Eugene Marathon winners switch goals mid-race from running fast times to securing titles

When achieving the Olympic Trials Marathon standard became a long shot for Tyler Morse and Carrie Dimoff, both turned their focus to the next-best thing — winning.

The Bowerman Track Club Elite runners were both victorious Sunday morning during the 15th Eugene Marathon that finished inside Hayward Field, as the race returned to the streets of Eugene and Springfield after being canceled in 2020 and conducted virtually in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morse won the 26.2-mile men’s race in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 29 seconds. Dimoff won the women’s race in 2:43:51.

Both were trying to secure in their 2024 Olympic Trials qualifying times, which is 2:18:00 for the men and 2:37:00 for the women. The qualifying window opened in January.

“Oh, it was tough,” said Dimoff, 38, who competed in the marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar. “It felt tough from mile nine on and it was really about getting through every mile one after another. I had a teammate out there and I wanted to help her as much as possible. But yeah, that was a struggle the whole way.”

Sunday marked her third marathon in the last seven months. She finished 19th at the Chicago Marathon in October when she ran 2:38:28. She was third at the California International Marathon in Sacramento, California, in December when she ran a personal-best 2:29:33.

It was the first time the Portland resident ran in the Eugene Marathon, but not her first time inside the rebuilt Hayward Field. Dimoff competed in the 10,000 last summer during the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials.

While she enjoyed back inside stadium, Dimoff said she came close to not making it to the finish line on Sunday.

“There were times when I was like, ‘I don’t feel good, maybe I should drop out,’” she said. “But I was like, ‘I’m leading the race! You can’t drop out if you’re leading!’ It just goes to show, someone might be running fast but everyone’s hurting out there. We’re all just trying super hard.”

Finishing in second was Julia Budniak of Lakwewood, Washington, who crossed in 2:44:46.

Morse, a 28-year-old from Beaverton, finished more than a minute ahead of his BTC Elite training partner Johnny Rutford, who was second in 2:21:04.

“We didn’t have it today,” Morse said. “I really went for it around (miles) 18-23. When you take risks like that that far out still, I kind of died a little the last three miles. Then it was all about trying to get the win.”

It was just the second career marathon for Morse, a former distance runner for Illinois State, whose debut came four years ago when he ran 2:19:30 at the California International Marathon.

He said his mile pace was 5:17 with nine miles to go, leaving him with no choice but to up his tempo and get down to 5:14. The result was some rough final miles.

“I just started digging and I was solo basically the rest of the way," Morse said. "That’s how it goes sometimes. It’s pretty tough, but that’s the marathon.”

Prep standout Kate Peters got an early look at the Hayward Field finish line when she won the women’s half marathon.

The junior from Lake Oswego High School finished the 13.1-mile race in 1:13:22, well ahead of Hood River’s Sarah Reiter, who was second in 1:14:53.

“I love half marathons and road races and it’s fun to mix it up a little bit,” said Peters, 17, who won the Class 6A state title in cross country last November. She was also runnerup at the state meet as a freshman in 2019.

The pandemic wiped out Peters’ first two seasons of high school track, but she’s expected back at Hayward Field for the state meet later this month. Peters is ranked third in the nation in the 3,000 with a time of 9:32.91.

Her coach is Steve Edwards, husband of American distance great Shalane Flanagan, who also ran the half marathon Sunday.

“She’s really good,” Flanagan said of Peters. “My husband’s trying to keep her on the track but she loves the roads and road races.”

Peters finished fifth in the Eugene Half Marathon in 2019 when she ran 1:16:56.

Flanagan said Nike and former distance standout Andrew Bumbalough are collaborating on a project to help women achieve the Olympic Trials Marathon standard. Flanagan, an Olympic silver medalist and the 2017 New York City Marathon winner, offered to help pace a group Sunday.

Though she wasn't really competing, Flanagan finished 12th in 1:17:50.

“The group of women I ran with all had an amazing day,” Flanagan said. “A lot of (personal bests) out there. It was super fun. It was fun to be on the roads in Eugene.”

Jesse Joseph of Portland won the men’s half marathon in 1:06:14.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Tyler Morse, Carrie Dimoff win 2022 Eugene Marathon at Hayward Field