hugs from family and friends.

Jason was proud of his daughter for finishing her first full marathon on such a difficult course.

“Most marathon courses, they try to make them easy and fast, but this is beautiful, hilly and windy,” he said.

With cool, cloudy skies and sunshine later in the day, conditions were near perfect for the scenic 11th Hayden Lake Marathon, which also included a half marathon, quarter marathon and 5K.

All races started and ended at Honeysuckle Beach, with finishers receiving shirts and medals.

Nate Szymanowski of Spokane Valley won the marathon in 3:00:41, while Lindsay Burdett of Spokane was the first woman in 3:38:37.

Seventy-four runners finished the marathon.

Carlan Pontious of Veradale, Wash., won the half marathon in 1:21:27. Kai Sharbono of Spokane led the women in 1:21:30, finishing second overall.

There were 242 finishers of the half marathon.

Charlie McVey of Hayden, 12, won the quarter marathon in 41:28. Taylor Merrill of Moyie Springs was the first woman in 45:27.

There were 121 finishers.

Matthias Merrill of Hayden won the 5K in 18:01, while Kate Hartley of Dalton Gardens led the women in 19:28.

There were 89 5K finishers.

The full marathon was visually pleasing with lake views and the beauty of changing fall colors as trees lined the course. But it was punishing with its relentless hills that totaled more than 2,000 feet of elevation gain.

Sam Bice of Coeur d’Alene didn’t train much for it but still signed up.

“Lots of hard things happened this year and I wanted something hard to kind of beat that,” he said.

Despite a training diet of beer and pizza in the weeks leading up to the race, Bice was feeling pretty good around mile six and said his goal was to finish without walking. He crossed the finish line in 5:11:19.

Seventeen miles in, Dustin Poe of Post Falls was moving steadily in his first full marathon.

“I’m feeling better than I thought I would at this point,” he said.

Poe said his longest training run was seven miles. Still, he wanted to give the Hayden Lake Marathon a shot "and see what happens.”

“I’d just like to challenge myself and run a marathon and see if I can do it," he said.

Poe finished in 5:21:15.

Karlie Slayer drove over from Missoula for the marathon. Early on, she was enjoying the scenery, the weather and even the course.

“The downhills are lovely,” she said, laughing.

Slayer competed in a 20K trail race a few weeks ago that had 4,500 feet of elevation gain.

“That was awesome," she said.

Her goal at Hayden Lake was to finish, and she did, in 5:03:18.

Kristine Nunn of Richmond, Ind., finished in 4:51:01. She said she came here to run the marathon for her son, Brett, a sergeant at Fairchild Air Force Base who is leaving at year's end.

She felt strong and finished well.

“It was beautiful,” Nunn said. “Oh my gosh, this is the prettiest race I’ve ever done. I took pictures along the way, it was so pretty.”

She didn’t even mind the seemingly endless ups and downs.

“It felt good to have a change of pace on your legs,” Nunn said. “You’re going up and then you’re going down and it kept you guessing."

Her son was humbled by her effort.

“That she would tear up her body in this way run and put herself through this for me, it means a lot,” he said.

The two bantered about their different styles of training and debated who was in better shape.

“I can do more pushups than him,” Nunn said.

“Ah, no,” her son responded.

Hayley Smith, who grew up in Hayden, graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School and played soccer at North Idaho College, was trying her first full marathon.

“I have nothing to compare it to, but I feel pretty good,” she said.

A Western Washington University graduate and a teacher today, Smith ran a half marathon a few years ago at the urging of a friend.

“I haven’t stopped,” she said. “I loved the half and loved the training. I thought, ‘Why not a full?'”

Her goal was “anything under five hours."

She crushed it: 4:35:20.