Inside Page: Sharman is a fast Elvis

Playing catchup with a few athletes who won some big events over the last few weeks:

Ian Sharman and Erika Ruppelius were the male and female champions, respectively, Sunday at the 35th Trios Health Tri-Cities Marathon.

For the 35-year-old Sharman, Sunday’s victory — his third Tri-Cities Marathon win, this one in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 49 seconds — came at a much shorter distance than he’s used to.

Sharman is an ultra-marathon runner who is used to running 100 miles or more at a time, not the 26.2 miles a marathon consists of. Well, OK, this was his 102nd marathon over the last 10 years.

“It is a shorter race, but it’s an intense race,” said Sharman.

The Oregonian held the lead for almost the entire race. He was actually faster in the second half of his race than the first.

So he had plenty of time out there by himself. So what’s he thinking about?

“I’m doing math in my head,” Sharman admitted. “There is also a lot of self-monitoring going on. Trying to make sure I have the right pace. I’m like a car, checking all of the gauges all of the time. There is plenty of time out there to think about things in your head. Most of my best ideas come up while I’m running because I have a clear head.”

So this is his next best idea: Running the Las Vegas Marathon in a few weeks dressed as Elvis Presley.

“I want to set the fastest time for a marathon dressed as Elvis,” he said. “If I can do what I did (in the Tri-Cities) dressed as Elvis that would be a record for the Guinness Book of World Records.”

That is something to strive for.

Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Ruppelius made a splash in the running community with her victory.

She grew up in Kennewick and ran cross country and track and field for Kamiakin High School.

But she always ran junior varsity in cross country and wasn’t a regional placer in track.

“I’m not very fast to run the short distances,” she said in a telephone interview from Cheney, where she’s a student at Eastern Washington University. “But I started running marathons when I was really young. Some people were concerned about my health in doing this, because it can be rough on your bones.”

This was her fifth marathon, and her goal was to get a personal record —which she did in 3 hours, 36 minutes and 39 seconds. She just didn’t expect to win.

“It was about three-quarters into the race (along the Pasco side of the Columbia River) and I realized I hadn’t seen any women pass me by,” Ruppelius said. “I was really excited when I realized I had won.”

Ruppelius went online and found a training guide to running a marathon, and she started using it a few months ago.

Now she’s got the taste to run more.

“I want to keep getting better,” she said. “I want to do a Boston Marathon.”

But first, she needs to heal.

“I’m still in a lot of pain,” she said.

Williams wins Tri-Cities tourney

It took me a week to catch up with Ryan Williams, the golf pro from Vancouver, British Columbia, who won the 2015 Budweiser Tri-Cities Invitational golf tournament at West Richland Golf Course on Oct. 16-18.

Williams went home for a week, then headed to Palm Desert, Calif., to keep his game in shape.

The $10,000 first-place prize he took at West Richland with his 190 score is no small pile of money.

“It’s huge because it pays for Q school (PGA Qualifying School),” said Williams. “Also being Canadian, I’m able to make some U.S. money. That’s nice.”

Williams came into West Richland hot, placing second at the PGA Tour Canada’s Freedom 55 Financial Championship the month before.

“It’s a great tournament. I think this my third time here,” Williams said. “It’s always fun.”

In a few weeks, he begins the second stage of Q school.

Last year, he was exempt and only had to play in the third and final round of Q School.

“I thought I’d come down (to Palm Desert), keep my game sharp,” he said.

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Inside Page: Sharman is a fast Elvis."