Joseph Hull holds a steady pace on his way to winning the Pacific Crest Marathon Saturday morning in Bend. Hull finished the race in under three hours.

Twice during the 26.2 miles of the Pacific Crest Endurance Sports marathon, Joseph Hull thought that he was trailing in the race he would ultimately win.

The 27-year-old from Tacoma, Washington, who was running just his third marathon, finished in 2 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

The race started and ended at Riverbend Park, traveled along the Deschutes River and up SW Century Drive to the Cascade Lakes Welcome Station.

“I had the goal of breaking three hours,” Hull said. “At that point it isn’t about finishing first or last, it was about challenging myself.”

While he reached his goal on a Saturday with ideal running conditions — overcast skies, not too hot and with a slight breeze — he spent a large portion of the race thinking he was chasing the leaders. Hull discovered that the person he was trailing was running the half-marathon.

Then, around mile 15, nature called, forcing a bathroom break that surely would have allowed another to take the lead. “I thought for sure someone was going to be in front of me,” Hull said. “But there wasn’t.”

Hull was the only marathoner to finish under three hours. He crossed the line nearly nine minutes ahead of second-place finisher Cullen Goss.

The top female finisher was 26-year-old Sarah Furth of Spokane, Washington, who completed the race in 3 hours, 42 minutes and 36 seconds.

“It was a fun course,” Furth said. “It was a grind. I hadn’t walked or seen the first part of the trail before this race, so I had no idea what kind of incline it was going to be.”

Of the 26 total marathon participants, Furth finished fifth overall (including male and female runners); she did not come into Saturday’s race expecting to be the top in just her second-ever 26.2-mile race.

“I had no idea I would do this well,” Furth said. “The last six miles were tough; it was a mental grind. But you gotta keep your head down and keep moving.”

Furth was eight minutes ahead of younger sister Ellie Furth, who finished as the second fastest female (sixth overall) in 3:50:13.

Eric Hamel, a 25-year-old from Flagstaff, Arizona, was the top finisher in the half marathon, crossing the line in 1:13:58. Emily Bastain was the second overall placer in the half marathon and fastest female runner with a 1:29:58.

Justin Martinez won the Pilot Butte Challenge on Thursday, reaching the top of the butte in 9:20. Leonard Cortez won the 10K race in 41:55:40 and Evelyn Young won the 5K race in 21:49 on Saturday.

Sunday’s events are for the group of bold people who saw the runners the day before and thought to themselves, “Let’s do that, and also add swimming or biking or both.”

The event’s triathlon, duathlon and aquabike races of various difficulties start at 7 a.m. Sunday.

There are three levels of difficulty for the multi-sport races: Beastman, Olympic and Sprint.

The Beastman is the most challenging, with the triathlon comprised of an 800-meter swim, a 56.7-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run. The Olympic triathlon is an 800-meter swim, a 25-mile bike ride and a 10K run. The Sprint is an 800-meter swim, a 12.5-mile bike ride and a 5K run.

The duathlons for each level do the running and biking portions, not the swimming. The aquabike events do the swimming and biking, and not the running.

“I had the goal of breaking three hours. At that point it isn’t about finishing first or last, it was about challenging myself.”

— Joseph Hull, men’s winner of the Pacific Crest Marathon in Bend

“It was a fun course. It was a grind. I hadn’t walked or seen the first part of the trail before this race, so I had no idea what kind of incline it was going to be.”

— Sarah Furth, top women’s runner in the Pacific Crest Marathon in Bend