PORT ANGELES — Recent knee surgery wasn’t going to keep Robert Eichelsdoerfer from the 2012 North Olympic Discovery Marathon.
The 51-year-old Bothell resident was one of the first runners in line to pick up his race packet at the Race Expo activities Saturday afternoon at Red Lion Hotel in Port Angeles.
Eichelsdoerfer will join about 2,000 or so fellow runners at today’s 10th annual Sequim to Port Angeles marathon.
The marathon, which attracts runners from across the country and Canada, starts at 9 a.m. at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim.
It ends 26.2 miles later at City Pier in Port Angeles. A companion half-marathon starts at the same time at Agnew Soccer Fields, located between the two Clallam County towns.
That race goes 13.1 miles and also ends at City Pier.
Also at 9 a.m. today, the Olympic Medical Center’s 10-kilometer and 5K runs start and ends at City Pier.
Eichelsdoerfer is a North Olympic Discovery marathon veteran. This will be his eighth year in the event.
“It’s probably one of my favorite marathons,” he said.
“It’s small, so there is lots of camaraderie, but it also has the big-race feel because the aid stations are well run.”
The scenery alone, though, is enough to make the North Olympic Peninsula’s only marathon a big attraction.
“The scenery is amazing,” Eichelsdoerfer said.
“It’s one of my favorites for scenery, too.”
Eichelsdoerfer normally runs the North Olympic Discovery marathon in the 3:45- to 4-hour range.
He won’t be setting a personal record this year, he said.
“I would be happy just to finish because I recently had knee surgery.
“If it takes me 5 hours, that would be OK.”
Port Angeles High School sophomore Michael Ahrens, meanwhile, will be shooting for the 3-hour or so time slot in his first-ever marathon.
He finished in eighth place in the Olympic League cross country championships last October and said he is using the marathon for training for the upcoming fall cross country season.
If Saturday’s weather holds up through today, it should be a pleasant temperature for all the race entrants.
It was partly cloudy in Port Angeles on Saturday, a little breezy at times, cool in the shade but warm in sunshine, that kept coming and going.
Except for a fairly heavy rain early in the morning, the moisture held off for most of the day.
The kids marathon took place Saturday afternoon at City Pier and later a pre-race yoga class and a Sons of Italy pasta dinner were held in the evening.
Now it’s time for the fun to begin today.
There will be plenty of viewing for spectators at the marathon start at Carrie Blake Park.
The race course goes along the North Olympic Trail for the most part with good spots to view the runners along the way.
The finish line at City Pier gets a-hopping with today’s 10K and 5K starts at 9 a.m. and doesn’t slow down until the marathon runners and walkers finish their races in late afternoon.
