Seattle's Seafair Marathon to cross Lake Washington bridge

The two eastbound lanes of the Evergreen Point floating bridge across Lake Washington will close Sunday morning, allowing for the first race over it in 24 years.

In the fourth year of the VM Team Medicine Seafair Marathon, organizers have added what they hope will be a defining twist, one that could raise the young race's prestige. The race, which formerly only trekked through Bellevue, will begin near Husky Stadium and then cross a three-mile stretch of Lake Washington via Highway 520.

"We wanted to make this event a marquee event that could be a destination run, for people to come in from out of town," said Dan Wartelle, Seafair spokesman, who added that the changes will also offer local runners a unique opportunity to run across the lake.

Wartelle said it is the first run across the floating bridge since the opening day 8K — for boating season, not baseball — in 1984.

The 26.2-mile marathon will feature 12 miles of waterfront in Seattle, Bellevue and Kirkland. Both the full and half marathons begin at Husky Stadium, with the Seafair pirates manning the pace car, and end at Bellevue Downtown Park.

It took work with several government agencies to get access to the bridge, which will close on the eastbound side from 6:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. Several other road closures on the Eastside will follow.

Seafair moved the race up two weeks — so that it now unofficially kicks off the two-month-long festival — in part to ensure it could use the bridge, and it hopes for it to be a yearly tradition.

"I think it's a great idea, especially if the weather's like it's supposed to be — sunny and nice," said Seattle marathoner Uli Steidl. "It's a big attraction going across that bridge."

Steidl will run in the 13.1-mile half marathon. He ran a marathon in Hamburg, Germany, in April and hasn't trained for the longer distance.

"I could run it, but it wouldn't be good," Steidl said.

A trio of Kenyans — Edward Kiptum, Gilbert Kiptoo and Paul Rugut — figure to be the favorites in the men's race. Oregon native Wendy Terris and Romania's Claudia Colita should be the favorites in the women's race. Winners in the full marathon win $1,500; the prize for the half is $500.

More than 5,000 people have already registered, an increase of more than 1,500 from a year ago. Registration will be open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Seafair health and fitness expo at the Bellevue Hilton. The full marathon costs $100, and the half $85.

A percentage of each registration fee goes to cancer research at Virginia Mason Medical Center, and Seafair hopes to surpass last year's marathon fundraising total of $15,943.

Tom Wyrwich: 206-515-5653 or twyrwich@seattletimes.com