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PHOTO BY SHERWIN ENG

THEY’RE OFF. Runners in the Tacoma Half Marathon take off at the start of the race.

Mozer, Swedler win half-marathon

By Rick Walter

Tacoma saw its first half-marathon in several years on Aug. 2, when more than 800 runners started at the Gig Harbor side of the Narrows Bridges and took on the 2,097-meter route that went across the bridge to the Scott Pierson Trail, onto Cheney Stadium where the competitors ran the warning track of the baseball field, and finished in downtown Tacoma.

Ruth Swedler was the women’s winner in a time of 1:28:43 and the men’s winner was John Mozer in 1:19:16. The other female top-10 finishers were: Mary Hanna, Chloe Treleven, Jen Larkin, Ginger Gruber, Karen Cortez, Mary Robbins, Gretchen Stipe, Bailey Campbell and Quinn Pina.

The other male top-10 finishers were: Lance Docken, Dennis Eldridge, Michael Molnar, Cliff Richards, Dale Macomber, Arthur Dunn, Michael Ogliore, Mickey Allen and Richard Walker.

After crossing the bridges at the start of the race, runners climbed the steepest part of the course up War Memorial Park to the site of the famous IRC Blues Brothers Aide Station at mile 4.5. Then it was over Route 16’s pedestrian bridge and spectacular views, to a short tour of the Skyline neighborhood, then back across the highway and onto the Scott Pierson Trail.

At mile eight, runners arrived at Cheney Stadium where they ran the warning track, then headed back out along the Scott Pierson Trail, to the easiest section of the course downhill to downtown Tacoma through the University of Washington - Tacoma campus and to the finish line at Tollefson Plaza.

With the departure of the FSRC Pacific Rim Half Marathon in 2003, Tacoma has had a void in the race calendar in August, specifically in the half-marathon distance.

“We wanted to fill that void with the Inaugural Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon. For 2008, we are limited to under 1,000 participants. But if all goes well, 2009 could see an increase in the field,” said race director Tony Phillippi, founder of the Marathon Maniacs.

The race was USATF certified and a New York City Qualifier.

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