Olympia man, Bonney Lake woman both first-time winners at 37th Capital City Marathon

The 37th running of the Capital City Marathon produced two first-time winners Sunday morning in Olympia.

Both Corey Nunlist of Olympia and Jessica Kosloski of Bonney Lake recorded the first victories of their marathon careers when they crossed the finish line on Capitol Way South.

Nunlist, 36, finished in two hours, 51 minutes, 33 seconds in his fifth running of the annual race. He has also participated in the past as a pacer, and has completed the marathon in some capacity each year since 2013.

"I love this town," he said. "It's a great running town."

Nunlist has also run the Boston Marathon and Twin Cities Marathon (Minnesota). He said he enjoys the scenery of his home course, and the enthusiasm of the crowd.

"It's always nice when you get back in town, because a lot of people are cheering you on, and you're almost done," Nunlist said.

Nunlist grew up in New Hampshire before moving to Thurston County about 15 years ago. He is a fifth-grade teacher at Tumwater Hill Elementary, and was one of several runners donning a racing shirt promoting public education.

Nunlist spent about the first seven miles of the race running alongside Timberline High School junior Hunter Aman.

"He did an awesome job. He was really doing great," Nunlist said. "It was fun to run with him for a little while. He's going to be a great runner in a few years."

Nunlist eventually took off, finishing less than two minutes before runner-up Tyler Sprague, 30, of Olympia (2:53:08).

Aman, 17, was the youngest competitor to run the marathon this year. In his first-ever marathon, Aman finished third in 2:59:41, running alongside 10-time Capital City champion Jesse Stevick, who paced the three-hour group this year.

"I had my sister and my dad supporting me the whole way," Aman said, noting Stevick helped push him to the end. "It's very fun."

Kosloski, 27, ran a personal-best time of 3:18:22 to win the women's division in just the third marathon of her career, and her first time running Capital City.

She ran marathons in Leavenworth and Snohomish last fall.

"It's really surreal," Kosloski said. "I never thought this would be possible. I couldn't have done it without the supporters at the end and the awesome people running with me."

Kosloski, who grew up in Fife, wore a pair of sunglasses on the sunny morning in the South Sound, and threw her hands in the air as she crossed the finish line.

"It was the perfect day," she said. "It was beautiful. "I've never explored Olympia before and it was gorgeous."

Olympia's Victoria Kent, 24, last year's winner, was the runner-up in the women's race (3:20:09), while 42-year-old Andrea Thorpe of Louisville, Colo. was third (3:21:06).

RUNNING TO THE ALTER

After Liberty Ryder, 43, of Lacey crossed the finish line in the 5-mile race, she stood behind the tape lining the finishing chute, waiting to cheer on her boyfriend as he finished the half-marathon.

"I thought something was wrong with him because he was running slow, and his pace was slow," Ryder said. "I started to get worried about where he was."

What 44-year-old Lonnie Hetzler had in mind was worth the wait.

The Lacey resident made his way down the Capitol Way hill and, just before the finish, located Ryder among the spectators and dropped down to one knee.

The race announcer narrated the proposal, and Ryder gave a thumbs-up to the crowd, signaling her acceptance.

"I've just been thinking about it," Hetzler said. "I thought, 'Why not now?' I was training for the full, and I decided to drop down to the half. I thought, as long as I come in after her, she'll be on the sideline."

As for Hetzler's slower pace, he'd originally written the proposal across his chest, so Ryder could see the question as he strode in.

The words wore off during the race. He said he stopped at two water stops in an effort to re-write the question.

That didn't have much success, but his proposal was still met with joyful tears from Ryder.

"I'm totally overwhelmed," said Ryder, who completed her first-ever road race Sunday. "It's super cool."

'TEAM FRITZ' REMEMBERED BY SON, PACERS

Andy and Jody Fritz, the local couple killed in a bus crash in Mexico in December, were honored throughout Sunday's races.

Marathon pacers wore neon yellow shirts that read "Team Fritz" in memory of the couple, who were staples in the South Sound running community.

"The running community was my dad's community," said Jared Fritz, who ran the half-marathon. "He had his work friends, then his running friends. It's amazing to see the bibs with his face on it, and the 'Team Fritz' shirts. It's awesome."

Jared Fritz, 23, said he decided to run to honor both of his parents.

"My dad ran this race every year for the last 15 years," he said. "When they died i decided this is an opportunity for me to carry it on."

SNELL SAYS FAREWELL

Race director Nona Snell, 53, who has held her position for the past seven years, has decided to step down after this year's race.

Her upcoming departure was announced in December. Her replacement has not yet been named.

"I'll stay involved. This is such a great event and part of the community," Snell said. "I want to contribute to the community, so I'll definitely keep volunteering.

"The number of people it takes to put this on, who get absolutely zero credit for doing it, is amazing. There are really dedicated people who spend a lot of time. I just really appreciate living in a place where that's the case."

BY THE NUMBERS

Olympia residents won both divisions of the half-marathon.

Andrew Hillier, 46, won the men's division at 1:15:58, and 25-year-old Lindsay Andersen won the women's division at 1:29:09.

Olympia's Zack Sundt, 18, won the men's 5-mile race at 28:39. Sarah Johnson, a 25-year-old from Shelton, repeated as the women's champion at 33:03.19.

The three races had a combined 1,839 finishers — 720 men and 1119 women. The marathon had 264 finishers (157 men, 107 women); the half-marathon had 1,002 finishers (386 men, 616 women); and the 5-miler had 573 finishers (177 men, 396 women).

This story was originally published May 20, 2018 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Olympia man, Bonney Lake woman both first-time winners at 37th Capital City Marathon."