The Great Ones

Caroline Walker---Though she ran only one marathon during her competitive career, it was a dandy. Caroline ran the first Trail's End Marathon in 3:02:53 to set a women's world record. Actually, her time was a bit faster than that. One of the officials was alert enough, though,  to realize the importance of her time and also the AAU rule which mandated that three watches be used to certify a national or world record. A half minute ticked by before the watches were found and stopped. Caroline went on to place well in numerous national events both as a runner and as a triathlete.

Kenny Moore---It was only proper that a local Oregon kid win the inaugural Trail's End event. Moore grew up in Oregon and did his collegiate running at the University of Oregon where he trained under legendary coach Bill Bowerman. Though a three-time track & field all-American and a two-time Pac-8 steeplechase champ, the marathon really was his event as he won several national championships and twice made the US Olympic team in the marathon, topping it all off with a fourth place finish in the Munich Olympics in 1972. Moore continued with the sport as a writer (25 years at Sports Illustrated) and has written several books including Bill Bowerman and the Men of Oregon.

Gerry Lindgren---Former world 6 mile record holder Gerry Lindgren placed 9th in the 10,000 at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. While at Washington State University Gerry won 11 NCAA Championships!

Tom Heinonen---A college all-American, Tom's 1975 victory at Trail's end was somewhat of a last hurrah as an athlete who had shined at the marathon distance which included wins in the 1968 Twin Cities Marathon and the 1969 AAU Marathon Championships. In 1977 he began a very successful 27 year career as the University of Oregon women's track coach. During those years, he won three national championships, won eight Pac-10 titles, earned three National Coach of the Year awards, and received three international coaching positions. Heinonen's distinguished career culminated with his induction into the 2006 US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Brian Maxwell---Ranked third in the world in 1977, the late Brian Maxwell qualified for the marathon on the Canadian Olympic team which joined the US in boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He later founded PowerBar, a sports energy bar company, which he later sold. He and his wife donated a great deal of money to UC Berkeley where he had coached cross country and distance track. An activity field there is named after the Maxwells.

Gail Volk Kingma---Having run 2:39:48 in Seattle in 1979 to set a new national high school record, Gail's position as Trail's End record holder is of no surprise. That time still stands as the Number Two Junior time on the all-time list; she also holds the eighth best Junior time. She also won the Carlsbad Marathon twice, both times with course records. At shorter distances she led her Seattle Comets Track Club team to the national Hour Run championship when she ran 10 miles, 382 yards in the hour to win the individual title. She also won the 1980 Bloomsday Run in Spokane.

Tom Howard---Little did Tom Howard know 1n 1972 when he crept across the finish line in the Vancouver Marathon in 2:24:08 for a narrow win that he was about to take the Northwest marathon community by storm. Howard went on to win Vancouver twice more, the Royal Victoria Marathon three times, and single wins at Trail's End and Seattle. Tom placed 30th at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.