More than 10,000 runners from all over the U.S. and globe ran the Eugene Marathon Sunday.
With the rattle of noisemakers and horns, the marathon started outside Hayward Field just after sunrise. Thousands of runners snaked through Eugene-Springfield over the next several hours. Cheering from the sidelines was Lynne Holland, whose daughter, Danielle, was running her third marathon.
“She ran my first half marathon with me,” said Holland, who was enjoying the event. “I like the energy of the people, and just the camaraderie is nice. This is probably the biggest race we’ve been to so far.”
A minute later, Holland managed to wave hello as her daughter zipped by. Holland said she’d try to weave out to another part of the course to wave at her kid again.
While many participants were out to set personal goals, two runners in the Eugene Marathon did so in honor of their friend, who was killed in a local traffic accident several months ago.
Cleven Mmari and his son Nehemia wore special shirts with a photo of Erick Munene Njue as they ran the half-marathon. Njue was riding his bicycle through 22nd and Patterson on January 25 when one vehicle stopped while another drove through the intersection, hitting him.
The Mmaris say they want the City of Eugene to help prevent further deaths like their friend’s. They described Njue as a great “person of joy” who was also very physically active, which included signing up for the Eugene Marathon before his death.
“We are running on his honor, but also to ask the city to act and install cues to the drivers to slow down,” said the elder Mmari. He showed off the back of his shirt, which read, “Zero Deaths, Zero Excuses. Eugene City Council, act now.”
“I was surprised that I really came out here and did this,” said Nehemia. “I’m so exhausted. Very. But it was for Erick.”
Njue was a 30-year-old University of Oregon Ph.D student from Kenya who was studying special education. He would have graduated in June.
Meanwhile, a new men’s record for the Eugene Marathon was set by Jackson Siddall of Monument, Colorado. He completed the full-marathon in 2 hours, 15 minutes and two seconds.
That time beats the previous men’s marathon record of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 7 seconds set in 2014 by Jacob Chemtai.
As the event wound down, people recuperated at vendor stands or made their way back to their hotels. A Travel Lane County official told KLCC that the Eugene Marathon generates just over $8 million in direct spending, $3 million spent at restaurants and retail stories, $2.6 million in lodging revenue, and more than $300,000 dollars in local tax revenue.
For a city dubbed “Track Town U.S.A”, it speaks to the legacy established by athletes such as Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine and sporting goods giant Nike, which got its start in Eugene.
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