14 November 1999

When she crossed the pedestrian overpass in the last quarter mile of the 23rd Annual Metric Marathon, Christine Kelley didn't know how far behind Belinda Simmons was although she knew that Simmons had caught her once before near 10 miles. Fighting leg cramps in the final miles, Kelley was merely trying to maintain her pace. "I kept her in my sights," Ms. Simmons said, explaining how she caught Kelley again only 25 yards from the finish. Kelley suddenly awoke to the challenge- "as if someone had given her an electric shock," said a worker- and won a wild scramble to the finish line by less than half a second. "It was my first metric and I didn't know where the finish line was," said Kelley, a resident of Ellicott City.

Peter Dougherty from Philadelphia, PA, easily won the men's Metric Marathon, defeating Jamie Dick, from Williamsport, MD, by over three minutes. The mysterious Mr. Dougherty did not stick around for the awards ceremony or any interviews; he requested his award soon after finishing and left to catch a plane flight. Dougherty may have been headed back to Philadelphia, perhaps to catch the football game, because he was wearing a Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap. The top Strider finisher, Jon Suskinsky actually took the early lead, taking the field through the first mile in around 5:30. He hurt his ankle around seven miles and hobbled the remaining distance to finish sixth overall in 1:41:00.

Oscar Ramirez lead all master runners at the Metric, but he finished only a few seconds ahead of the well-known Reuben Beauchamp, a 53-year-old champion marathoner. In the women's master's race, Teresa Buescher came all the way from Bethel, DE, to defeat local favorites Gloria Shepherd and Julie Baker.

A 5 km race was also featured for those not wishing or able to run the full 26.2 km (16.3 mi) race. Unfortunately, no course marshall was in place to direct the 5 km field onto the bike path at 1.5 miles and a large part of the field hurtled the wrong way straight up Little Patuxent Parkway. Consequently, the top 30 or so finishers suffered disqualification for not following the course. Race director Brad Speierman requested those who went off course to voluntarily disqualify themselves and promised them free entry to either the 2000 Metric or 5k race. Phil Walkins from Marion, IL, and Susan Gleazer from Columbia apparently did stay on course (or at least did not disqualify themselves!) and were declared official winners of the 5 km race.

High school cross country runners are not known for running metric marathons, but the core of the River Hill Boy's team, which had just won the Class 3A state championship, followed wunderkind Mike Styczynski merrily through the 16.3 miles of hills between Columbia and Ellicott City. "We just thought it would be fun!" said Mike, who won his age group in 1:51:36 and showed no sign of fatigue from the cross country season. The Metric Marathon featured Pepsi One and Ledo Pizza at the finish, as well as Bagel Bin bagels, Produce Galore bananas, and Aquafina water. Runners could also use free samples of HammerGel endurance fuel at the half-way point of the Metric. All Metric finishers received the trademark knit gloves with the Mr. Metric logo. The top four Metric finishers of each gender got cash prizes, and overall and age group winners got gift certificates from Feet First of Wilde Lake or laser-engraved pens.

Brad Speierman directed the Metric Marathon and 5k, with support from numerous Howard County Striders, not only on the courses but at the finish line. The Howard County Police provided additional support in the form of traffic control, which was especially crucial at key intersections on the Metric route. The Metric Marathon served as the final event of the 1999 Maryland RRCA Championship series, which began in February with the 10-Mile Challenge.

-- by James Carbary