Nearly 1,000 runners enjoyed a three-hour-plus shower keeping them cool on the Olympic Peninsula, creating fast times and wet fun for the North Olympic Discovery Marathon on June 2.

Both of the marathon winners are members of the same running club in Nanaimo, B.C. The men’s winner, Derek Binnersley, won in 2023 and took first again in an outstanding time of 2 hours, 46 minutes, 34.93 seconds. He beat his winning time from last year by two minutes and finished four minutes ahead of second-place runner Tyler Rocha of Seattle (2:50.23.31).

The women’s winner was Natasha Parsons, also of Nanaimo, in a time of 3:01.06.18, good for fifth overall.

“Oh, my God, I can’t believe it to be honest with you,” Parsons said. “It was a hilly course. I thought I could come close to three hours. I was happy with my time. I didn’t think I would come in first.”

“I did two minutes faster than I did last year,” Binnersley said. “I just ran in the Boston Marathon seven weeks ago.”

Binnersley said he wasn’t happy with his time in Boston because it was hot and he was slow.

“I feel really good about this one,” he said.

Parsons beat Noelle Van Rysselberghe of Seattle, who was right behind her at 3:01:49.11, good for sixth overall. In fact, women runners had four of the top nine marathon finishes. Chloe Brennan of Vancouver, B.C., was eighth overall (3:04:13.71) and April Norman of Yakima (3:09:14.61) was ninth. All four women beat last year’s top women’s time of 3:12.

Photo by Pierre LaBossiere/Olympic Peninsula News Group North Olympic Discovery Marathon winners Derek Binnersley and Natasha Parsons, both of Nanaimo, B.C., display their first-place posters on June 2.

The NODM is the crown jewel of the Run the Peninsula series put on by the Port Angeles Marathon Association. Title sponsors include Olympic Medical Center, the Sequim Gazette and the Peninsula Daily News.

In the women’s half-marathon was a repeat winner, Port Angeles High School graduate Lauren Larson, who now runs distance at Boise State. She won the women’s 5k the day prior and nearly won the whole race, beaten just by her brother Langdon on Saturday by about 20 seconds. She finished the half-marathon in a time of 1:22:01.23, good for 10th overall, and eight minutes ahead of second place.

“It was good. I have a pretty good time,” Lauren Larson said, who has won multiple Run the Peninsula events in her career.

Winning the half-marathon in a time of 1:13:33.05 was Danny Skovron of Seattle, a repeat winner who edged out his brother Joe Skovron, who came in second at 1:13:44.48. Danny Skovron finished with a pace of 5:37 per mile.

“That’s a personal record; I can’t complain about that,” Skovron said. He runs track at the University of San Francisco.

“I love the rain. Wind would suck, but the rain keeps her fresh and cool. This was awesome. The conditions were spectacular,” Skovron said.

Including the 5k and 10k and kids’ marathon events, more than 2,000 runners from as far away as Medicine Hat, Alberta, and Amsterdam braved the drizzly weather of the North Olympic Peninsula to enjoy two days of racing.

One of the longest trips to participate in this year’s race was made by Daniel Spurgeon from the town of Medicine Hat in eastern Alberta. He ran in both the 5K on Saturday and the half-marathon on Sunday.

“I used to live in Victoria and support the navy. I support the army now in Medicine Hat,” he said. “This is perfect. A little more hilly than I thought.”

The winner of the marathon relay was Matt’s Map’s in a time of 3:46:45.41. Second place was the Enchiladas and the Fluffy Butts in a time of 4:02:16.62. A total of 19 teams ran in the team marathon.

Day one races

More than 500 runners from as far away as Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Amsterdam braved the drizzly weather of the North Olympic Peninsula to participate in day one of the North Olympic Discovery Marathon 5k and 10k events on June 1.

Winners include three repeat champions and one new champion, who came all the way from Colorado to run along the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Conditions were overcast with sprinkles, which many of the runners don’t mind.

The Larson family of Port Angeles which has won NODM events several years running now, took first place in both 5K races. Langdon Larson won with a time of 17 minutes, 39.05 seconds and right behind him in second place was his sister and women’s winner Lauren Larson in a time of 18:05.03.

Langdon Larson and Lauren Larson of Port Angeles won a total of three races this past weekend. Langdon won the men’s 5k, while Lauren won the women’s 5k on Saturday and the women’s half-marathon Sunday.

“Conditions were perfect … fairly humid but warm,” Lauren Larson said. Lauren finished just 26 seconds behind her brother but said she never thought she had a chance to catch him. “No, he took off right off the start.”

“17:39 … I’m happy with it,” Langdon said.

The women’s second-place winner was sibling Leia Larson in a time of 20:45.78. The youngest runner in the Larson family, Leyton Larson was 11th among the men in 20:41.63. In all, the Larsons took four of the top 13 times in the 5K. Mom Jeanne Larson was 11th among the women in 25:45.69.

The Larsons have run in the team marathon in past years, but this year, Langdon and Lauren said they are running in the half-marathon Sunday.

Winning the 10k was a former marathon winner, John Mauro of Port Townsend in a time of 34:57,89, which he said was a personal record by a minute. He won by two full minutes over Timothy Lara (36:53.21) of Everett.

“This is really pleasant, I just love this place,” Mauro said, who has also run in Peninsula Adventure Sports races which involve the slightly different discipline of trail running.

“I just love being out in it. Here’s the same, you have the ocean right there, I love being out in the wild,” Mauro said. Mauro, who has run in the Boston Marathon, said he has no plans to run marathons this year but turns 50 soon and may run in some marathons after he turns 50.

The one new winner was Melissa Snobeck of Arvada, Colo., who won the women’ 10k, and was third overall, in a time of 37:58.07. The second place 10k woman was Sarah Paquet of Seattle, whose time of 38:30.32 was good for fifth place among all runners.

Snobeck decided to come out and run the NODM because she has family in Oregon. “I like this fun and fast race,” she said. She said running at sea level is a lot easier than running in Arvada, elevation 6,100 feet.

“There I can’t breathe,” he said.

A total of 524 racers finished Saturday, with 186 taking on the 10k and 338 the 5k.

The next race in the Run the Peninsula series is a brand new race, the Spruce Railroad Run along the north shore of Lake Crescent on Oct. 19.