GRAND RAPIDS (10/30/05) - "Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light ..."

Magnificent orange-and-pink skies backlit the Grand Rapids skyline as "velocity-challenged" runners took the 7 a.m. start of the second annual Grand Rapids Marathon. The new David D. Hunting YMCA provided an excellent venue, bringing the start/finish area downtown this year. And there I was, in my second year as race director, supported by a staff so good that I was able to totally enjoy the day. Dr. Rick, Celebrity Pace Team leader and pickle-juice guy, put it like this: "You were everywhere that day - giving a pep talk to the pace teams, starting the velocity-challenged at the early start, introducing the mayor, singing the National Anthem ..." Singing the National Anthem?! Yeah. What the heck, I was the cheapest guy I could find. You may have heard the Grand Rapids Marathon isn't like all the others. Sure, it's 26.2 miles long, but we go out of our way to make it a FUN 26.2 miles.

Runners get e-mails leading up the race including one with a subject line, "Why the Grand Rapids Marathon is Better Than Sex." (1. It lasts for hours. 2. You get a medal when you come across the finish line. 3. Everybody respects you in the morning.) Race- day instructions have an item captioned "BEER" which encourages runners to bring a bottle of decent beer as a gift for the race director. A small flag from Finland hung from the banner to indicate the "Finnish Line." So with volunteers in place, our staff was able to stay near the start/ finish area to enjoy the day. I positioned myself at the finish line and personally congratulated nearly everyone who finished.

I got to welcome my old friend, Erik Bush, as he crossed the line with his three kids to successfully defend his title. I was the first to congratulate Heather Bass, Grand Haven native who came up from Chicago and was able to say, "I can't believe I just won a marathon!"

I personally gave medals to many of my friends. Five people told me they love me (three girls and two guys). At the end of the day, my jacket was streaked with salt from lots of hot, sweaty hugs. In the half marathon, Jordan Lafreniere of Ludington and Elizabeth Hager of Grand Rapids were the speediest on the course. Oh. How did the beer thing work out? I got 79 of 'em. Stop by and have one with me sometime. And get in on the fun next year, Oct. 29, 2006, for the third annual Grand Rapids Marathon. And the adventure continues ...

Race director Don Kern may be reached at http://www.grandrapidsmarathon.com MR