PORT ANGELES — The winner was competing in his first marathon while the runner-up was displaced from New Orleans by hurricane Katrina and the third-place runner is a refugee from Sudan.
The 2006 North Olympic Discovery Marathon, 26.2 miles from Sequim to Port Angeles, was probably the most interesting in the event’s short four-year history.
Renton’s Preston Brashers, 23, won the race in two hours, 35 minutes, smoking the field despite competing in his first-ever marathon.
That’s like hitting a hole in one the first time someone steps on the golf course.
Brashers pulled away from the field at three miles and didn’t hear the pitter-patter of running behind him the rest of the way.
“I never felt pressured,” Brashers said.
For all those veteran marathon runners who haven’t won a race yet, Brashers said he didn’t know what his secret to success was expect for a lot of hard work.
“A lot of things are going very well for me,” he said. “I put in a lot of miles, and I was lucky to stay healthy.”
And Brashers cross-trains on a mountain bike.
“Maybe it’s the mountain bike training,” he said. “I put a lot of miles on a mountain bike every day.”
The real suspense for the race was for second place.
Bryan Smith of Thibodaux, La., 43, was dueling most of the way with Jany Deng, 27 and a refugee from Sudan who now lives in Phoenix.
Smith, who will turn 44 this week, used his experience of 46 marathons and a calf injury to Deng to earn runner-up honors.
“I got more drafting than Deng did,” Smith said.
For five miles Smith ran behind Deng, and at other times he ran behind a relay team to protect himself from the wind.
“There wasn’t much wind, but enough to make the drafting worthwhile,” Smith said.
And on top of that Deng wasn’t in perfect health.
“I’m a little bit disappointed with myself but I ran with a bad calf today,” Deng said.
But it was a good battle between the two runners.
“We were fighting it out, fighting it out,” Deng said.
Smith, who was displaced from New Orleans from hurricane Katrina and moved to Thibodaux, La., noticed that Brashers left the rest of the field in his dust.
“He ran a good race,” Smith said. “He kept pulling away, pulling away.”
Unlike Brashers, Smith is no newcomer to marathons. He has raced in 46 of them in 30 years.
And he usually finishes high. Smith has finished in the top four in all 12 marathons he has participated in the past six months.
