Seattle Marathon

 

11/30/25 Olympic Sculpture Park and Seattle Marathon route near Pier 66

Seeing the map of the new Seattle Marathon route in the Seattle Times last week made me realize that I had never sketched at a marathon before. I knew that Gabi Campanario, illustrator of the map, was also running in the marathon. It all seemed like an excellent opportunity to organize a sketch outing there!

Had I known the temperature would be 31F that morning, I might have hesitated, but the expected 15,000 runners probably didn’t mind the cold. Putting on my brand new, extra-long down coat and boots, I was ready, too.

Meeting up at the Olympic Sculpture Park, which was near the end of the route, USk Seattle had a good view of participants on their last mile. I made one sketch near Calder’s Eagle sculpture (above) in silhouette against the brilliant sun while runners streamed by.

Around the time Gabi expected to finish, I walked down to Western Avenue to get closer to the excitement. Despite the crowd of cheering onlookers, it was surprisingly easy to find a spot with a good view. I had an app that indicated when Gabi would be close to the finish line, and I was watching for him carefully, yet somehow I missed him! When I next looked at the app, he had already finished!

Disappointed that I couldn’t cheer him on, I still had fun cheering random runners. A large team of marathon supporters called out encouragement to runners at various points: “You got this! Almost there! The last mile!” Some carried signs with the names of specific runners they were cheering for. Although I’ve never been a runner myself, I felt the exhilaration they must have felt after all the months of training and commitment to their sport. Congratulations to Gabi and all Seattle Marathon participants!