Kristi Lachenmeier met her goal on Sunday.
And winning the ninth Girlfriends Run for the Cure half marathon was a nice bonus.
“I just wanted to break an hour and a half,” the 40-year-old Camas resident said.
She did that by running a steady pace of 6 minutes and 50 seconds per mile, finishing the 13.1-run in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 36 seconds.
Jennifer Teppo, 57, of Vancouver was the second of 589 women to finish the half-marathon course. The cross country coach for Hockinson High School, Teppo’s time was 1:31:27. Third to the finish line was Sharon McShea, 46, of Vancouver in 1:35:23.
Eleven men who raised or donated at least $500 apiece for the Kearney Breast Center at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center also completed the half marathon.
Lachenmeier and Teppo were among a small group who set a quick pace from the start. After about four miles, Lachenmeier began to establish a lead that was hers to the finish line.
The Girlfriends Run for the Cure was established in 2007 by Northwest Personal Training owner Sherri McMillan who was inspired by friend and breast cancer survivor Joleen Skarberg. The first eight editions raised almost $350,000 for cancer related charities. In 2014, the race added a 6.55-mile quarter marathon.
This year, 433 women finished the quarter marathon. Michelle Fields, 35, of Vancouver won that race with a time of 49 minutes and 53 seconds.
Sunday’s victory in the half marathon was a first win for Lachenmeier, who has completed six full marathons and many more half marathons. She was the second woman finisher in the 2014 Vancouver USA Marathon, and said she might shoot to race that June marathon in 2016.
Winning was fun, she said, but the highlight of the day was spending time with a group of friends that included a close college friend from Denver — and other inspiring women. Lachenmeier said she and her friends chose Sunday’s half marathon for their annual fall race because of its cause and because of the enthusiasm that they experienced when they first ran the Girlfriends race several years ago.
“I love how the women support each other,” she said. Lachenmeier said a women-only race is less stressful than racing alongside men.
Stress relief, Lachenmeier said, is her motivation for running at all. “It just feels good to get out there.”
Teppo, a longtime member of the Clark County Running Club, said her first Girlfriends half marathon was a great experience.
“I would say it’s sort of contagious to be supportive of other women,” Teppo said.
Supporting cancer research also hit home for Teppo, whose own daughter’s life has been impacted because she had brain cancer early in life. Teppo said her sister-in-law died of breast cancer.
Being around so many whose lives have been touched by cancer is “a good reminder that we need to be thinking about how hard other people’s lives are, and not only about our own challenges,” Teppo said.
