Traverse City Record-Eagle

Top 10 Sports Stories of 2009

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December 28, 2009

Top 10: Records for Bayshore, Iceman

5,000 competed in Bayshore Marathon; 4,200 in Iceman Cometh

BY MIKE ECKERT

Editor's Note: As we count down the top 10 sports stories of 2009, read them as they're published at record-eagle.com/top10sports.

TRAVERSE CITY -- They took to the streets, tracks and trails in record numbers in 2009.

While economic times continued to strain budgets, northern Michigan races continued to grow to record levels.

"Part of it is everyone wants to come to Traverse City," Iceman Cometh race director Steve Brown said. "But a key part, and it's all across the country, people want to be able to recreate. They consider long bike races or marathons. It's still fairly inexpensive as a family holiday."

The record numbers for area races checks in at No. 5 on our Top 10 sports stories of the year.

For the Iceman Cometh mountain bike race in November, a computer error added to this year's expanded field.

"We basically had to revert to the old school paper entries," Brown said. "We were shooting for 2,500 athletes as far as adults. We had 4,200. The results were a little bit staggering, but it really turned out to make it a lot of fun."

The Traverse City State Bank Bayshore Marathon on Memorial Weekend also saw a record field of 5,000 runners for the various races. That included 1,700 runners in the marathon and 1,500 in the half -- both of which filled before the end of January.

"I think people are prioritizing how they spend their money," Bayshore race director Bryan Burns said. "I think they're prioritizing health and fitness activities."

Former race director Dave Taylor said the growth at Bayshore has happened over the last 12 years.

"I remember those races 20 years ago when we thought it was pretty cool to have 200 runners in the marathon," he said. "Marathons are very much a word of mouth phenomenon. Runners spread the word better than any publication can."

Taylor said 80 percent of the marathon runners come from outside of the area.

Traverse City runners showed up for a variety of other events this year, as well. The 30th annual Festival of Races at the National Cherry Festival had a large field for the 5K and 15K races. As did the second running of the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.

"I lived up here for 20 years and it's unreal," Burns said of the growing interest in running. "It says something about how oriented our community is to health and getting out and enjoying the area."

Alongside the Film Festival 5K was the return of the Golden Mile, bringing elite runners to Traverse City to compete for cash prizes in a one-mile race.

"The athletes thought the town was one of those hidden jewels, and they want to come back," said Burns, who directed the race.

Expect more of the same in 2010.

Registration for Bayshore opened on Dec. 1 and the 2,000 spots for the half marathon filled in 19 days. The full marathon is expected to reach capacity in mid-January.

The Bayshore will kick things off on Jan. 15 when Dave McGillivray will speak to runners at the Hagerty Center. McGillivray is the race director for the Boston Marathon and an accomplished runner himself.

The VASA Festival of Races for cross country skiing will run Feb. 13 with new race director Lisa Taylor.

And, the Iceman Cometh will look to have another large field. But don't expect a 35 percent increase like 2009.

"Some people said the day of the race that everyone knows how to handle this many people, there's know way we can go back," Brown said. "Right now, we have to figure out how we can

do that and manage it. We're maxing out the trail as it is. And parking, we can't facilitate it. That's one of our biggest things."

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