HAYDEN LAKE — As fate would have it, Vanessa Whattam’s childhood home is right by the 3-mile mark of the Hayden Lake Marathon route.

It was only fitting that she was the first woman to complete Saturday morning’s marathon run.

“It’s exciting,” Whattam said. “I grew up running this course. I’ve probably run it a thousand times.”

Whattam, 30, ran the 26.2-mile route in 3 hours, 24 minutes and 54 seconds, meeting the time she aimed for despite the morning’s rainy and windy conditions.

“It went about how I expected,” Whattam said.

For Mitchell Berquist of Coeur d’Alene, the race was his first time taking the long lap around Hayden Lake.

Berquist, 23, was the first male from North Idaho to complete the marathon with a time of 3 hours, 33 minutes and 37 seconds — not bad at all for his first go at a marathon.

“I expected a much slower race than what I did there,” he said. “It feels really good.”

Berquist began taking distance running seriously after joining the Coeur d’Alene Runners group earlier this year.

“They were all doing marathons, so I thought, ‘Hey, I might as well,’” he said.

A total of 83 people completed this year’s marathon, with runners coming in from both local communities and from well beyond the Inland Northwest.

The Hayden Lake Marathon route began and ended at Honeysuckle Beach. Runners traversed the entirety of Hayden Lake along tree-lined roads.

An additional 500 runners took part in half-marathon, quarter-marathon (6.5 miles) and 5K races — including siblings Cannon and Berlyn Adams of Rathdrum, who completed their first half-marathon at just 12 and 15 years old, respectively.

Cannon crossed the finish line in 3 hours, 12 minutes and 58 seconds, while Berlyn came in just after her brother at 3 hours, 13 minutes and 41 seconds.

“It felt great,” Cannon said.

“They really pushed themselves,” said proud mom Brianna Adams.

The Adams siblings weren’t the only ones who took a family-style approach to the race.

Ed Waggoner of Sandpoint completed the half-marathon alongside his children, Perpetua, John, Felicia and Steven.

Though the father and his older children each have an impressive number of races under their belts, it was Steven’s first time crossing the finish line with a time of 3 hours, 2 minutes and 50 seconds.

Though Steven described running against the rain and wind as “horrid,” he couldn’t help but feel proud of himself.

“It’s really about conquering your weaknesses,” Ed added. “The misery factor just makes it more fun to finish.”

William Miles, 53, of Happy Valley, Ore., took first place overall in the marathon race with a time of 3:08:00.

Former Coeur d'Alene High athlete Kai Sharbono, 41, of Spokane, placed first overall in the half-marathon at 1:23:05.  

Matthew Howard, 40, of Post Falls, took first overall in the quarter marathon at 49:33.  

Beaux Mooring, 11, of Rathdrum, took first place in the 5K race at 21:35.  

    Vanessa Whattam crosses the finish line of the Hayden Lake Marathon on Saturday.
  

    Mitchell Berquist of Coeur d'Alene crosses the Hayden Lake Marathon finish line Saturday.
  

    A runner is embraced by a loved one after completing the Hayden Lake Marathon course Saturday.
  

    Siblings Steven and Perpetua Waggoner of Sandpoint race to the finish line to complete a half-marathon at the Hayden Lake Marathon on Saturday.