Local runners shine in inaugural marathon

For Ashley Nordell and Sean Meissner of Sisters, the first Sisters to Bend Marathon provided a familiar course for the classic 26.2-mile race.

Nordell and Meissner shared runner-up status as the pair finished as the second-place female and male in the race, which began in Sisters at the Village Green and threaded its way out the Brooks-Scanlon Road and through backroads to its finish at Northwest Crossing in Bend.

Meissner finished second overall behind Scott Wolfe of Bend, who won the race in 2 hours 59 minutes and 32 seconds. Meissner, still recovering from his fourth-place finish at last weekend's Lake Tahoe Marathon, was timed in 3:13:58.

"My legs were pretty thrashed from the running I have been doing lately, but it was a pretty - although tough - course," he said.

Meissner plans to rest up a bit in preparation for the upcoming New York City Marathon, scheduled for November 6.

Nordell, a nationally ranked ultra-marathoner who gave birth to a daughter in late spring, placed fifth overall in 3:27:57, just under six minutes behind the winner, Sabrina Pullins, of Washington.

Tony Massie (3:49:27) and Kyle Harbick (3:58:52) were the only other Sisters residents to complete the marathon among 79 runners in the race.

A half-marathon, starting in Bend as part of the marathon event included a pair of Sisters runners, Molly Mayes (2:22:09) and Sandi Hull (2:30:14), as well.

The marathon and half-marathon served in part as a fundraiser for the Bend-La Pine Education Foundation.