Baillie, Tanner Take Marathon Titles in Frederick

By Dave Yanovitz

Special to The Washington Post

Monday, May 5, 2008; Page E12

Against the backdrop of the Catoctin Mountain and a cloudless sky, 1,200 runners took off through the downtown streets and country roads of Frederick yesterday morning for the sixth annual Frederick Marathon.

The marathon is the cornerstone of the Frederick Running Festival, which featured 4,100 additional runners taking part in a half-marathon, 5K and a kids run.

Brian Baillie of Washington, 25, running in his first marathon, took the lead at Mile 18, passing Frederick resident Jay Silvio, 38, who was running his first marathon in 20 years. Baillie kept the lead through a steep uphill portion along Old National Pike and Terra Firma Road, and went unchallenged as the course flattened out in the final few miles.

Baillie won the race and the $500 first prize in 2 hours 34 minutes 48 seconds, nearly eight minutes off the course record set by Michael Wardian in 2006. Silvio finished second in 2:41:47, followed by Steve Speirs, 41, of Virginia Beach, in 2:51:36.

"I ran fairly conservatively," said Baillie, who has aspirations of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic trials marathon. "I waited, and about the 18-mile mark I saw Silvio was just fading."

Melissa Tanner, a 27-year-old Bethesda resident and a graduate student at American University, won the women's race (and $500) in a course-record 2:56:17. Susan Graham-Gray set the previous mark of 2:56:57 in 2005.

Tanner, who ran track at Harvard and was running her third marathon, took the lead at Mile 7 and held it thereafter without being challenged. She finished nine minutes ahead of second-place finisher Kelley Taylor, 23, of Virginia Beach. Lydia Becker, 37, of Camp Hill, Pa., took third in 3:08:21 The steep hills that started around Mile 16 and continued until Mile 19 also affected Tanner.

"They were really hard," she said. "I was wondering if I was going to be able to finish, but I came back. Around Mile 22 I felt good again." Tanner also said the wind in the second half of the race was "really tough."

Silvio led the race as he headed up the first steep hill along Old National Pike, but said his quick pace in the early stages caught up to him.

"I went out way too fast," Silvio said. "I actually set a personal best at the 10-mile mark, but he left me at Mile 18 like I was standing still. He ran so smart. He knew what he was doing."

David Swope, 41, of New Windsor, Md., won the wheelchair division in 3:05.