The Passing of Bob Dolphin

Last Saturday Maniac#32, Bob Dolphin, passed away at age 91. He ran his first marathon at age 51 and his final at age 84 (his 502nd marathon).
Here’s some amazing accomplishments by Bob:

ran a PR of 3:00:12 at age 58 (age graded time of 2:29:34)
ran his final sub-4:00 marathon at age 74 (age graded 2:47:22)
ran 101 miles at a 24 hour race at the age 62
ran 19 marathons at the age of 82
He and his wife (Lenore) leave a lay legacy that it’s never to late in life to inspire others.
Rest In Peace Bob.

Bob Dolphin – such a good life! (This is from email to those that get emailed)
I received sad email Monday morning October 4th copied and pasted below from Bob Dolphin’s daughter informing that we have lost a running buddy, a most remarkable one, a Major Marathon Maniac, a PNW Icon and legend. And what an inspiring and good running buddy he was! He generally ran 20 marathons a year until #500, retiring at #502. Just about all of us in the PNW have run a marathon or more with him, it was hard not to. Over the years he was featured in Northwest Runner several times.
One of my fondest memories of Bob was running the Portland Marathon in 2009 with him on the day of his 80th Birthday, me 12 years younger; whatta guy! Hmmmm, wasn’t doing Facebook back then, the emailed race report by Lenore will be the next posting, I did a photo doc of the outing.
We first met in person (had known each other on the phone for years) at the Skagit Flats Marathon after I moved from San Diego to Seattle) in Y2K. Since then we have each run 243/254 marathons (the closeness of the numbers surprised me) with most all of them in this PNW neck of the woods. I would think that we must have run well over 100 of the silly things together.
The Yakima River Canyon Marathon is synonymous with Bob and his late wife Lenore as Co-Race Directors.
In loving memory
Happy trails,
“—–Original Message—–
Sent: Sun, Oct 3, 2021 6:09 pm
Subject: Bob Dolphin – such a good life!
Hello Friends and Fans of Bob Dolphin,
Bob passed away in the early morning hours of October 2nd, just two days shy of his 92nd birthday, while in the loving care of Highgate Senior Living in Yakima, WA. Their memory and hospice care was wonderful and very supportive of Bob. He was surrounded with love and by the many early birthday cards he received.
Funeral services for both Bob and Lenore will be held in Yakima this month and broadcast via webcam for those who live far away from Yakima or understandably prefer not to travel. If you are interested in attending in Yakima please RSVP as a light lunch will be served prior to the service and there is limited space due to COVID restrictions.
Our email list for the hundreds of marathoners who knew and loved Bob and Lenore is limited so please share this with your other running friends.
Our plan is to do a short celebration of life for both Lenore and Bob on Friday, April 1, 2022 as part of the Yakima River Canyon Marathon kick off the event before the race,
In lieu of flowers we ask that donations be made in Bob’s name to the following charities:
• Kathrine Switzer’s 261 Fearless organization that promotes running for women: https://www.261fearless.org/donate/
• Yakima Greenway Foundation: https://www.yakimagreenway.org/
• The National Audubon Society https://www.audubon.org/
Thank you so much for your long term friendship with Bob. We’re sure that Lenore had a marathon organized and waiting for him in heaven!
Warm regards and happy running,
Jan Stensland”
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