Tom Brown (B2B director)

What great weather!!!

If it was hard getting up before dawn on a Sunday, September 20 (not Saturday this year due to Rosh Hashanah) for the 6:30 AM start, we were rewarded with ideal running conditions. 48F at the start of the B2B; and, it stayed at 48F for at least 90 minutes into the run.

The temperature stayed in the low 60s as runners made their way from West Columbia (starts at Wilde Lake Village-same spot as the Bagel Run) thru Clarys [Forest], by Wilde Lake dock, to Lakefront, across the Rt. 26 pedestrian bridge, up to Phelps Luck, down to Lake Elkhorn, and on to Savage. The finish line is the top step of the rear outdoor deck at the Rams Head Tavern. With that kind of "plug," do the B2B finishers get any reward from the Rams Head? Absolutely! Each finisher was greeted by a free beverage of his/her choice!

54 starters began at 6:37 AM (you know how those pre-run announcement can drag on). Runners were asked to raise their hands if they had finished any of the previous 7 B2Bs. About half the field raised their hands. At the, "how many have run all the previous B2Bs?" question, Heidi Splete, Julie and Steve Thienel were the only ones with their hands still up.

Many of our runners elect to run a portion of the B2B and use it as a fall race trainer. The race committee encourages this. And, we especially applaud those who make the B2B Marathon their first marathon experience. Once again, for the third consecutive year, we had at least one "firstie." Congratulations to Julia Skinner. The rest will never top the first, Julia!

A number of runners who completed the course (some say it's really 26.6 miles due to the extra loop in Savage that finishers love to hate) on September 20th had some interesting stories related to their run. Tim McGee, the Winner at 3:27, attributed his marathon PR of 2:52 to running ahead of Lance Armstrong that year at Boston.

Probably the best story was Doug Sullivan who finished 18th overall. In order to "taper" for his B2B Doug, ran a 40-mile ultra the day before in Pennsylvania!

All finishers received a certificate of completion that also entitled the bearer to free entry into the 2010 Patapsco 60K (yep, all those people who ran that crazy race along the Patapsco River in 2000 from Sykesville to Elkridge are turning 60 next year! Beware"). Details of that event will be disclosed as soon as we actually come up with some. Needless to say, in the tradition of the B2B, there will be few rules, and fewer directions.

Rick Hatfield, who bikes/marks our course each year with those yellow arrows on upside down T's, was out re-marking the morning of the run before the runners came thru the Swansfield and Wilde Lake sections; areas that experienced "directional arrow black out!" Tim, our first place runner, placed his cue sheet (cue sheets???) in the shape of an arrow on a pivotal (aren't they all?) turn on the course that had an arrow blackened. Thanks again, Rick. The B2B Board owes you a beer (and a Brooks running cap!).

A special thanks to the families who "adopt" one of the seven aid stations along the B2B Marathon course. These families provide all the aid and workers at those stations. We could never put the B2B on without their help:

- Thienel
- Ramsing
- Brown
- Michelotti
- Hollis
- Katkow
- Toler
- Stritehoff
- Perraud

And thanks to all participants for making the 8th B2B fun for all!