Zachary Boyd-Helm running his first marathon wins in Bend Oregon

Zachary Boyd-Helm, a former distance runner at West Linn High and then Southern Oregon University, said he just wanted to see what a marathon felt like.

The 26-year-old did much more, winning the marathon portion of the Bend Marathon and Half Saturday morning in 2:42:58.

“I completely exceeded my goal, which I’m super excited about,” said Boyd-Helm, who wanted to break 2:45 but would have settled for anything under three hours.

A steady rain fell as marathoners started the race at 7 a.m. behind the Les Schwab Amphitheater stage, which also served as the finish line for the event’s four races.

But the rain stopped by the time Boyd-Helm, now a graduate student at SOU, crossed the finish line.

“It’s such a beautiful course with all the rolling hills,” he said. “There’s people at every single point so I never felt like I was completely by myself. This was a really fun marathon. It definitely makes me want to do more.”

William Miles, of Happy Valley, finished second in the marathon in 2:46:15, and Jordan Tait, of Kuna, Idaho, placed third in 2:51.59.

Bend’s Lindsey Hagen, 35, was the top female, finishing fourth overall in 2:57.33.

Originally from Santa Cruz, California, Hagen said she has completed about 30 marathons in her life, but it was her first time running the Bend Marathon after moving to Central Oregon more than three years ago to work at Rebound Physical Therapy, a sponsor of the marathon.

Hagen, an ultra runner, said she used the marathon to train for next month’s Smith Rock 50K. She also plans to do 100K and 100-mile races this summer.

“It was probably slower than I could do normally because of the hills but I felt good and raced hard,” Hagen said of the Bend Marathon.

Alaini Ritsch, of Fort Collins, Colorado, was the second female to finish the marathon, placing sixth overall in 3:02.30.

Ryan Lok, of Oakland, California, won the half marathon in 1:12.09. Brett Holts (Lake Oswego) and Adrian Shipley (Forest Grove) took second and third in 1:14.03 and 1:18.20, respectively.

The top female in the half marathon was Forest Grove’s Laura Lewis, who finished 18th overall in 1:29.49.

Portland’s David Hamilton won the 10K in 35.58. Stephen Bauer, of San Francisco, placed second in 38.03.

Portland’s Angharad Porteous, the top female, finished third overall in 39:18. Bend’s Katie Grissen was the second female to cross the finish line, placing fourth overall in 40:15.

Hunter Hurl, a 10-year-old from McMinnville, finished fifth in 40:18.

Bend runners dominated the 5K. Jason Colquhoun and Ron Deems, both of Bend, placed first and second in 18:26 and 19:29, respectively.

Bend 10-year-old Lauren Willard finished third in 19:42. She was followed by 12-year-old Kyle Kirsch in 20:20 and 10-year-old Skye Knox in 20:39.

More than 2,400 runners and walkers participated in the fifth annual event, which also included a kids’ run.

posted Sunday April 21st