Seattle marathon winners keep victory in the family

Uli Steidl of Shoreline won today's Seattle Marathon for the eighth straight time, and Trisha Steidl, Uli's wife, won the women's division for the first time in five tries. Only a handful of husbands and wives have ever swept top honors in major marathons throughout the world.

Neither Steidl seemed particular impressed by their victory combination.

"I'm happier that I won," Trisha said. "I was sick of being second —which happened twice before in addition to a fourth-place finish. I'm happy for both of us. We both had the goal of winning."

Trisha won despite falling behind early and being hampered by a sore foot, which plagued her during the entire race. She caught the early pacesetter at the sixteen mile mark.

Once she took the lead, she ran alone to the finish line and won by more than three and a half minutes with a 3:01:36 clocking.

Uli's streak also appeared to be in some jeopardy. He shared the lead for 22 miles with Andy Martin of Bend, Oregon before pulling away to win with a time of 2:27:51. Martin, who finished in 2:29:08, said there was no race.

A former track and cross country teammate of Steidl's at the University of Portland, Martin said, "I never once considered that I was competing with Uli. I've had plenty of chances to beat him but I never did. I knew he'd win today unless he was injured."

As a result, the two men spent most of their two hours together "just catching up," as Martin explained. "We talked about our families."

A few times Martin's competitive juices emerged. "Some points I pushed him a little," said Martin, who was pleased with his time as he seeks to overcome an illness-plagued fall running season and meet the 2:22:00 qualifying standard for the 2008 U.S. Men's Olympic Marathon Trials.

Uli acknowledged his friend's effort. "He pushed me harder than I wanted to," he said.

The added effort wasn't enough to deter Uli. As has become customary, he wasn't breathing hard when he finished. Moments later, he greeted Martin with a big hug and congratulated him for finishing what is generally considered to be a difficult marathon course in under two hours and 30 minutes.

Winners of the accompanying half marathon were Andy Rakestraw of Seattle (1:12:57) and Rhea Richter of Moscow, Idaho (1:24:50).

The half marathon also included perhaps the biggest name ever to run in a Seattle Marathon event, Joan Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic Marathon champion. In Seattle to headline the pre-race pasta dinner, Samuelson, now 49, was the fourth woman to finish and placed 54th overall. She became a running legend in 1984 when she decisively won the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials in Olympia less than three weeks after undergoing knee surgery.

Both races experienced significant growth. The full marathon attracted 2465 runners and 272 walkers, while 6925 entered the half marathon run and another 1552 walked.