Shiprock Marathon event draws over 700 runners

By Michael Buffalo
Special to the Times

SHIPROCK – May the course be with you. This year’s Shiprock Marathon saw over 700 runners compete in the half-marathon and full Marathon, with 536 runners competing in the former and 169 in the latter.

An abundance of runners from across the Navajo Nation, the United States, and even one from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, participated in Saturday’s races.

A familiar face crossed the finish line first in the Shiprock Marathon. Timberlin Henderson, 27, of Fruitland, New Mexico, won with a time of 2:44:22. Henderson won this event back in 2022 and placed second in 2023. He has been running since he was six years old, raced competitively in high school, and began Ultra Running in 2016.

“This is kind of like my only road race marathon distance I’ll do,” Henderson said. “Other than that, I’m doing 50-Ks, 100-Ks, 50-milers, and 100-milers.”

One of the main reasons that Shiprock is the only marathon in which Henderson competes is attributed to his awareness and advocacy of living a healthier life for the Navajo people.

“The NavajoYES Organization and Tom (Riggenbach), I really love what they do for the community and just for the Navajo community in general,” said Henderson. “They’ve done a lot of work with the trails, creating more trails, creating more opportunities for the youth just to get outside and be active instead of just being inside.

“Our suicide rates, our depression rates are through the roof,” he added. “Doing something very healthy and having an organization do that for the kids, is very special. That’s one of the main reasons I love doing this race and doing races for this organization.”

Ryan Haebe, 33, a teacher living in Farmington, finished second behind Henderson with a time of 2:47:30. Originally from the Denver area, Haebe has been running since high school and continued at the collegiate level.

“I just love running,” said Haebe. “I mostly do trail runs, so I did this marathon to prep for my trail races this summer.”

This July, Haebe will compete in The Kan, a 50-K Mountain Ultra Trail Race in Spokane, Washington. Haebe won the race last year with a time of 5:20:46. He will be going back to defend his title.

“One of my goals is to qualify for Boston,” Haebe said.

According to its website, the qualifying time for age group 18-34 in the Boston Marathon is three hours flat. However, the site notes that “achieving one’s qualifying standard does not guarantee entry into the event, but simply the opportunity to submit a registration application.” The 41st annual Shiprock Marathon is a Boston Qualifier and a part of the Abbott Marathon Majors Masters World Championships.

Running in his first Shiprock Marathon, Héctor Manuel Vázquez Ibarra, 36, of San Luis Potosi City, Mexico, finished third behind Henderson and Haebe with a time of 2:50:21. Ibarra came to Shiprock in preparation for the Chicago Marathon in October, in which he will be racing. It will be his first major marathon competition while Shiprock was his 14th marathon overall.

“The landscape and view made it exciting to run,” Ibarra said.

Veteran runners Christina Marin and Bobbi Baur both share the same goal: they plan on running a marathon in every state. At the podium, it was their first-time meeting. Marin and Baur finished first and second, respectively, in the female division.

Marin, 40, of Norwood, Mass., started running when she was eight, chasing her father around the neighborhood. This was her first time in Shiprock.

“It was hot,” said Marin. “I’m not used to it, and I’m not used to the altitude.”

Despite those challenges, Marin’s time of 3:36:03 was good enough to put her atop the podium in the female division. She finished 15th overall. In Marin’s quest to run a marathon in all 50 states, she aptly chose Shiprock to check off New Mexico.

“This one just caught my attention as being one of the top races in the country,” said Marin. “Being on the Navajo Reservation, I thought that was pretty neat.”

Marin has five states left on her marathon list: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Baur, 54, of Chicago, placed second amongst the women (and 17th overall) with a time of 3:38:52. It was her first visit to Shiprock as well. She began running marathons in 2006 and loves the challenge of running.

Baur loves running so much that she has plans on finishing a marathon on all seven continents, along with the 50 states (she has 12 to go). Baur has already completed all six major marathons, which consists of the Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York City and Tokyo garnering herself the Six Star Medal for having completed every major marathon.

“I love the challenge and the running community is fantastic, “said Baur.

Tanner Dugi, 19, of Page, won the Shiprock Half-Marathon with a time of 1:19:48. Dugi began running seven years ago and now he runs collegiately for Coconino Community College in Flagstaff.

Last November 11th, Dugi competed in the NJCAA Division II Cross Country Championships as a freshman. He finished the Men’s 8-K 47th out of 301 collegiate runners and helped his team to a 10th place finish.

Dugi has competed in six previous half-marathons. When asked what motivates him to run, he replied, “Running for the ones who can’t and hopefully inspiring the youth.”

Timothy King, also 19, of Lower Fruitland, N.M., finished second to Dugi with a time of 1:28:49.

The proximity of the race to his hometown gave King the motivation to compete. King said that his brother, Jonathan King, registered him for the half-marathon as a Christmas present.

“Just the feeling of being at peace, not knowing what could happen, and knowing (I) can finish it,” said King, is what inspires him to run.

King plans to continue running some more half-marathons, and eventually moving on to finishing his first marathon.

“Right now, I just want to take some time to recover, and in the future qualify for Boston,” said King. “My ultimate goal is to run in Boston.”

Angela White, originally from Massachusetts, placed first among females in the half-marathon with a time of 1:41:52. White has been living in Tuba City for the last two years and has competed in several half-marathons, the latest being the Little Colorado Half-Marathon in 2023, where she finished first as well.

“I like the way it makes me feel,” White said, of distance running. “I like getting outside in nature and I really enjoy running with other people and the community aspect of it.”.

White ran the half-marathon with a picture of her friend, Nancy Thomas, pinned to her chest. White explained that she and Nancy would run together before Nancy passed away after a battle with cancer. “I like to keep her with me when I run,” White said.

Laila Charley, 20, of Shiprock, finished behind White in second place with a time of 1:44:13. Now living in Farmington, Charley said that it was her father who encouraged her to run the half-marathon.

“I enjoy pushing myself and I’ve also been training a lot over the summer,” Charley explained. “My dad said, ‘Why don’t you do the marathon? I’ll do it with you.’ So, we ran it together.”

Her father, Mike Charley, finished at 2:30:47 and placed 139th among the men. “I almost beat her,” Mike said jokingly.

In 2020, at Navajo Preparatory School, Charley helped the Lady Eagles to a 3A State Championship in her junior year, making the 2020 3A All-State Girls Basketball 1st Team. The following summer, Charley suffered a traumatic brain injury when she flew off her ATV while cruising on a gravel road. In her recovery, she found solace in running. “It’s really like my safe place,” said Charley.

Hundreds of spectators, family, and friends came in support of the runners, ranging in age from 12 to 85 in the half and 16 to 76 in the marathon. The oldest competitor in the half-marathon was Kenneth O’Connor, 85, of Grants, New Mexico.

The oldest in the marathon, Doug McLaughlan, 76, of Toronto, finished in 5:00:32. The youngest competitor in the half was S. Tanner, 12, of Red Valley, Ariz., who finished in 2:23:57 and in the full, Oso-David Shockey, 16, of Flora Vista, N.M., who crossed the line in 4:18:52.

Shawna Becenti, an educator from LaPlata, N.M., came to Shiprock in support of her son, Kody Becenti, who ran the half-marathon and finished with a time of 1:51:09.

Kody is a medical student who ran the race with his friend. Shawna explained that her son is not an avid competitor but does it for his mental and physical health. She was ecstatic to see the number of runners in attendance.

“It was so motivating to see what a wonderful turnout and see all shapes and sizes running,” said Becenti. “It made my heart happy to see. It even motivated me. If they can do it, I can do it.”

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