more photosThe Haulin' Aspen Marathon and Half-Marathon posed a grueling test for about 400 runners on trails west of Bend on Sunday.
But it was an especially exhausting outing for Van Phan of Maple Valley, Wash.
The 35-year-old completed her second marathon in as many days.
After finishing the Crater Lake Rim Runs Marathon on Saturday, she finished in 26th place out of 120 runners in the Haulin' Aspen Marathon, her 34th marathon/ultramarathon of the year. Her goal is to run 52 such races before the end of the year.
"This was the hardest marathon double I've done," said Phan, whose time Sunday was 4 hours, 7 minutes, 15 seconds. "Crater Lake (Marathon) was all on roads, so this was a nice break."
In May, Phan ran a 100-kilometer event and a marathon on successive days - twice.
This Saturday, she plans to run in the Where's Waldo 100K race near Willamette Pass Ski Area.
"I'm on track," Phan said of her 52-marathon quest. "I'll make it before the year's over. I have a plan and I'm trying to stick to it. Luckily, I'm having fun."
Sunday's races started and finished in Shevlin Park. The marathon (26.2 miles) included 2,500 feet of elevation gain up dirt roads, before a gradual descent back into Shevlin Park on the singletrack Mrazek Trail.
The half-marathon (13.1 miles) was on a similar course, with 1,300 feet of elevation gain.
Tim Vandervlugt of La Grande was first across the finish line in the second annual event, winning the marathon for the second straight year with a time of 3:08:56. Rod Bien of Bend finished second (3:13:12) and Shane Hoelz of Bend was third (3:14:32).
Vandervlugt, a former Bend resident, said he ran a comfortable pace and then turned it on once he came to the long uphill section between miles 7 and 14.
"There were some pretty brutal hills, and five false summits on the climb," Vandervlugt said. "If you don't know the course, you'd think you were at the top. But I knew the course well."
Vandervlugt, 41, runs for the Oregon National Guard and is a four-time winner of the National Guard Marathon Championship.
Kami Semick of Bend was the first woman across the finish line and fourth overall with a time of 3:16:36.
Semick said she started at a faster pace than she had planned, trying to catch another female runner who had an early lead. But Semick caught her and gained a huge lead during the long climb.
Semick won by about two minutes over Evelyn Dong of Bend, who was fifth overall, finishing in 3:18:40. Dru Carpenter of Redmond finished third (3:35:36) among the women and ninth overall.
"The run back from the top was great," Semick said. "You can cruise on the downhill stuff."
Semick, 40, finished less than 8 minutes behind the winning male runner, Vandervlugt. She has claimed overall victories (among men and women) in ultramarathon events before.
"It's always a possibility, but I don't focus on that," Semick said.
Semick will represent the United States as part of the 100K National Team in the World Cup 100K Championships, set for South Korea on Oct. 8. The Haulin' Aspen was a training run for Semick as she prepares for South Korea.
"I'm really working on increasing my speed," Semick said.
Neville Davey of Bend won the half-marathon, finishing in 1:21:55. Jeff Caba of Bend was second (1:25:10) and Dean Giblin of Portland took third (1:25:35).
Davey ran with a pack of runners for the first half of the race, then broke away on the singletrack in his first trail-running event.
"I took a little bit of a tumble," said Davey, pointing to his dirty, scraped left knee. "It was a good introduction to trail running."
Pam Bradbury of Bend was the first woman across the finish line in the half-marathon, finishing with a time of 1:35:27. Lori Buratto of Spokane Valley, Wash., took second (1:37:26) and Amy Petersen of Bend was third (1:38:53).
"It was pretty good until that hill," Bradbury said. "Then I didn't really know what to do. When I got to 2 miles to go, I said, 'Let's just finish.' ''
