Cattails at Dusk Postcard

Cattails at Dusk, Marathon Park, Olympia, Washington Photographed at Marathon Park on Capitol Lake in Olympia, Washington. This little 2.25-acre park has a big story. On May 12, 1984, it was the finish line for the first-ever U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials. Olympia beat out New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Kansas City to host it. Joan Benoit won here, then went on to win the first women's Olympic marathon gold medal in Los Angeles that same summer. The park was built in 1970 on fill beside an old railroad line, and those tracks and trestles still frame the views of Capitol Lake, the Capitol dome, and the Olympic Mountains. Photo by Ashley Ripley, RipleyLens.