Nearly 500 people young and old braved the wet February weather west of Port Angeles on Saturday in the biggest Elwha River Bridge run in six years.
A total of 492 people completed the race, compared to 339 last year. It was the biggest crowd since 621 finished the race in 2020.
The title sponsors of the race are the Peninsula Daily News and the Sequim Gazette. The presenting sponsors are Olympic Medical Center and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
The weather was wet with light sprinkles at the beginning of the race turning into heavier rain as the morning went on. However, it didn’t dampen the speed of the race as the winning runners had some outstanding times. The temperature was mild in the upper 40s. Races in past years had snow flurries and heavy winds so conditions were mild by comparison for the wintry race.
Youth was served in the 10K as five out of the six top runners were all teenagers. Winning the race was Port Townsend runner Nico Errichetti, 16, in a spectacular time of 34 minutes, 49.96 seconds. That bettered last year’s top time by more than a minute.
Errichetti was the winner of the Jamestown S’Klallam Glow Run in December, another one of the Run the Peninsula races. Errichetti actually started the race with a huge handicap, but still won by more than two full minutes.
“I actually started late behind the leader, but I was able to catch up,” he said. “It was wet. The first half of the race, it wasn’t bad. It kind of felt nice.”
Coming in second was Owen Armstrong, 17, of Maple Valley in a time of 36:56.99 and third was 18-year-old Drew Bardwell of Poulsbo in a time of 38:57.11. There were six runners under 40 minutes compared to just two last year.
The top women’s runner was Sequim phenom Eleanor Jones, 13, who crushed the field with a run of 39:47.11. That was good for fifth overall.
“I feel good. The weather conditions aren’t great, but you kind of expect it,” Jones said. She was pleased she did the race in under 40 minutes. High school runners beware, she becomes a freshman next year and Jones said she is already looking forward to competing at the high school level.
“I’m exciting about going to state next year,” she said.
Coming in second was Jones’ mother Laura Gould, at 43:36.45. They often finish races together, but Jones outpaced her mother by 4½ minutes in this race. Coming in third was another teenager, Samantha Schofield, 17, of Seabeck, in a time of 45:42.68.
Coming in first in the 5K was a repeat winner Kyle Bardwell of Silverdale, in a time of 18:09.07, nearly two full minutes ahead of second place. He said the rain was a little tough and his finishing time was a bit slow for him.
“It’s not what I wanted, but I’ll take it,” he said.
Second was Matt Dale of Bremerton in 20:08.68, while Aiden Loehr of Bainbridge was third in a time of 21:01.11.
Among the women, Katherine Braun of Port Angeles won her second Run the Peninsula race (she won the Spruce Railroad Run last year), in a time of 23:30.32. Braun has been involved for years in local races and loves seeing how much they have grown.
“It was wet. Despite the weather, everything went well. This is an amazing local event. It’s growing every year. It seems like we’re seeing more and more out-of-towners,” she said.
Jenae Dale of Bremerton was the second-place woman in a time of 24:34.32 and another teen runner, Alli Applewhite, 14, of Port Townsend was third in 25:11.57.
The ages of the 5K runners spanned nearly a century as the youngest runner was 4 and the oldest was Charles Milliman, 93, of Sequim.
For entire results, people can go to www.tinyurl.com/2026ElwhaResults.
Elwha River Bridge Run
Top 10 finishers
10K Men — Nico Errichetti, first, 35:49.96; Owen Armstrong, second, 36:56.99; Drew Bardwell, third, 38:57.11; Ethan Martin, fourth, 39:32.68; Taylor Lee, fifth, 39:59.94; Michael Higuera, sixth, 40:44.11; Bryan Stang, seventh, 42:16.94; Dylan Zehr, eighth, 43:10.76; Oliver Westendorf, ninth, 43:59.71; Brandon Sherlinski, 10th, 45:41.78.
10K Women — Eleanor Jones, first, 39:47.11 (fifth overall); Laura Gould, second, 43:36.45; Samantha Schofield, third, 45:42.68; Jennifer Mathews, fourth, 47:58.35; Kristie Cotroneo, fifth, 50:00.51; Katherine Stevenson, sixth, 50:04.67; Chelsea Bush, seventh, 50:29.57; Rachel King, eighth, 51:17.38; Jazzmin Mendoza, ninth, 51:32.02; Alma Sisk, 10th, 51:49.17.
5K Men — Kyle Bardwell, first, 18:09.07; Matt Dale, second, 20:08.68; Aiden Loehr, third, 21:01.11; Ken Reitan, fourth, 21:13.28; Matthew Machetti, fifth, 21:26.84; Christopher Roark, sixth, 21:32.19; Anthony Valley, seventh, 21:59.42; Justin Bergman, eighth, 22:58. 30; Josh Krzysiak, ninth, 23:18.14; Caine Bryan, 10th, 24:23.45.
5K Women — Katherine Braun, first, 23:20.32; Jenae Dale, second, 24:34.32; Alli Applewhite, third, 25:11.57; Celbie Karjalainen, fourth, 25:17.83; Sofia Doryland, fifth, 25:30.43; Tanya Schofield, sixth, 26:30.99; Nancy Potts, seventh, 27:07.22; Erica Taylor, eighth, 27:16.00; Margan Fairbanks, ninth, 27:27.59; Emily Huget, 10th, 27:33.04.
