04/30/2006

Bayshore expected to draw 3,000

Marathon portion draws 1,500

by dennis chase

dchase@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — When Traverse City Track Club officials decided to add a half-marathon to the Bayshore Marathon-10K, they fretted it might take runners away from the other two races.

They can put that worry aside.

A record 3,000 runners are expected to take part in the 24th annual event, slated for May 27. The field will include 800 runners in the half-marathon and 1,500 in the marathon.

"The half-marathon is a hot distance right now," said Lou Wojtowicz, the Bayshore director. "People like to run it because it's more difficult than a 10K, but it doesn't beat you up like a marathon.

"I like to say it's just a little bit of pain."

Officials capped the number of runners that could enter the half-marathon and marathon. The half-marathon sold out in late March. The marathon reached its limit nearly two weeks ago. The track club does not limit the field for the 10K, but registration in that race is running ahead of previous years.

All of this comes as a mild — and welcome — surprise to officials.

"We thought the half-marathon might cannibalize the marathon as well as the 10K," said Pete LaPlaca, the track club's director of racing. "But there's been no indication of that. We've been taken aback."

Wojtowicz said almost two-thirds — about 68 percent — of the half-marathon entrants are women.

"We're really excited about that," he said.

Wojtowicz said about 400 runners have registered for the 10K. He said a "majority" of the 10K runners typically register the night before the race or on the morning of the event.

The marathon, which begins at 7 a.m. at Northwestern Michigan College, will be run on an out and back course along East Bay on Old Mission Peninsula. The half-marathon will follow 30 minutes later. Runners in the half-marathon will be bussed to end of Bluff Road — the halfway point of the marathon — for the start of that race. All three races will finish on the track at Traverse City Central. A portion of Center Road will be closed from 7-11 a.m. on race day.

The Bayshore attracts runners from all over the state — and nation. Officials believe the economic impact on the area will be close to $1 million.

"Last year it was between $600,000-$800,000," LaPlaca said. "This year we're going from 2,000 runners to 3,000 — a 50 percent increase. So we're projecting the impact to be close a million (dollars)."

Profits from the event will "go back into the community" to non-profit charities, Wojtowicz said.

"What's great about this (increase in runners)," Wojtowicz said, "is that we'll be able to give more money away to non-profits."