Tradition Renews on Sun-Dappled Day
BEULAH (8/12/06) - Whether prepping for cross-country season or a marathon, Michigan runners can always tell fall is around the corner when the Crystal Lake Team Marathon comes around.

The 26th annual edition of one the state's most popular and unique runs saw 97 five-runner teams complete the scenic 26.2-mile circuit of Crystal Lake.

"We like to get about 100 (teams), so we're happy," race director Paul Szymanski said.

He praised the efforts of the Hansons Olympic Development Program team, which broke the course record set by a different group of Hansons runners a few years back.

"The Hansons are amazing," Szymanski said. "They knocked down their former record by 30 seconds."

Coach and program co-founder Kevin Hanson was pleased with how his team performed. The squad - Jeff Gaudette, Marty Rosendahl, Todd Snyder, Pat Rizzo and Josh Moen - ran four five-mile legs, followed by a 10K, in 2:09:14. Hanson was particularly happy with Gaudette's 24:06 first leg and Rosendahl's 24:30 on the hilly second leg.

"The first two legs ran really well," he said.

"The team was in 'nowheresville' after that; they were only running against the clock.

"We knew our old record was between 2:09:50 and 2:10, so if we got under 2:09:50 we'd be set.

"There have been more past teams finish around 2:11 or 2:12, but you never know what shape everybody's in or which teams they're bringing. It's more of a fun thing for everyone," Hanson said.

Most participants would concur. While the Hansons had fun running solo, the next three teams staged an epic battle.

The B.O.B. Actuators, from the University of Notre Dame, held second for much of the race. Knights Track Club, made up of alumni from last year's Division 3 NCAA runner-up Calvin College, kept them in sight until the last 10K, in which Kris Koster ran his second race of the day. Meanwhile a team of current Calvin runners, Knights of the Dupe, closed the gap on them.

Kevin Hanson coached the men's (record-setting) and women's winning teams, then ran the last 10K himself
On the final leg Koster, who had already run a solid leadoff leg for his team, caught the Notre Dame anchor. The two ran together for most of the closing 10K. Behind them, Knights of the Dupe's Harrison Jorritsma drew a bead on both.

The Actuators prevailed for second in 2:16:10, just one second ahead of the Calvin alumni and five seconds clear of the current group. Still, with their team of Jorritsma, Dan VandenAkker, Nate DeHaan, Tyler Zwagerman and Tad Hulst, plus their entire top-seven returning, Calvin should be in the D-3 title hunt once again.

My own team, jokingly called Large Butt Cheeks (our running club is called the L.B.C. and we try to come up with unique names each year using that acronym) found itself in a similar position to the Hansons, i.e. nowheresville, after the first three legs.

Our first two legs performed well, but by the time I got the handoff for the 10K the best I could hope for was a decent time. I finished with negative splits in 34:20 to make our total time 2:24:07. It was good for fifth, well behind the Knights but nearly three minutes ahead of the sixth-place squad.

The next team behind us was A.Q. Crew, which won the mixed-division title in 2:27:03. The interestingly-named team Crash and Her Driver's Ed Teacher was second in 2:31:37, while Chelseas Metroparks came in third in 2:37:23.

In the women's division, Team Hansons won again, although not in record time as the men did. Still, their 2:41:16 was nearly 10 minutes clear of Not Just Buns and Sports Bras (2:50:11). RATPAC took third in 3:00:53.

Derek Thomasma anchors Team Alewife.
The team marathon's founder, legendary Benzie Central cross country coach Pete Moss, was on hand as usual to start the race and help hand out prizes. Moss said that he hopes to keep the event simple and low- tech.

"We have an honor system," he said. "We don't have any bib numbers, nothing fancy. None of those doggone (computer) chips. We're cheap and I think most people have fun. I've talked to a lot of people who have never been here before and Crystal Lake blew their minds.

"We could get fancier, have numbers and all that stuff, but if you can't trust people anyway ... well runners, most of the time, are pretty honest."

"The time goes fast," Moss said of the CLTM's 26-year span. "It's like coaching; today's the first day of practice, tomorrow it's ended, then you start thinking about next year.

"There are times at these races you think, 'I'm never gonna do it again, I'm done!' Then 10 minutes after it's over you say, 'Well, next year we better do this,' and you're ready to go."

Time flies when you're having fun. That old adage applies to the Crystal Lake Team Marathon. MR