In 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s theme for its Looking Back feature was the origins of area place names. In 1970, a park was created on Capitol Lake’s western shore by placing fill material next to an existing railroad berm in the north basin of the lake. The park earned its current name, Marathon Park, when the City of Olympia won the right to host the U.S. time trials for the first Women’s Olympic Marathon, in 1984. The marathon route for the trials began and ended on Mottman Hill, above the site of the park.
1984 photo, Olympian archives
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023