Suzanne Larsen: Fenton's Well-Kept Secret
Photo: Suzanne Larsen won 15 races in 2004.

Suzanne Larsen, 27, of Fenton, knows surprise can provide a tactical advantage in a road race. She is not shy to use it, either.

"I don't like to lead at the start of the race," says Larsen. "I bide my time and try to sneak up on the leaders."

And then she pounces!

"The top women don't expect me to win," says Larsen. "But I can"

Larsen didn't run track or cross country in high school or college. In fact, she had only run a handful of races outside the Flint area until last year. Few of her competitors in the 2004 Michigan Runner Race Series had a clue who she was.

"Outside Flint, I'm a pretty well-kept secret," Larsen says.

The secret is getting out, though. She competed in 35 races last year and won 15 of them. In the MR Series, she won the Grosse Ille Memorial Day 8K (30:40), finished first among Michiganders in the Steve's Run 10K (40:57), and was second state finisher in the Borgess Half- Marathon (1:28:08) and Cherry Festival 15K (1:00:37).

She amassed 100 points based on those finishes, tying with Betsy Frens for Female Runner of the Year.

Larsen, raised in Milford, graduated from Kettering University and teaches math at Mott Community College. Both schools are in Flint.

She ran her first race at the 2000 Roadrunner Classic 8K. "I went out really fast," she remembers. "After a mile I couldn't breathe, so I walked the rest of the way. I don't know if I even crossed the finish."

She had caught the running bug nonetheless. Larsen finished the Crim 10-mile the next month in 1:35, and has not looked back.

The self-described "math nerd" has kept track of all races that she has run since 2001. "I'm a numbers person," she confesses. "I have a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet of all my races with dates, locations and times I ran. I also write down a general comment about each race and whether or not it was tax deductible."

After winning her first race, the Swartz Creek 5K in 2001, she wrote, "Oh my gosh, I won!" on her spreadsheet.

Since then, she has brought home triumphs, trophies and even a husband from the races. "I met Eric (Larsen) at the 2001 Tuuri Run," she says. "Things evolved from there."

When she read about 2003 Female Runner of the Year Laura Ankrum in the January 2004 Michigan Runner, she decided to vie in the '04 Race Series.

"From the beginning, she was determined to do well," Eric Larsen says.

Larsen rewrote her personal record book en route, setting PRs at 5K (18:04 at the Brian Diemer), four miles (24:35 at the Shillelagh Run), 8K (30:40 at Grosse Ile), 10K (38:51 at Reeds Lake), 10 miles (1:05:52 at Crim) and the half-marathon (1:28:08 at Borgess).

The most grueling part of her season came when she ran the Flushing Half-Marathon (1:29:18) April 17, then Borgess three weeks later. "I was exhausted after that second half-marathon," Larsen says.

Taking part in Series runs furnished the couple a pleasant tour of the Lower Peninsula. "Eric and I went to races such as Steve's Run (in Dowagiac) and Grosse Ile, where we'd never been before," she says. "They were long drives, but they were worth it."

She ran in many events outside of the Series too. By the end of her 35- race, 15-victory year, rigor mortis had just about set in.

"I feel burnt-out, but I'm also impatient to start racing again," Larsen told us in late November. "I didn't break 18 minutes in the 5K last year, and I want to achieve that soon."

As Larsen's times drop and wins add up, Fenton's best-kept secret may be no more. Do the math yourself. MR