Before he moved to Michigan and became a professional athlete, Terry Shea analyzed plant DNA for a biotech company in New England. Carl Rundell was a business consultant based in Georgia who had been clobbered by the Internet crash and briefly considered filing for bankruptcy. Bob Busquaert was a substitute math teacher living near his home town in southeastern Michigan.
All three have since pureed their previous lives in order to join the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, a training operation in Rochester, Mich., whose founders -- brothers Kevin and Keith Hanson -- in 1999 set for themselves the improbable goal of rejuvenating American distance running.
Carl Rundell, Bob Busquaert and Terry Shea, from left, are members of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, aimed at rejuvenating American distance running.
(John F. Martin For The Washington Post)
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_____A Field of Champions_____
Defending champion Peter Sherry of Great Falls highlights one of the deepest Marine Corps Marathon men's fields in recent years. In addition to three Michigan-based professionals -- Carl Rundell, Terry Shea and Bob Busquaert -- the men's field is expected to include two former champions: 2002 winner Christopher Juarez of San Antonio and 1999 champion Mark Croasdale, a Royal Marine based in Lancaster, England.
Other potential threats include Retta Feyissa of the Bronx, an Ethiopian native who ran with Juarez until the 20th mile in 2002; and Chris Farley and Craig Vanderoef, college teammates at Virginia who plan to work together tomorrow. Sherry, meantime, will attempt to become the first back-to-back champion since Jim Hage in 1988-89.
On the women's side, no one seems likely to approach Heather Hanscom's blazing time of 2 hours 37 minutes 59 seconds from last year. Arlington's Mary Kate Bailey, a 1998 Naval Academy graduate who won last month's Annapolis Ten Mile Run, ran last year's marathon six weeks after giving birth and figures to be one of the first women finishers tomorrow.
She could be challenged by fellow Marine Jenny Ledford of Pensacola, Fla. and two runners sponsored by Brooks: Connie Buckwalter of Pennsylvania and Machelle Cochran of San Antonio.
-- Dan Steinberg
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| _____ Marine Corps Marathon _____
• Retta Feyissa wins the Marine Corps Marathon in 2:25:35.
• Mary Kate Bailey becomes the first active duty Marine to win the women's race since 1979.
• Marines help organize the race.
• Some marathoners run in memory of the fallen.
_____ Top 10 Men _____
1. Retta Feyissa, Bronx, N.Y., 2 hours, 25 minutes, 35 seconds.
2. Terrance Shea, Rochester, Mich., 2:25:57.
3. Chris Juarez, San Antonio, 2:26:03.
4. Jose Miranda, Mexico, 2:26:26.
5. Carl Rundell, Birmingham, Mich., 2:26:48.
6. Benjamin Palafox, Mexico, 2:30:36.
7. Paul Rades, Silver Spring, 2:31:18.
8. Mark Croadale, United Kingdom, 2:32:54.
9. Chris Farley, Arlington, 2:33:50.
10. Mark Goodridge, United Kingdom, 2:34:31. _____ Top 10 Women _____
1. Mary Kate Bailey, Long Island, N.Y., 2:48:31.
2. Kimberly Fagen, San Diego, 2:51:17.
3. Suzanne Clemmer, Gastonia, N.C., 2:59:11.
4. Eleanor Stewart-Garbrech, Jacksonville, Fla., 3:05:47.
5. Jill Metzger, APO AE, 3:06:26.
6. Sage Stefiuk, Fayetteville, N.C., 3:06:36.
7. Kirsten Ward, Arlington, 3:07:25.
8. Amanda Rasmussen, Colorado Springs, Colo., 3:08:37.
9. Connie Buckwalter, Lititz, Pa., 3:08:46.
10. Kelly Jaske, Washington, 3:08:56.
_____ On Our Site _____
• Photos
• Course map
_____ Live Online _____
• MCM's Rick Nealis took questions Thursday. Read the transcript.
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Shea, Rundell and Busquaert flew to Washington this weekend with similarly outsized targets: All three hope to finish tomorrow's Marine Corps Marathon with times at or below 2 hours 20 minutes, a time that hasn't been reached at Marine Corps since 1997, a time that would be five minutes faster than last year's winning mark.
The Hansons, though, are well acquainted with outlandish aims. After successful collegiate careers in the 1980s, both brothers -- "junkie running-geek fans," according to Kevin -- settled into regular jobs, older brother Kevin as a high school English teacher and cross-country coach and younger brother Keith as a buyer for a pharmaceutical company.
Neither had any sort of background in business, which didn't stop them from deciding to open a running store in 1991.
The first store initially struggled to make a profit, but within three years the brothers left their jobs and opened two more stores. And as their businesses began to succeed, they hatched another unconventional plan: They would spend several hundred thousand dollars a year to support a cadre of American distance runners with untapped talent, runners who the brothers thought needed financial backing and a team environment to thrive.
The brothers would lure these runners to southeastern Michigan with the promise of free housing, benefits and coaching, allowing them to log 120 to 140 miles a week while working part time in the running stores. By nurturing these athletes, the Hansons hoped they would expand the pool of Americans capable of running sub-2:20 marathons, increase the odds of finding Americans capable of starring internationally, and, as a side benefit, amass possibly the best educated shoe salesmen in the country.
"As funny as this might sound, I never had any doubts that it would be successful," Keith Hanson said. "I would have been more surprised if it didn't work."
The program began in 1999 with three local runners living in a group house the Hansons purchased in Rochester. By 2000, there were seven runners in the program, and the Hansons bought a second house.
After receiving national publicity last year, several major running and apparel companies began clamoring to get involved. A sponsorship deal with Brooks allowed the Hansons to start a women's program, buy a third house and offer performance bonuses to its athletes. The Hansons' top-level runners now receive shoes, apparel, gym memberships, travel stipends, physical therapy, chiropractic treatment and high-tech mattresses, in addition to the free rent, health insurance and shoe-store shifts. There are 22 runners affiliated with the program, and the brothers -- who still provide the group's coaching -- receive at least one call a week from interested runners.
"At first people thought, 'No, this isn't right,' " said Kevin Hanson, whose wife, Nancy, an accountant, handles the financing and scheduling for the program. "Was this going to be around for a year, two years? It's like, 'No, it's going to be around for 20 years.' "
And as their numbers have grown, team members have earned a national profile, best exemplified by February's U.S. Olympic men's marathon trials. Hansons runners -- wearing their red, gold and black jerseys -- made up more than 10 percent of the 71 finishers. One Hansons athlete -- Brian Sell -- led the race for 16 miles before fading. Two others -- Trent Briney and Clint Verran -- placed fourth and fifth, respectively, becoming the top two alternates for the Olympic team.
It was "a showing that no one other than the Hanson brothers and maybe the athletes themselves expected," said Shea, one of seven Hansons runners who finished in the top 42.
Rundell -- who, like Shea, will run tomorrow's Marine Corps Marathon -- finished 25th at the trials. Busquaert, nursing a sore hamstring, was farther back.
