Results of the 2009 BSTM, 10^th running thereof.  Note new course record from Karl, trimming about 5 minutes off his prior course record 7 years ago.  Technically, Karl was running a throwback course and attempted to disqualify himself.  But all runners participated in an illegal event and were likewise disqualified. Thus, among disqualified participants, Karl finished first.
Birgitta Mitchell ne Johnsson was first female finisher.
                             Lost and found-Two Natan hand bottle carriers (with bottles), and two pairs of black gloves.
                            If you know who these lost items belong to, please contact Dan B.
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Bonneville Shoreline Trail Marathon, April 25, 2009
John Bartley and Dan Barnett, Co-Conspirators
      At the 10^th Annual (and conceivably last—see further below) BST marathon, we were incredibly lucky with the weather, IF you first accept that, no matter what we did or said, it was going to be a cool, damp, overcast, gloomy-looking day.

      It had been mild and sunny all week.  A pre-run of the course the previous Sunday confirmed that the trails were in nearly ideal condition: a couple of snow patches and a little mud here and there but mostly dry, firm, and fast.  Upper Dry Creek was running vigorously but, as Eve Davies pointed out, it does clean off your shoes.  Then it poured rain on Friday night.  It was still raining when one of us (Bartley) hit the trail at 6:10 Saturday morning to finish marking the eastern loop while runners were completing the western loop.  The usual muddy spots were at least as muddy as usual. Fog and mist hung low over the mountains, enveloping the higher parts of the course and ensuring that damp body parts would remain damp all day.

      But the rain stopped at about 7 a.m., just when about 110 runners (this does not include the few who arrived at 8 a.m. because they hadn’t heard about the earlier start this year) left the Morris Reservoir gate for the Bountiful bench and Meridian Peak.  Clouds moved in and out all day, but there was little wind, and real rain did not start again until all but a handful of runners had either finished the course or thought better of continuing.

      All things considered, it was a good day for running and 73 damp muddy runners completed the full course.

     Cheryl Meltzer let it slip the previous Sunday that her nearest and dearest intended to run fast this year.  As usual, Karl did not disappoint.  He had a five-minute lead over Christian Johnson at the end of the first loop and he continued to open it up the rest of the way, breaking his old course record by about 5 minutes and winning by nearly half an hour.  Mud?  What mud?

     Then again, Karl made the kind of individualistic decision that we probably ought to expect from a trail runner:  he ignored the minor course changes that we made since he set the course record in 2002 and thus ran the course as it was back then rather than as it has been for several years.  The changes were to made so as to move the aid stations to car-accessible locations.  Thus, when Christian Johnson—running well and trying to keep Karl within striking distance—arrived at the Huntman Institute aid station at 17 miles, he was the first runner we’d seen because Karl had remained on the upper trail where the course used to go.  We regretfully told Christian that we hadn’t seen Karl and had no clear idea how far ahead he might be.  Oh, well.  Christian ran very well to place second, but Karl remains the only human to break 4 hours. 

     Birgitta Mitchell ran a very strong race to lead the women, breaking two hours for the first loop and five hours at the finish, the latter a feat that only a handful of women have achieved.
     Much talk at the aid stations and at the finish centered around something that happened on Friday afternoon before the run.  Your Friendly Co-Conspirators were e-mailed by an employee of the SLC water department to tell us that they had become aware that we were conducting a trail race on their land.  The SLC PUD allowed us this year to proceed as we have in the past, but next year we will need to apply for a permit.  That may or may not happen.
    Finally, the usual acknowledgments: 
     Brian Kamm, Bob Adler and Cheryl Meltzer participated in marking the course, and Brian, Bob, Jody Martin Fessler, and Karen Helfrich helped remove the markings;   Sheila Barnett helped at the start and finish lines;   Cheryl Meltzer and Andrew Nelson helped at the Morris Reservoir aid station;     Kristy Bartley and Tony DeArcos helped set up the Huntsman aid station; Tony, Davy Crockett, and Rich Baxter did most of the actual work at the Huntsman aid station while Bartley jawed with friends as they came by; and Tony, Davy, Rich, and George Barnhill helped take down the Huntsman aid station;  Bob Henderson—who made a valiant effort to finish DFL, and came close but failed by a measly10 minutes—forced a monetary contribution on one of us when the other adamantly refused to take it;
and all of the runners collectively provided an abundance of food not seen since…well, not seen since last year’s BSTM! 
                    * * * * * * * * * * *      Thanks to you all!      * * * * * * * * * * *