Reader sets record in Bayshore

BY JAMES COOK
jcook@record-eagle.com

May 26, 2008 04:00 am

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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.

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