Marathons Anyone? Women's winner Francesca Conte photo by Jonathan Hope
What is flat, fast, and scenic, and can be enjoyed for as long as six hours? Answer: The new Chesapeake Bay Running Club Marathon. For years, the 46th Annual DC Roadrunner's GW Marathon was the only game in town. Then the Marine Corps started up thirty years ago. With so many running clubs, many hundreds and even thousands of runners strong, it was a wonder somebody did not fill the gap caused by the demise of the old Maryland Marathon. The Shamrock in Virginia Beach, the Richmond Marathon, and the Philadelphia Marathon are great but take some traveling to get to.

In 1992, the Annapolis Striders started the B& A Trail Marathon, preceded a couple of years by the Northern Central Trail Marathon just north of Baltimore. Then, as the new century arrived, Montgomery County got on the ball and stoked the new trend. Their Marathon in the Parks was well organized and it lit a fire under the other clubs. The next year Baltimore had a Marathon, then Frederick, even DC got in the act for a year.

There was a small Last Train to Boston in Aberdeen, DCRRC doubled up with a Last Plain to Boston, which circled the 3.2- mile Hains Point until everyone was too dizzy to stand. A small bulldog group even ran a Marathon on the trails in Alexandria. MCRRC doubled with the near and maybe longer, or maybe cross- country madness traipsing through the rough on the Greenway Trail. Clearly, every club worth its stuff wanted to get into the Marathon Business.

Samy Muaddi of relay team The Erik Westlund Fan Club, first to cross the finish in 2:35:44 Photo by Jonathan Hope
Enter the diminutive dynamo from Lexington Park, Liza Recto, President of the St. Mary's County running club, the Chesapeake Bay Running Club. You do not have to cross the Bay Bridge to get to the Bay. Charming Piney Point, where the Potomac River joins the Chesapeake Bay on its journey south, was a natural starting place for a new marathon. Just an hour south of the Capital Beltway, they found a great place for marathon-starved runners. One septuagenarian runner came here having already been a 50- State Marathon Clubber four times over.

If you were not sure you could go the whole way, there was the Michelob(R) ULTRA Two-Person Relay. The Harry Lundeburg School of Seamanship hosted the race. After passing through the guardhouse, runners were surprised at the size of the facility, which included a huge dining room for the after-race buffet and shower facilities for the runners who chose to sweat during the event. Many did, as the temperature soared into the mid-fifties. The morning started with a hoar-like frost coating the windows of the cars and dire threats of twenty-mile per hour wind coming in off the shore.

John Piggott of Williamsburg, VA wns in 2:37:22 Photo by Steve Whetstone
Gathering in the parking lot for the start, chalk one up for the weathermen . . . again. The bright sun had melted all the frost and the forty-five degree, low humidity air (none of the rain promised earlier in the week, either) greeted runners as the foghorn sounded the start of the race.

One hundred yards later, leaving the facility to head onto St. George's Island, the race was over. No, there were still twenty- six miles to go, but John Piggot, Williamsburg, VA's running paladin had already gunned down the rest of the runners. He would cruise to a more than twenty-minute victory in 2:37:22.

We knew the course was flat, though some grumbled in the first mile as we crested the bridge to the island. If you are worried about a twenty-foot high, 200-meter bridge in the first mile, you are in for a long day. The first six-mile finger took us down a narrow path barely wide enough for a car. We saw Eric Stuber (41) of Lansing, MI and Patrick Lynam (50) of Arnold, PA gamely trailing after a no chance dream of catching Piggott. Stuber outlasted his elder for second in 2:57:56 to 2:58:40. No one else got home in less than three hours.

Greg Schuler of Laurel, MD 1st male 40-49 in 3:16:54 Photo by Jonathan Hope
Most importantly, there was water and Ultima(R) everywhere. I have not seen a more organized, enthusiastic group of efficient liquid replenishers in any of the marathons I have run, except maybe Marine Corps with its professional thousands of troops. The cups of fluids were plentiful but gratefully only half full. That prevented sticky fingers and clothes from slopping drinks. Course marshals were not much needed because the course was so simple to follow but they were enthusiastically loud and understood the weary runner's mind. Mile markers were either bright orange or electric lime green. They could be seen from far away, daring runners to reach them. Hallelujah, they were also in the right spots.

For the women, it was again an easy victory with second and third being a duel. Francesca Conte (32) of Charlottesville, VA had a healthy three-quarter-mile victory. Second place was again a masters runner, Antonia Baum (44) of Chevy Chase, MD in 3:35:15. Courtney Anne Granville (30) of Washington, DC entered the grounds just in time to see Baum finish and ended her journey in 3:38:53.

Jeff Howdeshell of Alexandria, VA 2nd male 40-49 in 3:25:14 Photo by Jonathan Hope
After the first excursion down to the water's edge, we were sent down another out and back 5K path through the woods, to be turned back by the shoreline. We returned to the main road only for a few hundred meters before we were sent down a two-mile cul de sac to be turned around by more cheering water bearers. From there, were charged up Route 249 nearly all the way to Route 5 in Great Mills, MD. Lining the road on both sides were bright green mile markers and bright orange cones promising life- sustaining refreshments. The only hills in the course were from miles sixteen to twenty, shades of Heartbreak Hill. Still, if these mild mounds broke you, you just were not ready for the adventure. The last 10K was flat or slightly downhill and had four aid-stations.

Awards were presented at twelve-thirty as runners seated themselves in the huge school dining room, savoring the chow from the galley. All the runners got short sleeved T-shirts and the finishers earned a medallion.

The race was held in cooperation with the St. Mary's County Department of Recreation and Parks to benefit the Piney Point Lighthouse Museum and the Chesapeake Field Lab.

Race Results