Published:
May 25, 2008 09:25 am
Reader sets
record in Bayshore
Allen also defends marathon title
BY JAMES
COOK
jcook@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY -- As a result of her
mother's 26-mile journey, Charlotte
Reader knows where she's going to
summer.
The 10-year-old will be heading off
to camp.
Marybeth Reader broke the Traverse
ity State Bank Bayshore Marathon course
record by over two minutes to not only
claim the first-place prize of $1,000 --
but also a $1,000 bonus for beating
Wanda Cousineau's 1992 mark of 2:48:41.
"My daughter can go to camp now,"
Reader said after finishing in a
personal-best time of 2:46.23. "So she's
thrilled."
Last year, Reader won the race in
2:48:41.90 -- less than a second away
from the record.
"Last year, I didn't know what it
was, but afterward I realized I was
really close," Reader said. "So when I
didn't make it to the (Olympic) trials,
I'm like, 'OK, Plan B.' I have to come
back and try to get that course record.
This time I made sure I knew what it
was.
"I followed the advice of my coach,
(half marathon runner-up) Steve Menovcik,
who told me to go the first 10K about 40
minutes and the second about a 6:20 pace
and I tried to follow that real closely.
And I'm not really good at pacing
myself, but I was able to do it today."
Reader was somewhat surprised with
her performance after battling plantar
fasciitis recently.
"Two weeks ago, I had to walk nine
miles of my last 20-mile run," she said.
"I had a cortisone shot in my foot and
had to go into physical therapy. My
brother was in a bad accident, so I lost
a lot of mileage and then my foot, so I
said, 'We'll see what happens today.'
Everything kid of came together."
The 39-year-old psychiatric nurse
never ran in high school or college and
didn't get into the sport until after
having two children.
"It's nice to have that outlet,"
Reader laughed. "I can't do crafts. I
can't do ball sports because I have no
hand-eye coordination. So I found
running. I can at least put one foot in
front of the other."
Runner-up Janet Becker of Grand
Rapids also overcame injuries to finish
in the money.
Becker hasn't ran in the Bayshore
since 2005 because of various injuries
-- "hamstring, bursitis, one thing after
another," the 35-year-old said, but was
one of only two women to maneuver the
course in under three hours, finishing
in 2:59.17.
Val Thomasma, a 25-year-old track and
cross country coach at East Kentwood,
put forth her best marathon effort in
three tries.
She previously ran the Chicago
Marathon twice, but didn't finish last
year when a heat wave decimated the
field.
The Byron Center resident and former
academic All-American at Aquinas College
finished third in 3:05:24 after posting
a top 30 finish at the River Bank Run.
On the men's side, Nick Allen wasn't
exactly thrilled about wearing the No. 1
bib, but he lived up to the billing,
winning by almost two minutes for his
second straight Bayshore title.
"I wasn't that excited about wearing
No. 1," Allen said, "but I won last year
and that's how it goes."
Allen is now 2-for-2 in Traverse City
after a 2:21.46 finish.
"Kyle and I had been running
together," Allen said. "I didn't really
notice where he started falling back,
but it was around four or five (miles).
And I never looked back."
Runner-up Matt Fecht (2:23:39) of
Warren and third-place Kyle Baker
(2:33:02) of Grand Rapids made up an
all-Michigan top three.
"I wanted to try to run solid 5:30s
the whole way," Fecht said. "I ended up
running 5:28s pretty much the whole way.
I kind of faded a bit from 18 to 23 and
then got back on track from 23 in."
"Nick and Kyle Baker were way in
front of me for the first six or seven
miles, then Kyle kind of dropped off,"
Fecht said. "I picked him up at around
seven, hung with him for the next three
and then made a move by him and tried to
put some distance on him. He's a really
good runner and I didn't want him
sticking around me.
Allen got by Fecht in the Country
Music Half-Marathon in Nashville, Tenn.,
in April. Allen won after Ethiopian
Tadesse Abebe was disqualified for
starting early. Fecht finished third.
"I knew I wasn't going to be able to
catch Nick, so I wanted to stay within
about two minutes of him."
Baker, a multiple Golden Mile and
Cherry Festival 15K winner, entered the
race at the last minute.
"I just did this one a whim," Baker
said. "I haven't been training for a
marathon at all, so this is kid of
ugly."
This was Baker's first marathon since
the Olympic trials in New York, when
Central Lake star Ryan Shay collapsed
and died.
"Literally, I was running right next
to him when that happened," Baker said.
"It was crazy. Obviously, I knew
something was wrong, but I didn't expect
that. It was totally a shock. I didn't
even hear (what happened) until two
hours after the race."
"We lived together in California for
about six months at the Olympic training
center," he said. "I recruited his
little brother (Stephan) to Michigan
State. I talked to his dad a lot."
Former Traverse City Central and
Central Michigan University runner
Andrew Manning was the top local
finisher in the marathon, placing sixth
in 2:37:22. Grawn's Kevin Tarras was
10th in 2:46:01.
Photos
